BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB

A walk to the top

Date: 2nd August 2014

Trekkers: - BSM India SDC, CSC, Seachef, ETS, TDC and GSC staff members

Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing - Barry Finlay

It’s not just his thought but even we believe on the same lines. With this thought

BSM India Trekking Club plans another trek. This time destination is Peth Fort

(Kothaligadh).

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BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB TREK TO KOTHALIGADH

It is called Peth Fort as it has Peth as the base village. Alternatively known as

Kothaligad as it is said that the whole fort is carved from one stone i.e. Kothala or

it is internally excavated stairs at the fort top. The locals say that this is not

actually a fort but a sort of lighthouse from where the directions were given to

know the advancements of the enemy in fact it can be called a watch tower to keep

a vigil on the Mawal area in the greater province of the Great Marathas.

The trek begins at 6.30 but ideally had started may be before 5.00 for many. 24

trekkers started the day looking forward for an amazing day and reached their

respective pick up points at the time allotted to them. We accommodated in 4 cars

headed towards our destination Peth Fort after an amazing breakfast at “Chawk”.

After a good 3 hrs drive we reached the base point i.e. Ambivili village where our

1st part of our trek started.

With the very first step of heading towards the journey we were welcomed by

rains. To be more accurate we were welcomed by drizzle and with it we moved

forward towards Peth village. The walk was quite a bit but then rains and the

greenery around, encouraged us to move up. On the way we came across

waterfalls, exotic birds, monkeys, crabs, butterflies and striking colorful flowers

amidst verdant surroundings. However, this part of the trek is also called the

'torture trek' as you can’t view the actual fort for a long time from here.

BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB TREK TO KOTHALIGADH

We were aware of the fact that this place is quite famous for trekkers and

apparently even realized the same when we saw a lot of group around us heading

towards top. With overtaking people, clicking pics, cracking jokes and admiring the

nature we reached a point where we all stopped and gathered to capture the

beauty of the Peth fort from a height. It was a beautiful scene altogether. being

there we took Selfie’s, group pics which took our good half an hour and we moved

forward after a good photo session.

With this we headed towards Peth village where the breeze was refreshing and

helped us to pull up our socks and start the 2nd part of our trek which was

climbing the mountain to reach fort.

BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB TREK TO KOTHALIGADH

From the Peth Village starts a bit of an adventure. The climb towards Peth fort was

amazing. It started with stepping on wet soil (which made our shoes dirty),

followed with climbing the hill and involved a lot of stunts. The beauty of the trek

was the walk on stone which had inbuilt steps, that was quite amazing to

see. The walk was pretty dangerous as due to rains the path was slippery.

After all the struggle we finally reached the 3rd Part. "Climbing the Peth fort." The

path at this part was very narrow and steep which is nothing but our steps to reach

the top. The final output was a full visual delight. The natural beauty around us

enriched our eyes and all the exhaustion vanished. What was interesting

there was the pinnacle of the fort which was carved from inside and designed into

an eerie looking circular structure that had a staircase that took us to the top. It's

a large cave and the carvings here date back to the 13th century. From there,

when we reached the top, it was almost like a victorious win after a long battle.

There was also a flag hoisted in the air, perhaps symbolic our conquest. Weather

was playing beautiful games and we welcomed by drizzles but with heavy fog due

to which photographers had tough time. We enjoyed that and had a great photo

session. The wind and rain created a nice rhythm which gave an excellent example

BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB TREK TO KOTHALIGADH

for the thought “The earth has music for those who listen”. As a good trekker we

cleaned the plateau area by collecting all plastic elements in garbage bags and

handed over to locals for disposal.

Now was the time when we realized that its 3.00 P.M and that was when we

started our return journey.  However, Return journey wasn't that easy as all the

trekkers were hungry by now and the lunch was at the base point. The rains was

now trying to help us reach down as we experienced heavy showers while walking

down. But the walk was all the more difficult as we had slippery part, shivering

legs and few had even given up from walking but we managed to reach down with

all the strength or energy we had. Someone said “A lion runs the fastest when he is

hungry”, which is actually true if you consider time taken to reach at base point

while returning. After which we were served with delicious food and had some

time to rest before we start our drive back home.

With our return journey we were looking back and thinking about our whole day,

where we had - hard work, unlimited fun, adventure and priceless picture of

natural beauty which, we will never get in an air-conditioned room but we have to

earn it. Nature gives us lessons as and when we try to get near to it.

BSM INDIA ADVENTURE CLUB TREK TO KOTHALIGADH

Think green! Promote Green!