Trek to Garbett Point

Trek to Garbett Point

Trek: Garbett Point

Height: 2625 feet

Distance: 8 kms (Till Garbett Point) + 2kms (Till Dasturi Naka)

Difficulty level: Medium

Region: Matheran

Base Village: Bhivpuri

Duration:  4 -5 hours from Bhivpuri to Garbett Plateau (depending on how many pictures you click)

30 minutes - Garbett Plateau to Garbett Point

1 hour - Garbett Point to Dasturi Naka (Matheran)

What to carry: Packed Lunch. 2 litres of water. Either Tang/Glucon D/Electrol (to combat the humidity). Cap. Sunglasses (to look cool). Trekking shoes are a must (if you don’t have any, buy Action trekking shoes and you will be sorted. INR 800)

DSLR (because why not!). All right, phone camera would do as well :)

1. Till Bhivpuri Road

Take the earliest possible local to Bhivpuri Station.

Dadar: 6.24 AM Fast to Karjat

Bhivpuri Road: 7.51 AM

The Sunday morning local train ride shouldn't be too bad (at least for the ladies). The guys might not get a seat but a comfortable position to stand is almost guaranteed.

Bhivpuri Road is the railway station just before Karjat and is a beautifully sleepy laid back station; a breath of fresh air for the Mumbaikar looking for some peace.

Get down and walk towards Bhivpuri market. Anyone on the platform will be more than happy to point you towards the right direction. People there might be unaware about Garbett Point or Garbett Plateau. But you can ask them directions to the dam or Diksal village.

Have some hot Vada pav and chai for breakfast in Bhivpuri market. ‘Guru Kripa’ on the main market road is a good option. They also have good refreshment facilities and a clean restroom. This should get you prepared for the long trek ahead.

2. Dhom Lake and Diksal village

A 10 minute walk from Bhivpuri station will take you to Diksal village. Walk through the village and at the end take a right turn towards the mountains. Another sharp turn towards the left will bless you with the view of Dhom Lake. It is a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains on all sides. You will see a splatter of green everywhere and the water reflecting the same. The walk around the lake is beautiful and you can take your time clicking pictures and taking your moment to admire the surroundings. This trek is more about the journey than the destination.

It will take around an hour to leisurely cross the lake and reach the tree atop the first hill. The climb is a little steep but not difficult.

3. Sagachiwadi village

After crossing the first hill, you will reach Sagachiwadi village. You can fill up your half empty water bottles here. The villagers are very helpful and will be more than happy to offer you some water as well as directions to Garbett plateau.

The climb from here on gets steeper. We found two ways to reach the top. At the end of Sagachiwadi, you will see a well. You can either choose to go straight ahead from there or take a right turn.

Straight ahead from the well: Longer but easier way to the top

Right from the well: Shorter but steeper way to the top (This route offers a path full of monsoon flowers)

4. Garbett Plateau

This plateau will remind you of the famous Windows wallpaper. The grass is as perfect as a carpet. You would have to appreciate nature for maintaining it the way it has. It makes a perfect bed to rest awhile and look at the green mountains. (Just make sure you don’t accidentally sleep on some of the cow dung lying around!)

The wind really picks up here and you might be tempted to wear your windcheater. So wear it, you are going to need it from here on.

Relax on the plateau and have your lunch.

Mandatory: Click a lot of pictures, till all of them look the same. But keep clicking nevertheless.

5. Garbett Point:

This leg of the trek is the steepest. But it is also short. Do check out the tree (see the image below) on a rock edifice. Makes for a perfect shot! After climbing the last bit, you will be able to see the railing around Garbett point.

And you have made it to the top! Hurray :)  

6. Matheran – Dasturi Naka:

The journey from here onward is just a pleasant walk in the forests of Matheran with a whole bunch of mosquitoes for company. (Here the windcheater is going to protect you from the blood thirsty beasts) The road is easy to find and will directly take you to Dasturi Naka.

Get a cab from Dasturi Naka to Neral station. The cab guy will charge you Rs. 70 per person.

7. Neral Station:

Trains are crowded at this time of the day. You can either get a first class ticket which will cost you Rs. 210 one way versus the second class ticket of Rs. 25 one way.

Or you can take a train to Karjat and return via the same train so that you get a seat.

Happy Trekking!  

Photo Credits: Ujwal Jakhotiya, Hiren Parekh and I!