All of us have a huge piece of adventure within ourselves, and I just got a taste of mine on my journey to the peak of skandagiri and back. My first trekking experience turned out to be a one filled with excitement, fear, fatigue, food and hell a lot of climbing. Being a beginner I didn't know what to expect out of a trek and curiosity led me along. This is where it all started, after a bunch of googling and looking up at blogs we decided to go on a night trek to Skandagiri.
... 18:00
Torchlights. check.
Towel. check.
Wind Jacket. check.
All right its time to leave.
... 20:00
Sudarshan, Rahul, Mohak and I took a bus from KSRTC bus terminus and were on our way to Chikaballapur some 70 km off Bangalore. The trekking spot was some 5-6 km off this place.
... 21:30
The bus came to a halt. We received some bad news in the place where we had our dinner. On asking which way Skandagiri was; the cashier goes on to tell us about the very many thefts and muggings which take place often. And going as a small group is really risky. Yea it did freak us out a bit. But we still wanted to go on a bit further. So we decided to reach the base of the hill.. Papagni Mutt was the name.
... 22:00
The four of us get into an auto. We were already kinda freaked out after getting such updates from the hotel cashier. The spooky old hindi songs played in the auto at such a time just made things worse. Confident that we could get some other people on the way and join along with them, we kept moving . Fortunately, the full moon was approaching and the area was quite bright.
... 22:30
We reached the base. This is where we started our trek. By the look of things the mutt looked like an ancient damaged bungalow and some figures were coming toward us, covered from top to bottom. I started to wonder what sort of hideous creatures might they be. Turned out they were a couple of guides offering to show us the path to the top of Skandagiri. Our excitement muddled with fear and insecurity we decided to hire a guide and go on our journey. Someone was like "macha, if we pull this one off, we are awesome!" :P turns out we were!
... 23:00
So we start to walk, one step after the other. We soon found out that we weren't alone. A dog had been accompanying us, staying close to the group as we made our way over the rocky path. The guide in front of us walked briskly. We had a bit of trouble keeping up with his pace. We did not expect it to be easy, but NEVER did we expect it to be quite hard. After taking quite a lot of water breaks in between, slipping in certain places and bumping into a small snake, we moved bit .. by .. bit. One thing I learnt while walking up, the guide is always going to lie to you about the distance, if he says 1/2km, it is definitely going to be at least 2km more. On the way, we could see the lights of Chikaballapur and in the distance what we thought was Bangalore. We were slowly moving forward but it always looked the same when you try to find the top of the hill. I was quite uncertain whether the guide is taking us in the right path, or is he just taking us in circles. I felt a bit of relief on seeing the plastic bottles and lays packets on the ground as it was the first sign of human civilization. The sudden burst of fresh mountain breeze at the end of the trail made all the fatigue go away and we sprinted the final distance, reaching the peak. :)
... 01:00
So we reach the top at 1 in the morning!.. It was pretty darn cold over there, mainly because of the wind blowing at very high speed. I was overwhelmed to find tea, maggi and bread omelete being served at the stall. Tea after such a long walk definitely worked like a charm. There was just one other group who had reached before us. And reaching early does have its advantages. You get to have some time of your own. Sitting near the edge of the cliff with the wind against my face was simply too good to put in words. After having our snacks along with the dogs and resting next to the campfire, we saw the next swarm of lights, another group of trekkers had arrived.
... 03:00
We were struck with disbelief when we met this other guy Harsh who reached the top completely on his own. It was definitely not his first time, but still doing it alone was a bit disturbing. What if he loses his path, or maybe slips and hurts himself. Apparently, the group he was initially with, got drunk and couldn't carry on any further. Anyway there he was. By then quite a few groups had reached and it was getting all noisy. We wanted to go and do a bit of exploring and find ourselves some nice spot. We ended up on top of a stone structure behind the fort. And bloody hell, it was windier than ever. Got ourselves settled, covered up like mummies and held on for dear warmth.
... 06:00
Staying in the cold and trying to get some heat with a help of a couple of matchsticks dint help. So we ended up making a weird tent with a couple of blankets and sat down waiting for the sun to rise.
... 06:30
No sign of sunrise.
... 07:00
We realised it was too cloudy to see the sun rise, so we set off further exploring the place around us. Half an hour later, the sun shone beautifully in the sky amongst the clouds. :)
... 08:00
All set to make our journey downward. Determined to take more pics this time, we made our way enjoying the scenic beauty all around us. Somehow downhill was trickier than the uphill trip. The dew had settled on the rocks and it was quite slippery. I slipped quite a few times and my friend had to catch me once when I really lost control. Good shoes help you a lot in this situation.
... 10:00
We reach the base!
and find our way back to our beds
One hell of a trip for me, loved it immensely. I hope this post will be helpful to beginners or anybody who is planning a trek to this place. Looking forward to more such trips in future. Perfect start to my new found hobby.
