After an awesome trek to Tadiandamol, the third highest peak in karanataka, my lust for trek
got worst. Every day at my work would begin with googling the best places to
trek in monsoon. And in my quest to satisfy my lust I decided to trek the lush
green Kodachadri, plans were made
with my gang. Thanks to BBMP, my 2nd Saturday off was cancelled in lieu to
Election Day. So I had to wait 45 freaking days!! Damn, I said to myself!!
When my lust was getting worse with every day, every
minute, my cellphone buzzed. It was text from our great philosopher. “Macha
lets trek to MAKALIDURGA, it’s very near to my place”. I was filled with excitement. And we agreed to
trek at night.
Vinay
is more of a friend than a colleague. We are gang of 10 crazy people. After 8
months our team has managed to pull this ride. Our previous outing was nandhi
hills back in December’14. Our gang was then dispersed & only outing were
birthday parties & movies.
Makalidurga is a hillock situated in the outskirts of
Namma Bengaluru, a 60km ride from the city. It takes under an hour & half
to reach in SH9. With likes of Nandi
hills & Savandurga, very few are aware of this trek & it is quite an underrated
place. But trust me, this place is one hell of a beauty with difficulty of trek being
moderate to easy. With its thorns, tall grasses, rocks & steep, it can give
you more than expected.
We were 10 ‘high’ly charged buggers with 2bullets, 2
unicorn & our Philosopher’s Twister. We zoomed in our beasts @ 12.30am, in
no time we reached the place where we had to park our vehicles. Few of us were
already hungry, it was obvious given the fact that our dinner was McD’s meal
;). All filled their tummy with yummy omelettes & cookies, I settled for
tea.
While
entering the village, all the dogs gathered to welcome us by howling so loud
that gals freaked out :D
We started around 3.00AM to ascend the hill, our
philosopher led the way since he said he trekked it many times (which all of us
doubted :P. During our ride, he said the same & we had to take lot of U
turns)
We surpassed the village & entered farm land with
less than 800m we found the railway track & started to move towards the
railway station in search 50/400 board. From the sign board, we have to take a
right turn (if you are walking from Bangalore end, you shall take left turn) we
found the temple which is the base & where the actual trek begins. We
followed Vini & the white arrows marked on rock for directions.
Path towards temple |
I
wonder, whether DP (artist) was high or just missing her gal friend on this
beautiful night :P
Before
we could fill in our eyes with the beauty, we realized we were lost & hit
the giant rock which stands still right up to the top. We were brought to halt
by vini & his search to find the path failed. So it was time for Me,the
experienced person to take lead.
I, Vini, DP & Dharni went on to find the trail
& the lost arrows. You might have read in blogs that just follow the arrows
& you’ll be there. But let me tell it aint easy, that to during night. Well
that’s the fun part in night treks. Your instincts, experience, will power
& attitude will be tested.
We asked others to take five at the rock &
informed them to be cautious of bugs & snakes. Within no time they started
there selfie session. Gals You know :D
We hit the dead end twice before getting back on trial
again, the rest of the team followed us like lost puppies. The sky was getting
brighter with every passing second. DJ pointed out the time, and it was 5.49am.
Freak!! I will kill vinay if I miss the
sunrise I said to myself.
I & Deepak speeded our way to find the trail & team followed us, we were struck again but luckily DJ came in to rescue this time. And found the trail, the arrows magically started to reveal themselves out of nowhere.
I & Deepak speeded our way to find the trail & team followed us, we were struck again but luckily DJ came in to rescue this time. And found the trail, the arrows magically started to reveal themselves out of nowhere.
“NO, Bhai we still got 8mins for sunrise”, he said & that triggered my system.
DJ, DP & me decided to leave others at the mercy of god & run to hill. We left in different directions. I made it to the top first, followed by DJ, DP, Manya, Ashwini & Vinay. Everyone was panting heavily, I offered them Kit-Kat & Gatorade.
sun just getting out of his hideout |
It was 6.08am, the sun was just coming out of his
hideout and the sky was painted with colors, it was just marvelous. All the
pain & risk had paid out big time.
We stood there on the ruins of fort with a sense of achievement, witnessing one of the beautiful sunrises. Our eyes filming the beautiful sunrise & storing it in the hard disk of our brain for the rest of our life. By now Anita, Sharath, Arjun & Ujwal joined us. And the cameras took over us.
We stood there on the ruins of fort with a sense of achievement, witnessing one of the beautiful sunrises. Our eyes filming the beautiful sunrise & storing it in the hard disk of our brain for the rest of our life. By now Anita, Sharath, Arjun & Ujwal joined us. And the cameras took over us.
After the photo session we climbed further to reach
the temple at the top & explored the other view points, the mystery cave & the
granite fort.
It was a memory in the making.
Lush green hills
|