Makalidurga – A Night trek to Serene Hillock

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.

Hill view from track

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

The night was calm & sky was clear, stars were twinkling at their best, me & Deepak the artist managed to find couple of satellite, star constellations. He claimed that the brightest star was the planet Venus, which I dint agreed. Sky made an awesome picturesque all together.  

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. 

Now the sky was preparing itself for the nature to paint its canvas with colors. Sky was also getting brighter indicating that sun would rise anytime & I sadly looked at DJ. 
“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.

                         

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.

The fort entrance at the summit

Lush green hills

The Lake- Resembles South America continent

 

Travel Itinerary:

Place: Makalidurga hill

Distance: 60Kms

How to reach: 

By Bus: Bangalore- Gowribidanur

By train: Bangalore- Hindupur passenger (Makalidurga station)

By private vehicle: Bng- Yelahanka- Doddaballapur- Makalidurga

Best time: SEP-DEC (since hill will be all green, offers more serene view)

Thing to carry- for Night trek

   1. Torches- Must have for everyone

   2. Thermals/jackets

   3. Full length shirts/trousers preferably cargos

   4. Non slippery Shoes

   5. 2L water/nutrition bars/ Energy fluids

   6. First aid kit- (personal medication if any)

   7. Lighter/matches & fuel (if planning for camp fire)

Personal Tip- Arrows are hard to find during night. So if struck at rocky area, just keep moving towards left until the lake resembling American continent is visible & then ascend further. 

The selfie- Tired but happy souls

The Groupie

Silhouette groupie

Mr.Buggy