Last week, 10 of us from our office went on a trip to Channagiri. Below is a write up of my experience:

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“How to climb a hill and lose a sock”

It started off as a fine day. Fine for everyone but me, because I was still in bed, cooking up a million excuses to stay asleep. But one part of my brain reminded another that it was the day of our team trek, so I was up and awake in a flash. Trek! Yay! I got ready in a jiffy and walked up to the pick-up point. However, the overcast skies brought apprehension. I was planning to hoist a flag atop the mountain, and didn’t like the idea of rain preventing it from fluttering in all it’s glory. This apprehension was soon replaced by the delayed arrival of our bus. Mr On-Time, Satinder, seemed to be annoyed with our guide, Ashok. Nevertheless, we headed out to the second and third pickup points, and were soon zooming towards of our destination on the Bellary highway. Channagiri, the hill we were to climb, was 20 km off the highway near a village called Nandi.

Ashok’s friendly demeanor made the ice-breaking session easy. After the initial introductions it was time for our stomachs to be introduced to some nice breakfast. We halted by the roadside, and hogged some tasty idlies and vadas. Being eco-friendly, we weren’t carrying any plastic cups or plates. So we washed our steel plates by the roadside, and also taught a nearby stray dog a thing or two about keeping the environment clean. (The dog shared our relish because we fed him some of the extra idlies).

Our next stop was the at the base of Channagiri. The skies were misty as we got off the bus feeling quite chilly. Channagiri, as Ashok explained, was actually part of the Nandi range of hills. But apparently it wasn’t very popular with the tourist crowd. So we had the entire mountain for ourselves. Well, almost. A bunch of monkeys had already conquered the area, and were plotting and planning on highjacking our bus and the food inside it. Entrusting the driver with the job of making sure that we had enough to eat when we got back, we began our expedition with enthusiasm in hearts and cold wind in our ears.

The team is all smiles and we aren’t even half way up there!

Life is full of little surprises and Channagiri seemed to have some of it. The mountain didn’t seemed to have been explored by too many human beings. The presence of cows was however very conspicuous. With freshly dropped dung, these bovine creatures seemed to have a way of marking the route taken to reach higher grazing grounds (slopes actually). Well, the grass is greener on the other side they say, so I stopped wondering why these hoofed animals would want to make their way up the mountain. But as we climbed up steadily, I began to wonder how I was going to make it to the top, because the mountain side was getting very steep. Adding to that, my supposedly “all condition gear” shoes was proving to be a cheap advertising gimmick. At that moment, I was getting more worried about slipping a step than a project submission date .

The way to the top was through wild bushes & flowers. This was fun for most of us except Parimala, who seemed to have an affinity for thorns. Pratibha seemed to be wanting to appear in a Surf detergent ad. By the end of the trek, her white clothes would have rivaled any army camouflage jacket. Ashok was leading the way for most of the hike, and we were taking regular breaks to catch our breath. The misty mountain top was very alluring, but as we neared the peak (where there was more rock than grass) I decided to bet my life on my feet rather than my shoes. So I took them off, and tied them to my bag. My socks, I stuffed inside my pockets, and the last part of the climb I did saying my prayers and asking God for forgivness.

We reached a sufficiently high peak after which Ashok decided to stop. Any further up, and we would have only increased our chances of having to be rescued by helicopters. So we rested to enjoy the view. The view was nothing fantastic to be honest, but well worth the hike. Ashok narrated stories from his earlier expeditions while we clicked snaps and had refreshments. A slight drizzle got the team excited, and I was mentally recalling if I had signed up for any organ donation. But after a while I decided that there was nothing to worry about, because I knew I could count on Neethu to make sure the projects are submitted on time in case something nasty was to happen.

View from the top

After halting for about 30 minutes atop the mountain we began our downward journey. Climbing down the rocky part was a combination of technique and patience. I wasn’t feeling as unsure about my steps as before (because my shoes were still tied to my bag). But after finishing the worst part of the descent I realized that I had inadvertently left behind one of my socks atop the mountain. So much for hoisting a flag and marking our presence! We reached the base in about 1 hour, washed up and rested once again. I did some behavioral experiments on the monkeys which Satinder caught on video. However everyone’s thoughts (including the monkeys’) was on the lunch, so we decided to head to our next stop - Nandi Temple. After a delicious lunch there, we did some temple exploring. Neethu practiced her photography skills while Satinder played watchman, guarding our belongings outside the temple. The team’s enthusiasm was still high as we boarded the bus and bid farewell to Nandi after finishing with the temple.

Nandi Temple

In conclusion, I’d say that the trip was good fun. Both the to and fro journey brought out people’s singing skills in the bus. Ashok did a good job of making sure that every one was in good spirits. Uma’s enthusiasm and Urvashi’s camera were both something to envy. The trek also taught me that some of the best things in life come in pairs. I never went back to fetch that sock from atop the mountain, and the surviving sock I’ve now saved as a memoir of our trek.
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The trip was organized by Woody Adventures. It costed each of us around 400 bucks, and everything from food to the (mini) bus was organized by them.