Night trek to Skandagiri Hills : Part 1

Finaaaly, after about one and half years of slothful city life , I went on a trek with office colleagues last Tuesday. And that too in the night! It was to the mighty mountain range far away from Bangalore - Skandagiri Hills! Ta-Dan Ta-Daa!!! (its actually a small hilltop just 60-70 km from Majestic Bus stand, but Im loath to let the truth get in the way of a good story)
Anyway, here are some pics from the trip...all of which were taken by Mani. Accompanying them are rants from yours truly.


Skandagiri Hills is(are?) now becoming quite popular with IT folks in Bangalore as a quick weekend trekking destination. The commonly followed itinerary is to climb the mountain in the night (statrting time varying from 12.30am to 3am), brave the cold winds on top for a few hours, look at the glorious sunrise and climb down again. The trek should take about 2 to 2.5 hours IF
1) all people in the group are at least slightly athletic.
2) you either know the way to the top, or go with a guide who basically just walks with you to the top of the hill or if lots of people are trekking so you can follow other gangs of trekkers.
Above is a picture of our gang at the base of the hill. Just behind us is the tea stall where you can get tea (obviously) and bread omlette.
The initial part of the trek was ok, but we started getting quite tired as we climbed higher and higher.

The gear (shoes, baggage, tents etc) can play a big part in the trek too... its important to use compact,comfortable and tried and tested stuff on the journey, to prevent any surprises. The green bag Im carrying in the next pic is a tent big enough for 5 people, weighs just about 2 kg or so..

For the first half hour or so the night was full of natural crystal clear moonlight , a far cry from the light-polluted Bangalore skyline. We could also literally see white hazy clouds forming at the top of the hill. However, most spectacular was the star studded sky. We couldnt get this on camera so you'll just have to believe us in the next pic...

As we got closer to the hill top it became more and more chilly and damp. We realised we were now level with the clouds and were surrounded by zillions of minuscule water droplets. The torches threw light less further now. They even resembled the swords of a Jedi knight...