Two Treks in a Day - Channarayana Durga & Devarayana Durga

“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” - Greg Child

We got an answer to this mystery on our trek to Channarayana Durga and Devarayana Durga. We trek for the thrill of it , for the excitement and the adventure. We trek to let go of our fears, to defeat our inner demons. We trek to get a chance to be with nature, far away from the 'known' city, exploring the 'unknown'. We trek to explore the mother nature and its wonders. And yes, we do trek to click photos and post them on social networking sites.

It was the morning of 1st December, point of meeting was Shantala Silk house. Although the time to start was 7.00 am, we started our trip a bit late. By 7.30 am. A group of 19 BTCians was on its way to Channarayana Durga in a 20 seated tempo traveler. Everyone was excited, and as it was my 1st trek with BTC it was beginning of a great adventure for me.

Way to Channarayana Durga.

As we didn't knew each other, in the first few minutes of our travel everybody was silent. Then the trek organizers took the initiative and we started playing Dumb Charades. Everyone started to enjoy a lot and we came to know about the excellent acting skills of Abhishek.

Then we stopped for breakfast, and oh boy, i was in for a surprise. We were asked - single idli or double idli. I asked for double idli thinking it would be two normal idlis, but when it came i realized that these were extra large idlis like they was made in a plate instead of idli stand.We also got aur lunch packed from here.

After delicious breakfast, we started our journey again and resumed playing Dumb Charades. And while engrossed in games we reached Channarayana Durga.

Channarayana Durga Trek

After reaching Channarayana Durga, we had a quick intro session. We learned about each other and here i came to know that some people were seasoned trekkers and many like me were new to trekking.

We started the trek in high spirits. First part of the trek was the hardest one.

It was steep rock climbing. Channa and Abhishek led the way with their expertise. The destination was far away, the climb was steep, but we kept going on. We took a few breaks here and there and kept climbing. By now Vinay had taken lead. Slowly and carefully we reached the main entrance of the Abandoned Fort on the hill. Here everybody took a long rest as the climb was exhausting.

The second part of the trek was easy. It was less steep and we went through long grass and one time we had to crawl under the bushes. Here me and my friends Yogesh, Vaibhav and Dinesh decided to explore a bit. We took a little detour and came across a window. We climbed that window and realized that it was the only entry point to what we guess was a prison. The floor to the prison was about 20 feet below the window and there was noise of bats coming from there, so we backed off and joined the group.

Now there were few narrow and old stairs and after that we were almost near the top. The view from here was breathtaking. We clicked a lot of photos here and climbed a little more to reach the top.

It was about noon and here we decided that if we reach down early we will go for another trek.

So we started to move down. We had walked only a few minutes when someone said that if we take a different path this time we could see a pond. So with the organizers permission we started on that path and on our way down we came across a beautiful pond. We rested there for a few minutes and enjoyed. 

After that came the difficult part to climb down on the steep rocks. Slowly and steadily we moved down and reached the bottom. 

Here we had lunch, and eating rice with my hand was also a first for me. After our bellies were full, it was time for other trek. It was time for Devarayana Durga.

Devarayana Durga

Journey to Devarayana Durga was uneventful as everybody was tired and tried to take a quick nap.

We reached Devarayana Durga by 3.00pm. After a flight of stairs, there was a temple.

Near the temple there is a small spring in which you can dip you feet and get a fish pedicure. There were many monkeys here and one came and sat on the shoulder of our group members.

Our real destination was not the temple, but the hilltop.  To reach that we had to move on a narrow trail among the trees and rocks. The trail was such that many times you had to duck to move and climb pointed rocks. We were barefoot and because of this some people got minor cuts in their feet. But it all was worth it.  

The view from top was absolutely stunning. We were feeling like we are on the top of the world. Winds were howling and in the distance we could see it was raining. It was so beautiful that you could sit there for a long time and still be intrigued. After sitting there along time we came down to the temple. There we had a wonderful fish pedicure. 

After this we reached our traveler and it was time to go home. We stopped on our way for tea/coffee and reached Majestic by 7.30 pm. Now was the time for Goodbyes.

Overall it was a great first experience with BTC. Thanks to the organizers for awesome planning Thanks to all the awesome people who made this trek really memorable. It's a memory I will cherish for a lifetime. I will definitely try to do more treks with BTC.

Written By      : Abhinav Garg

Organized By   : Sushma & Channa

Date of event  : 1st Dec, 2013

Members Count: 19

Place              : Dabbaspet

Pictures          :