Another Trek in another Weekend-Kyatasandra-RamdevaraBetta

This was my first trekking with Bangalore Trekking Club (BTC) Group. The destination was Kyatasandra in Tumkur district (69km from Bangalore).  The event was organised by Aman and Channabasappa(Channa).  It was a 20 member’s team. 

1.    The one with Assemble, Name and Game :

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step”

It all started with early morning haste. Not being a morning person I somehow arranged lunch and reached to our assemble point Majestic Railway station. Tickets were arranged by organisers and we headed towards the platform. Luckily we managed to arranged two compartment side by side and sit together.

Here starts fun with the introduction. BTC follows a custom of introducing yourself by act out your name followed by a brief introduction. We enjoyed all the comments and jokes (specially “Tea”) during this session and it was helpful in remembering names. After introduction session we played dumb charades for the rest of our train journey. It was fun to mingle with each other for one and half hour journey in train.

2.     The one with Base, Climbing and  Breaks to Breathe :

“To see what others cannot...You must climb the mountain”

At the beginning of trekking, weather was cloudy for most of the part, sometimes there was sun but overall it was nice breezy weather to start the climbing. After disembarking from train we reached to the Base of hill by walking, where General instructions and BTC policies was explained by organisers. We targeted 2 hours to climb the hill and started the journey with great excitement. The initial part was fast and smooth.  The excitement of Photo sessions during breaks has helped not to feel tired early. Some parts were very steep during the climb and we have taken each other’s help. As time passed, little by little, I realized the moderate nature of trekking (quoted by BTC) is becoming difficult for me. We increased the frequency and duration of breaks. During rest sessions we usually waited for regrouping of all the team members, had some water, energy drinks and candy bars and not to forget to mention “Photo session”. We had a quick session from Channa on breathing technique in one of the breaks. And here came the announcement that we are almost close to the peak.  Even I was exhausted, but hearing that I almost finished my first climbing, had further increased my pace. We have completed 3km of climbing in about 1 and half hour and still we need to see what others cannot see “The world from top”.

3.      The one with Peak, View, Rain, Breeze and Food

 “the best view comes after the hardest climb”

As soon as I reached the top I felt the cold wind was drying my sweat and the view of whole Kyatasandra from top was splendid.  The weather was fantastic and the clouds were now more closer and darker than before.  We stood at the corner of cliff where we felt maximum breeze and enjoyed the scenic beauty with another photo session. There was pond at the top of hill where the local children were enjoying their bath. Inspired from them some of our team members also took advantage to have bath at peak. It was just the time when we were feeling the worthiness of getting tired from all the climbing, it started rain. Rain is the one thing that had made this trekking a memorable. After a long photo session and some exploration of top we headed towards the most awaited session “lunch”. We assembled over a flat area for lunch, it was a potluck lunch. We shared our foods and fruits. Bread Jam and Curd rice were the most famous among all. We have taken rest of about 10-15 minutes after lunch. Among all this natural beauty and Food, Channa opened his surprise packet for Independence Day special. He brought an Indian Flag. We had a quick solo and group photo session with our Indian Flag. We spent another 30 to 40 minutes in further exploration of hill. After that we sat down along a cliff and had a calm and silence session of about 20 minutes. Some members were doing meditation while some members were enjoying sleeping in cold weather. Once we started to move after our meditaion session it started rain again. We gathered beneath an old arch like structure. It was cold and then we decided to have a camp fire. We gathered some woods and paper and lit the fire; still we were missing “Hot Tea”. When drizzling stopped we decide to climb down. We spend around 2 hours at the top with tremendous weather and scenic beauty.

4.     The one with Getting down and Return to Bengaluru:

“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”

Even though rain has made the day memorable by enhancing the beauty at top but it had made the way to get down more dangerous. The rocks were slippery and we helped each other to get down. Still some members had fallen once or twice but nothing to worry. Getting down was adventures for us. We had taken few breaks while getting down and completed the down journey within 1 hour. We walked towards the railway station and had a feedback session. While returning we could not manage to sit together. We enjoyed the return journey by singing song. After reaching Bangalore we bid adieu and departed towards our home. In the end I would like to thank our organizers Aman and Channa for such a wonderful experience. You guys had shown tremendous patience and made this event a great success.
We enjoyed full day with games, climbing, rain, potluck lunch, photo sessions, and natural beauty. I think this is a lot for one single day.       

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Another Trek in another Weekend-Kyatasandra-RamdevaraBetta

With 20 shortlisted Enthusiasts huddling up at Bengaluru City Junction for a train to quench your weekly thirst for adventure on Sunday Morning. we started introducing ourselves in the train by playing dumb charades where folks has shown their enacting skills with different gestures and facial expressions :).we continued playing Dumb charades with movie names till we reached Kyatasandra.
Kyatasandra is the location of the siddaganga mutt and is very well maintained town.We started off to

the base camp. we have been given instructions by organisers at the basepoint and the weather was perfect for trekking, we were enthusiastically clicking pics and enjoying the serene and the beauty of the nature.On our way,we were accompanied by kids from nearby Mutt who helped us with the directions (Even though there were arrows painted on rocks to reassure you of your path).The trail is filled with small rocks and thorny bushes.As we climb, little bursts of lemongrass fragrance energize us to reach the top of the hill.The hill doesn't have any traditional steps or railings so we had to climb it the old fashioned way, which made it all the more exciting and fun. We could see a small pond filled with lotuses and Shiva Temple on the top of the hill,we marched towards the one end of the cliff to enthral the wonderful cool breeze and beautiful view of kytrasandra town.once the rain stopped,we moved towards the other part of the peak. we started unpacking our lunch boxes and shared the special mouth wandering dishes.once done with the lunch, we started taking lot of pictures,As Independence day is due on next week,channa  has brought National Flag and we clicked pictures with the flag to show our patriotism towards our country.

As Rain started playing Hide and Seek with us ,we started running in search of place to hide.since there is ample time to catch the train,we sat at a peaceful place to enjoy the view and the wind.We were lucky as we had a view of sunshine, rain, winds and all elements of nature at its majestic:).

Heavy shower has stopped us descending early , we ran towards the temple and build a campfire with

the available resources.after the rain stopped, we started to descend in the slippery mud and reached

the station 10 mins before our train time.

We had a feedback session at the station.The train arrived on time and everyone marched inside and

perched themselves wherever they could, weary by the day’s activities.It was time to say goodbyes after train reached Bangalore.

Finally,Group of Strangers become Friends on Friendship day:)

Written By      : Shubham Srivastava & Chandra K

Organized By   : Aman Mahajan & Channabasappa Nad

Date of event  : 6th Aug 2017

Place              : Ramdevara Betta - Kyatsandra

Pictures          : BTC FB Page