17) Skandagiri Night trek: 18/7/10

Place: Skandagiri.

Distance: 75 x 2 = 150 kms.
Participants: Nr > Zethu > Dattu > Supreeth >Kalki > Sp.
Bikes : RTR > RX > Pulsar.
Directions: Bengaluroo > Airport Road > Nandhi Hills road (right) > Skandagiri.
Previous Visit: Manchinbele The reunion.

INTRO:

People use the word “Killer” as an alternate expression to greatness …but here I use its literal meaning…. Yup!!! Skandagiri night trek – The night we killed ourselves 3-4 times!! It will remain one of the most terrific days in my life.. !!

PLAN:

We had planned a small bon fire on my terrace and had decided to spend the night cracking jokes!!! Zethu & Dattu came home in the evening…. Had a nice Eve walk had chats …etc bla bla..returned back home then we called up Nr and asked him to come over …Nr said he could come after 9pm..and he’l be coming in bike… Bike => trip :D. So started working out the equations and math in my head… MM hills we leave tomorrow at 4 am… 500kms one day….it’s be super awesome and all..hehe Dattu & Chetu were freaked out watchin me get hyper !!! :D

Then Nr called up again and w decided to go to Skandagiri….as they had to return back home by morning 6 am… So dattu , chetu and me had dinner at my place and left my place at 9:30pm without having the slightest clue what shit we would go through the net 10 hrs :D :D

RIDE I:

We drove through the heavy traffic and reached Malleswaram Association Club at about 10:30pm…Nr and Suprit joined us…Then it was Sup’s place parked Zethu’s bike…then we left to RT nagar to pick Nitesh… Zethu and me on my bike and Dattu,Nr & Sup on RTR …Vroomed through Mekri circle etc..and reached RT nagar in no time… it was dead silent…. And we didn’t wanna draw any cops attention… Nitesh said he couldn`t make it :( Damn!!!! Then Nr and Sup called up Kalki…and asked him to get his RX.

POLICE TROUBLE:

Now the next task was to get to Vidhyaranyapura on trips without cops pulling us over!!!... we went through Sanjaynagar my homeplace :),… and finaly made it to Vidyaranyapura… kept roaming around tat place…till we got a confirmation tat kalki was in… Nr Scaring the shit out of the Dogs was simply amazing hehehe :)

Then we stopped at a small dhaba at Vidyaranyapura only , since Sup hadn’t eaten anything … it was about 12 15 pm… Kalki joined us !! We came to know tat there was heavy inspection at the bottom of Skandagiri and Nandi hills… only people with proper documents could go through!! :(…( Nobody had proper license or documents) Then we thought lets go… lets see wat happens!!!

Next up…. We’r ripping at 90’s and 100’s on outer ring road….and headed towards Airport road…. then we spot cops waiting for us at some distance…. We take a U-turn and head back in search for an alternate route… but we realize tat the only route to airport is through them….. 1^stup NR \m/…. Started the bike again…. Kept going …kept going :D 80-90-100 km/hr…. the police seeing him coming at tat pace shit in their pants an didn’t even think of putting their hands across to stop him :D. Then kalki and Zethu were stopped..( No license , no documents …time : 12 30am) GULP!!!! Zethu suddenly raised the bike …and ran almost over the police…hahahahaha :D Then Zethu and Kalki were asked to give tat Drunk drive shit… when we were clear… police laughed and said… “u aren’t drunk why’d u try to kill me? :D” ( man wish I had taken a snap with them :P)

RIDE II:

From airport road it was smooth sailing…going at a decent pace . Nr & dattu zoomed past us…Back tyre sparks were flying out :O… I was like .. “maga wats up wth the back wheel”…Nr was lik “ Hang on il show again…. He slowed down then came zooming…and touched the center stand… sparks flew of the back portion ,…. The darkness made it more spectacular :)

After taking a deviation towards Nandi hills from airport road we headed further…there were nobody to ask for the exact location of the place…. Further ahead Zethu and me spotted a few bikes parked ..so we stopped and I asked “ SaaaaR …Skandagiri!!>>?” …he said “ Straight …. Then leff….” Before he could complete his sentence we were off at full pace… Damn!! He was the cop we were warned about , he was checking the documents of the other bikers :D :D

RIDE III:

Then stopped at a small shop…. Had tea… and finally left further towards Skandagiri… our 3 bikes were the only ones we could see for miles … we switched of our headlights… shit it was killer ride…dead pitch black…next moment we switch on we’r nearly off-road … After a few kms , 2 of them blocked our way ( 1^st impression – Robbers)..then we came to know they were the guides… they demanded a total sum of 750… we were like…” ya ya we’l see latter, now where do we go?”… they took us to some village…we parked our bikes at some Building in total darkness…Then the trek began at about 2:30am :)

INSANE TREK: ( No water , No torches , No gear , nothing , Chethu- bare footed)

Oh yeah forgot to mention… No trek bags, no water, only two us wearing shoes, and best of all no torch And it was pitch back Beat That!!! Initial stretch was pretty decent ..a few rocks tats all by the time we had covered 35% of the hill.. we were sweating like crazy…and Chetu’s slipper snapped leaving him bare foot :(.. he couldn’t go further as there were lots of thorns and rocks.. “ u guys carry on I don’t think I can make it,… il wait here for u guys” Sup and dattu were long gone…we could hear only their shouts and a small mobile torch shining like a small dot high and far away!! Nr , kalki and me couldn’t leave Zethu like tat …So the team work began… 1^st i use my mobile torch and go in front… then stop turn around… help Nr… Then Nr helps kalki…and Kalki helps Zethu… like tat we took turns :)… we gave Zhethu his own time to climb as he was bare footed!!

DATTA AT BOOTHA PLACE:

Then thre was this steep rocky terrain …the mist condensing on rocks many feet above and pouring down as small streams… had to keep the mob in pocket..had to feel the terrain in tat pitch blackness and climb up!!! ( thinking about it sends chills down my spine… still dunno how we managed to pull it off) Then the killer part of the trip… Guide long lost gone…. Data Lost…Sup Lost… Kalki , Nr, Zethu and me LOST LOST LOST!!! Datta was stuck in some place where no person had been… it was called Bhoota’s place… one the other guides told… haha well tat was kinda achievement too :P.. he called us up and said he would go further along with some other people… we were seriously worried!!!!

There was this other place only one foot gap path… one side huge Rock….we had to walk past tat ..taking the grip of that rock… well on the other side… a fall u wouldn’t live to see again :(.. it was intense shit … I swear!!! Then wat do we get after crossing tat… we 4 were stuck on a rock which lead no where…. Now we were very disappointed… we couldn’t see properly with our eyes wide open too…. We headed back… and took some other route… there were times where I thought I couldn’t make it back home…

ALMOST GAVE UP :

Nr and myself were a bit scared cause we had to feel the ground in front of us 1^st then give the green signal to others and help them climb… it was no easy task believe me!!! The fog made thing worse…. It was Dark and misty… it was dead dangerous… we were like… “ Balls to this place , Balls to Daata , Balls to Sup :P” we’l wait here for them…. Couldn’t take one step further in tat dark and foggy conditions… it was hard to see each other only :(… Then we get a Call….

It was Dattu and Sup “ Hey macha we’r on top…its awesome here!!!” then We “ Dude srsly its like hell here… cant take one step to left or right we’r like statues”… then we saw a girl fully geared up… hiking shoes… gloves…. Big bag… walk past us with ease… it would have been insulting if we gave up… our energies shot up again… let it be 1hr… let it 2hrs… we will be on the top ..Lets hit iT!!! What do u know?? 15min…. we were at the top :D :D Hahahaha!!!! It was a decent terrain.. only tested our will powr.

ON TOP :

Dattu and Sup welcomed us with cold water bottles… when I saw that blue tent that marked the hill top.. was very happy… ( happy tat we made it to the top alive after all tat insanity) but it only marked 50% heh!!  we had to trek back own as well...Then we had tea on top and others had bread omlet… I could see the extra energy boost they gained after that!! IT was still dark… the mist condensing on our faces and hair… it was pure heaven!!! Kalki’s jokes were unbeatable… when it got a litlle clear… Sup started his theory on Clouds accumulating… its movements and the Fog Crows.. Hehehe amazing it was!!! Everybody were rolling in laughter listening to him…

LOST AGAIN:

While climbing down one major thing that happened was.. Nr & me were helping out Zethu when we turned right and saw something that shook us... a guy had slipped an was rolling down .. shouting and yelling in pain.. he was stopped below before he could go off the cliff... Sup was there to rescue.. gave him some basic mediction..After tat.. we sat for a good 30mins as we didnt want another guy falling on top of us... it was only 6 of us… did a long visible trek :D :D and reached the 25% mark… now we thought it was easy sailing form there,,, but things didn’t go as planned… Sup , DAttu & kalki… went way ahead and we lost them… well it was back to Nr , Chetu and myself again… we took some other route.. it was even more dangerous … full of thorns and rocks!!! Nr ( Slippers) , Zethu( barefoot).. I was wearing shoes… so had to lead the way… put down thorns … and make way for NR & zethu… Then we climbed a huge rock .. and guess wat we saw??? Sup , dattu and Kalki at the bottom flat land very very far away….then we realized we had no frikkin idea as to where we had parked our bikes… we could see villages far away… I was one of them… then we called them up…

Sup- Wat up?

Nr-turn towards me.

Sup-Done

Nr- now right 90 deg :D

Sup-ok..

Nr-Follow tat road it’l lad to a village… search for our bikes… we’l try to make down by then…

Sup- thre’s only coconut trees thre man!!

Nr- I know after tat walk for a abt a km.. ul find a village…

Sup- ok ok :D :D

FOUND OUR BIKES:

Sup,Dattu & kalki went in search of the bikes… and we three still had to figure our way down…finally after 30min of trek… we were on flat land :D… but still a about 1-2kms away from village :(… then we walked on the fields like living dead… totally out of energy… exhausted… the new get a phone call… we see sup on his RTR and kalki on his RX…. Tat sight was the THE sight… we were so happy after all tat struggle… lost while climbing up… climbing down again lost…. And then walking towards our bikes through the fields is something il never forget :)

EPIC TRIP:

Then we had one final look at the place where we had done a craziest trek one could Do!!! :D /. we payed the guide only 15% of his demand, since he had left us on our way...We headed back to Bangalore at full speed…. Some of the stand out thing tat happened

1) Nr trying to snatch fruits from vendors :D.

2) Butterfly into helmets and mouths :D.

3) Kalki jumping signal… cops tried to stop him… but couldn’t :D.

4) Nr removing helmet in front of cops and offering it to them :D.

5) Zethu and Sup raced away way ahead of us to malleswaram.

Then finally we reached Vidyaranyapura had juice and headed towards Sup’s place.. then we all saw our way back… reached my place at 2pm… and had a good well deserved sleep:)

Oh yea :

Nr was @ Sp’s place

Chetu was @ sp’s place.

DAttu was @ sp’s place

Kalki was with Nr

Sup was with Nr.

Sp was at Sakandagiri…. HAhhahahaha :D :D

The best trek \m/

No gear, no water, no torches, pitch black trek \m/ \m/

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