Channarayanadurga Trek: Deceitful Fort Ruins & Dattu's Farewell Ride | Chapter 160 (Jul 1, 2018)

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was another welcome back trek. It had been almost 4 years since we had visited this place and the first ascent of this hillock was very special back in 2012. Hence we decided to return back to her and give a special farewell to Dattu.

INTRO & PLAN:

Okay, as Dattu was moving to Hongkong we decided to give him a small farewell gift. With Deefu in town and Momz available we decided to have a small trek and end up at some dhaba nearby.

TIME: 22:00 (30/6/2018)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Oh yeah woke up at 05:00, did a few push-ups & sit-ups, had a sip of coffee, woke up others & was all set to go! The meet up was scheduled at Dattu’s place at 07:00. So left my home at about 06:30AM,  

Once I reached Dattu’s home, I was looking around if those cops were still around the place waiting to catch me, like always! Once the coast was clear, I called up Dattu and we began another epic wait. The wait lasted about 1hour, it had kind of became usual and this gave enough time for us to catch up. Once they arrived, we left Bangalore.

TIME: 08:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Dobbaspete - Channarayandurga)

Ride to Channarayanadurga is 100kms pretty much all throughout lay butter smooth roads. First 50kms was on the NH-4, so we cruised along at comfortable pace. We were able to spot Shivagange standing in all her glory shrouded by early morning mist. We pulled over at our regular hotel to belt on some tasty idly & vada.

TIME: 08:45

   

We had a pretty heavy breakfast and grabbing on to our tea cups, we went outside. We caught up on each other’s lives and how it had progressed over past few months. After the chat, we hopped back on our bike and continued cruising on the Dobbaspete-Kortagere road. We enjoyed riding on the empty road. As we approached Channarayanadurga, we could see her standing in all her might.

TIME: 10:45

ASCENSION:

Channarayanadurga is one of those hillocks where the time should not be taken into consideration. There is so much to explore in this beautiful fort. The fort ruins and the deflection paths are something to watch out for and also appreciate. But nevertheless it took us about 1hour to ascend.

Anyway, I have divided the ascension into the following stages, and happy we didn’t feel much tired or fatigue, so yeah good indication. So, keep up with here! :

i) Initial Stretch

ii) Lost Paradise

iii) Layouts

iv) Last Strech

Once we parked our bikes near a bakery, requested the bakery guy to keep an eye out for our bikes. Left the helmets with them and waking the goat’s spirit within us, we were all set to conquer the hillock.

TIME: 10:45

    

i) Initial stretch:

This stretch is the hardest part of the trek. Not surprising at all right, if you want your enemies to die, let them die at the foot of the mountain not at the top. This stretch is not that steep, but quite tiring and you don’t find much of resting places in between. But pushing on through, we made through this stretch in about 20min.

TIME: 11:15

ii) Lost Paradise:

Once we reached the first fort wall, we spotted the right pathway which took us into the beautiful pond on the first tier of the hillock. From this layout one can spot the entire fort and the spot the top most tier of the fort as well. Here no matter how many times we visit this place, we just go on exploring the place like it was the first time. We visited the temple and after having a look inside, we went about the lake and begin our way up.

TIME: 11:45

    

iii) Layouts:

Last time we visited this place, we had majorly goofed up at this place. But this time, we made sure we take the right pathway and made to the “End of the World” spot. We could see Madhugiri standing afar. Sometime soon I said to myself and let it go. We spend quite some time here taking photographs.

iii) Last Stretch:

There are two pathways to reach the top. One goes through the normal way and the other you would have to crawl through shrubs and thorns. But the shrubs path was completely thick this time, there was no space to even get in. If we had tried to get in, consider us pretty much done for haha. We took the normal path and reached the top of the hillock.

TIME: 12:00

TOP:

As we reached the top, we settled down below some tree and began to relax. I opened my chocolate pouch and began distributing. Munching on some treats, we began talking about school and incidents which usually cracks us up till date. After which, we decided to take a power nap for about 20-30mins. Waking up, we let out a big yawn and decided to head back down.

TIME: 13:00

TREK BACK:

It took us only about an hour to get back to base. But ah, I guess we wasted a lot of time during our way down having fun. As we began our descent, we explored the ruin buildings on the other side of the hillock. It was spooky and exciting. As we made our way down, Momz and Deefu spotted a huge boulder afar and decided to climb it. Dattu and me took a pass and sat down on the inclined surface seeing the fun. We made it back to base, collected the helmets and thanked the shopkeeper for looking after our bikes. As we were just about leave, a flock of sheep came storming on the road and we had just sit and watch them pass for the next 15-20mins. And oh yeah, in between some donkey was stuck and it was moving along with the crowd not able to figure out where it was heading to :D

TIME: 14:00

 
   

RIDE 2: (Channarayandurga – Chandu Dhaba – Bangalore)

Okay this was the 100kms ride back to Bangalore. As we left Channarayanadurga, the cool breeze felt good on our face. As we proceeded, we picked up speed post Kortagere and went full zoom towards the highway. After reaching the highway went straight to Chandu Dhaba for some food & drinks.

TIME: 16:00

We spent a good 1hour or so at the dhaba munching & drinking after which we rode back to reach our respective homes.

TIME: 18:00

CONCLUSION:

“People usually say, we have been to that place already, let’s try something new. But different seasons, different people, and different mind-sets make the place seem new all the time. Last time we visited this place it was the same crew, yet this trip felt so different!  “

Until next time Ta-ta Cia \m/

PICASA ALBUM:

MAPS:

⬅️ 159. Kabbaladurga trek 161. BR Hills ➡️

Follow us on Insta
📸 Follow @theloapers_90

Kabbaldurga Trek: The Solo 200km Cathartic Climb for Alexi | Chapter 159 (Jun 21, 2018)

Place: Kabbaladurga trek

Distance: 100kms x 2 = 200kms

Directions: Bangalore > Bidadi > Channpatna > Kabbaladurga > Kanakpura > Bangalore

Krew: Karthik (Sp)

Bikes: Pulsar                                                                                  

Previous Visit: Virajpete

Budget: Rs 400/head

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, I usually do this solo-trek on my birthday to flush out my system and have a cleansing experience. But this year couldn’t do it on my birthday and I was disappointed. But it had been 1 year since Alexi’s passing, so as I wanted to spend some time alone with my thoughts about Alexi who represented two things in my life – unconditional love and purity. The trek as such was great and like always it forced me not to think – else I would slipped and fallen: P

INTRO & PLAN:

To be frank, I was little out of shape. And wanted to test my endurance out, and what better way to test it than to climb a hill which can shatter you apart. So with things planned out, an inch of sadness still there remembering Alexi I had disturbed sleep as usual.

TIME: 02:00 (20/6/2018)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah I was up at 04:30, did a few push ups & situps, had a cup of coffee and sat back. Saying I would be back by noon, I headed out with blank head and pumping heart and a picture of Alexi in my mind! 

TIME: 06:00

RIDE 1: (Bangalore– Ramngara – Channpatna - Kabbaldurga)

This was a 100kms ride on the butter smooth SH-17. Yes, as I left Bangalore, I had no worries and rode at a comfortable pace watching things that had developed over the months, on this road. After riding about 30kms, I pulled over at the regular hotel in Bidadi for some yummy breakfast.

TIME: 06:45

After the breakfast, I continued further towards Ramnagar. From here took a left turn and continued on the country roads and I started feeling a little peaceful. But I’ll be a little frank, I was worried if I could climb the hillock.

The first view of the hillock like always, sent chills down my spine. I saw her, as she was and with a deep breath out, I decided it was time to ascend!

TIME: 08:00

     

KABBALDURGA TREK:

Well, I was not expecting this climb to be easy as I was little out of shape. I did struggle this time, but pushed through to ascend the hillock in about 60mins. Quarter of an hour more than usual, might not seem much, but trust me, I was felt dead somewhere in between haha. As before, I have divided the trek into the following sections:

i) Initial stretch

ii) 3 point stretch

iii) Viper stretch

iv) Final Stretch

Ready? Alright, like other solo treks to this place, had three companions, the strange buzz, the wind’s howl and the sound of my own heart beat! (Last one went berserk sometimes :P)

   

i) Initial stretch:

The initial stretch as always proved to be the most confusing. I mean, it made sense, you wouldn’t want your enemies to have an easy welcoming into your fort right? Following the sense of directions and shooing away the thorns that tried to prick me I easily made past this stretch with a few tears on my hand.

ii) 3 point stretch:

Ah, this stretch pretty much was the tester. My grip, my knack for reading the cracks on the wall, my balance, my breathing, my endurance everything. Just as I began breathing slow to get my body into the normal stance, some weird thoughts started cropping up – what if I slip?  I asked my mind to shut up and began my ascent like a wild chameleon.

As I began, I realised I had receded a little. But never the less needed that jolt into my system to get the juices flowing. The spotting of the cracks and balancing were kind of good (I can say this proudly cause I haven’t slipped, else I wouldn’t be writing this :P)

    

But midway I was busted and had to pull over near some cacti nearby for shelter. These kind of insane pit-stops are the ones that scare me. But pushing myself not thinking much (I mean these kind of stretches forces you not to think much) I made it over the fort wall.

iii) Viper stretch:

As I continued towards the Viper stretch, I began to feel shaky. The sun was up and shining bright, but I was pretty much low on energy and burning out fast. I sat down a few times listening to the wind and to get back my breathing to normal. The viper stretch was smooth, but few weird sounds here & there did scare me a little.

    

iv) Final stretch:

The final stretch had a lot of railings and support. And pulling myself up, and remembering the first ascent of this hillock, I was pushing myself every step. Every bit of energy (hope atleast the dark ones) were being thrown out of my system. Finally I reached the top.

TIME: 09:00

TOP:

The cool winds greeted me on the top. I began to heal and as I walked towards the main temple to pay my respects, I tried searching for the monitor lizard I had once spotted 5years back. But then I realised, when you expect things from natural beings, they are seldom found. I made it to the temple, paid my respects and headed towards the Shiva temple.

    

I went around the Shiva temple to get a panoramic glimpse of the mountains. After which I lit incense sticks at the top in the memory of my dear friend and slept for about an hour. Once I got up, a strange buzz prevailed in my head. The silence was simply over-whelming. Paying my respects to the place and remembering Alexi, I decided to begin the climb back down feeling fortunate to have met such a great creature.

TIME: 10:00

CLIMB DOWN:

The climb down was a smooth one. It took me about 30-45mins to reach back down. The same as before. Guess I had got my edge back! Taking a long deep breath, I said bye-bye to Kabblu temple and began my descent like a lizard again. That jolt was necessary to get thing going, and it did get things moving. I was feeling much better and in rhythm as I descended. Once I reached the 3-point stretch, my stupid mind started cropping up again. Telling it shut up, I began the descent down the three pointer.

    

Few times, I just sat down hanging mid-way just to get used to it haha! Finally I made it down in some 40mins or so and found a small bullock near my bike. It was eating grass and as I approached the bike, it picked the grass and started moving away from me. I tried explaining that I was not there for its food, but it wouldn’t listen.

Taking my bike off, as I began to depart I turned back and had one last look at the hillock. The hillock which helps me re-store myself. As I was about to turn around and head back, I realized the bullock was still staring at me, laughing at myself to get into a situation like this, I left the town.

TIME: 10:45

RIDE 2: (Kabbaldurga – Kanakpura - Bangalore)

I decided to ride back via the Kanakpura road as the route back really didn’t matter much. I cruised along at comfortable pace, negotiating the beautiful curves of NH-209 to perfection. I did have thoughts about belting some masala dose at Hotel Vaasu in Kanakpura and in the flow I asked my mind to shut up again hahaha. This time I think it was not required, missed the dosa :( Damn!

Made it back home for lunch.

TIME: 12:30

Until next time, Cia \m/

PICASA ALBUM:

MAPS:

⬅️ 158. Virajpete 160. Channarayanadurga ➡️

Follow us on Insta
📸 Follow @theloapers_90