A Moonlight Trek to SkandaGiri

Inspired by an email forward, there was a group of enthusiastic trekkers planning for a moonlight trek to SkandaGiri, close to Nandi Hills. Luckily, I was invited to fill the vacancy left by some other fellow trekker. I'm glad that I made it for it will remain to be one of the most memorable treks for me.

The day Urrrr, rather night began with a visit to Durga's home. There were pakodas to prompt the taste buds, Deepak's hilarious PJ's to tickle the funny bone and a 3 year old Kachwi (is that what a female tortoise called?) to amaze with it's texture and relaxed motions. It was a great beginning to an exciting night ahead.

Apparently, the 2 hour drive from B'lore had its share of enquiries and difficulties. But none were to trouble my sleep, as I had an irresistible nap due to the early-rise that I had in the day.

At 3.30 AM, we were at the base of the monstrous SkandaGiri under very little but moon light to daunt us of the task ahead. The Greenery of SkandaGiri, was fresh from the monsoon. The rocks were misty, a little wet at some places, with the limited visibility (Thanks to our torch) one were to be a little careful.

The entire trek till the summit was chilly and foggy. As we were half the way through, we felt to be among clouds, our winter coverings seemed less. We made it to the summit at 5.45 AM hoping to catch a glimpse of the sun rise, but the foggy weather spoiled our hopes.

There was enough jubilation among us after reaching the summit, for it was one of its own kind. The view did get a little clear along the time. That top-view ridiculed all the happenings at the bottom, life at the bottom appeared to be silly. There were quite a few camera flashes before we settled down at a less chillier hiding to have our breakfast. Again there were delicious pakodas and more.

We began climbing down around 9.00 AM, relaxed and in no hurry. There were more flashes and more eatings before we finally made it to the base. It was more riskier to climb down as there were quite a few slippery rocks. It was only on our way down, did we realise that "Gosh!, is this what we trekked in the dark, Kudos!!".