Skandagiri or Kalavarahalli betta is 75km from Bangalore. We were 8 members Shrimanth, Kiran, Somanna, Lohit, Prabhakar, Raghavendra, Naveen and myself on 4 bikes. On a Friday we all met at Sigma Mall just after the Hebbal Flyover at 9pm.
Had Dinner at one hotel on the way. Started our journey at around 10.30 and reached Papagni Mutt(Base of Skandagiri) at 12.15 midnight. Parked our bikes at the mutt. There were many people asking for guide but we did not get one as I had been to the place earlier.
Had Dinner at one hotel on the way. Started our journey at around 10.30 and reached Papagni Mutt(Base of Skandagiri) at 12.15 midnight. Parked our bikes at the mutt. There were many people asking for guide but we did not get one as I had been to the place earlier.
Started trekking at 12.30. Even though trekking is moderate it was very tiring as it was working day that day. We were trekking very slowly with countless breaks in between. At one point of time I saw a snake on the way and I was about to stand on it but suddenly I could sight the snake and stopped.
We reached the top of Skandagiri at around 2.30am. There were 2 shops preparing Tea and omlet for the trekkers and we had nice bread omlet and hot tea. It was time to have a nice nap till 5am. We all fell a sleep till 5am. The weather was chilling. Many had already gathered to watch the spectacular sunrise.
We packed all the belongings and were waiting for sun to rise. We were hoping to see clouds below us but it was not the case. Finally the light got brighter and brighter as sun began to rise. It was a wonderful sight.
We took couple of photographs and got down a bit towards a viewpoint. The place looked wonderful with few rock pillers. We managed to stand on the pillers and again a few snaps were inevitable...!!
Finally decided to trek back at 8am. This time we took a different but challenging path. This path reduced the distance by half but increased the difficulty by 10 times. walking on the rocks was getting difficult by each step. But the view was breathtaking.
We managed to reach the Papagni Mutt by 9am with couple of breaks for drinking Coconut water etc. The plan was to get back to bangalore but we then decided to go to Muddenahalli (Sir M.Vishveshwaraih's birthplace ). The village is hardly 10km from the Mutt.
We visited Sir MV's museum and Samadhi. And then it was the time to get back to Bangalore. In 90minutes we were in bangalore.
Panoramic view of surrounding hills from Skandagiri
Click here for all the photos
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| Skandagiri Revisited |