Kalavarahalli Beta

Adventure is something we software engineers can claim as our morning cup of tea. And to set things straight, my best friends from college and of course me, decided to arrange a trekking+adventure+get-together all in one. The place of course was bangalore, not because it was famed for its adventure spots, but because it was equidistant for all of us.

17th March was decided upon, and since it was a late call, and more because I was fed up travelling hunched up in a volvo for 16 hours, i decided to fly. Since time was not a big factor and money was, i decided to book myself on an Air Deccan, for a round trip journey. Anyways, unlike the visa experience, this time the flight took off on time. I reached Bangalore at around 10 am, Muneer had come to pick me up. We had breakfast on the way and then we went to the house where these guys stayed. Arun and Balaji were already there. After some chit chat and lots of rounds of playing cards, we went for lunch.

After lunch we packed things for the trip and set out on two bikes - and Enticer and a Karisma. Even though we set off by about 2, it was 4 pm by the time we were able to get out of the city. Another hour and half of driving, and we reached our mountain.(even though it was more of a hill, i'd call it a mountain for adding on to the dramatics) Called Kalavarahalli Beta, it wasn’t a tourist destination, and for the same reason, there wasn’t a chartered path to the top. Initially, we thought that was kewl and would give us the ultimate adventure; if only we knew what lay ahead..

We parked our bikes in an ashram which was quite some distance away from the foot of the mountain. We were also told human inhabitation ended there. Everything was adding on to the excitement. By 6 we'd started climbing one face of it. We'd already started realizing that time and light was not in our favor. Every step forward had to be ascertained as to whether it would lead us in the right direction. One time we might be held up by thorny shrubs, another time by huge rocks that seem to pop up out of nowhere. Coming up against such road blocks, we were often faced to retreat, crawl on knees, drag ourselves up rock faces and what not. Our hands and legs were already spotting with blood from the innumerable scratches.

7.30 pm and we were still only 80% to the top. We could not at that point see one inch infront of us. And hence we made the decision to halt. Being brave was one thing, being foolish another. From where we stood, we could guess that the way ahead would not be easy. It was growing steeper by the degree. And so, as soon as we found a place we could call level (even though there was a 20 degree incline, i'd call that level, in perspective)...

We had just enough space to stretch our legs and lie down. We started exchanging stories and chit chatting. At about 8, i suddenly realized that one big rock face some distance away to our left was very clearly visible. I realized that it was not so before. I showed it to the guys and even they were awe struck. It had a kind of a spooky lighting, almost like moon light reflecting off a big white sheet of cloth, and that too in a background of total darkness. We had got out our cameras, when we realized with a slight terror, that it was actually a fire which had started below. We were not sure if it was a forest fire or someone had set it off deliberately, to burn off the flora off the mountain. Anyways, the fact was that a fire had ignited, and it was starting to grow big.

This time of the year, when the sun is blazing down, all plants are dried up, and on this mountain, it was no different. To our horror, we found that the fire was spreading rapidly. We then had to take a decision - do we climb down then? Or ride on a remote chance that the fire might abate. As i mentioned before, bravery is one thing, foolishness is another; so we decided to descend. In hindsight that was a brave decision. The ascend was so easy... nothing of that sort could be said for the descent. It was a walk down hell. The fire on one side, darkness on the other... the slipping and crumbling earth and rocks beneath. I felt at that point that we had a larger share of adventure than we'd asked for. It was a race against time...We'd have to beat the fire before it beat us.

One of the most interesting things was how we never stopped to decide which way was best. We simply went climbing down, using the only source of light - a torch. Finally after an hour of exertion, we reached a plane ground, about 50% off the top. That was one place where the incline had graded off, and a sort of a step (a big one at that) was created. This place was risk free as there was a good amount of clearance from the edge of the shrubs, and hence no danger of the fire creeping up on us during the night.

If you think this was all, wait a minute. An hour later, we all had food, the guys along with me had KF beer and we were lying back, exchanging stories, cracking jokes and star gazing. The atmosphere was so serene that it is beyond words to describe it. We were all tired from the exertion and sleep was slowly getting to us. And lo and behold, what should we see, but a man walking towards us. We were scared stiff because we knew there was no inhabitation around. He came near us, and in broken pieces of english and telugu explained that he was a guide and that he would help us climb to the top, in the morning. We were pacified a bit, when he then asked us more than once if we would be spending the night at that place itself or we would be climbing up. This had us worried again. we decided not to sleep that night.

2 am, and it was becoming almost impossible to stay awake. The wind was doing its part by rustling the dead leaves and twigs giving the impression of someone walking. And then it actually happened. A group of four people suddenly materialized from our left side. Three guys and a gal. At 2 in the night, the composition of the group immediately made us realize that all was not well. They had also come trekking, and we told them the way. We also told them about the fire. They couldnt care less it seemed. Half an hour later, though, they were back saying they could not go on. Where they went from there is anyones guess. Poor girl.

Our sleep was all gone. At that point in the night, when it was really getting cold, not being able to sleep was something... and the only logical thing that came to our mind was to light a campfire. With the fear of igniting another forest fire, we'd decided against lighting one earlier. But now things had changed and we needed some action. All the twigs we collected earlier were put to good use. We had a nice fire going and then we did a war dance around it with all of us singing and chanting some crap song.

By 4.30 the last of the twigs had burnt off and we decided to pack our stuff. And by 5 we had begun our descent again. The slope was now very gradual and descent was easy. by5.30 we had reached the ashram only to find that nobody had woken up and the gates were still closed. We had to loiter there until 6 before they opened up. Once they did, we took off our bikes and there ended one of the best adventures of my lifetime.

PS:- I know you noticed that i did not do anything weird with the title.