Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

7 of us packed some adventure into the weekend by going on the offbeat Halu Chilume Gange (HCG) Hike, which we discovered on India Hikes' DIY series. The base is 2 hours drive away from the Bangalore, on the North west direction (towards Doddaballapur).  

Firstly, much gratitude to India hikes and the wonders of mobile navigation technology- K downloaded the GPX file available on the IH site and installed it on an app called "Gaia". This works like Google Maps for trail exploration. HCG proved its offbeatness with its hard-to-discern trail featuring many non-obvious turns. The trail was obscured by many thorny bushes through which we had to beat a path through. The thorns often ripped through our shirts and gave many of us some surface bruises : I got a few micro-rips on my PUMA jersey (which is hereon unusable) and a one an inch-and-a-half long wound on my forearm. The thorny yet flexible branches on our trail helped us closely experience the term 'whiplash' as the trekker in front passed. This whiplash can be quite dangerous for the eye, and in our post trek discussion, D and I discussed how we should be wearing Scientist or Industrial goggles on such treks. Further proof of the trek's offbeatness was the fact that for the 5 hours we were on the trail, we met only 5 humans. These 5, who came as a group, were also guided by IH's GPX file. Kudos to K from our group for handling the app. Also, I am now ruing that I did not handle the phone for some time and poke around on this Gaia app and the GPX file. Anyway, this is definitely the most offbeat proper hike I've done in my life. 

This hike also served as useful prep for mine and S's upcoming challenging trekking endeavor: Goe Chala in Sikkim, which will take us close to the mighty Kanchenjunga. While I did carry a 3 kg dumbbell in addition to the water and the foods, in order to prepare for the upcoming Himalayan journey, I realize that this trip went beyond the realm of physical to also extend to mental preparation. It's been 4 months since my last trek, the elaborate multi-day Har Ki Dun, and I now realize it also takes time to get 'into' the trekking state of mind. To move from our overstimulated city lives (the mental activity, the plethora of things to do, the bright lights, and flashing videos) to the slower life amid nature. To be mindful of and enjoy the steps you take. To delight in the fact that every step cannot be just the same distance or effort- thanks to the uneven trail and boulders, they might involve lunges, squats or clambers. I remember how N and I once went through a mindfulness audio from Headspace around being mindful during walks. One should take in and appreciate the large panoramic 3D views from the mountain heights. From up there, we saw the usual large sweeping view from up there on a near-urbania hill: other neighboring hills, the distant lake, and the farms.  It takes some time to settle into this mode, and this trek gave me a teaser-trailer of that mental mode.  

One of the reasons we picked this hike among others we found online, was the fact that it was supposed to have green cover. There was decent green cover, with many trees of around 10 meters height. N earned the moniker of 'tree spotter' as she observed many idiosyncracies among trees. The most beautiful tree we saw was a fairly tall one with all its leaves a tender red in color. And interestingly, it's not the drying red of autumn- these were fresh leaves. Such nature appreciation also falls into the mental mode mentioned above. The green cover was more than some other near-BLR treks such as Skandagiri or Savandurga. DD Hills trek in Tumkur is also quite green, and S and I went there in May 2022. On this HCG trail, there was lot of 'scorched earth' all through the first 75% of the trail. I wonder how this happened. 

The green cover's contribution towards making our trek comfortable was augmented by the contribution of the friendly weather. Despite it being the heart of the summer, out of the blue (or grey, rather, if we are referring to the clouds), it had rained the past couple of evenings, making the sun quite subdued through the morning. We started at 7 AM and got back to our parked cars at 1 PM, and even around 1 PM the sun often played peek a boo from behind the clouds. The summer sun could have completely roasted us, as I've experienced in some of my past western ghat treks, but this was a welcome change. 

The running joke was about how there might be 'Huli' on the Halu Chilume Gange trek- Huli meaning leopord in kannada. In his previous day's recce near the base, K had been warned by a local about Huli's, starting to cry wolf/leopard, but he stopped once he learnt that there would be more than 5 of us. 

While we did not encounter hostile leopards, we encountered Monkeys who threatened to turn hostile. While we did observe some monkeys enroute, I naively pulled out a banana from my bag, attracting the attention of a host of them who noisily swung their way to some nearby trees. Fearing an attack, I flung the banana away and it was quickly pounced upon by some of them. I extended my trekking pole and brandished it menacingly, and the monkeys stayed away.  

N got her ankle sprained on the downward journey. She was wearing a Slip-on meant for walking, and I think that 4 of us experienced trekkers in our group (who've done multiple multi-day Himalayas treks) should have had more words of caution for her at the start , and also given her two trekking poles. The trekking poles were folded up and kept inside our bags for most of the downward journey. 

Now when we got back at 1 PM, the adventure was not over. When we had started our journey at 4 30 AM from home, it was dark and it necessitated headlights. By the time we got to our destination at 7, it was broad daylight. Think about it- what SNAFU happens in a slightly old car in such situations?

Yes- the headlight is left on! 

Well, the battery was completely dead and the car did not come to life despite a couple of pushing attempts. Thus, we tested K & P's all new Harrier to the hilt by packing all 7 of us into it. It did a commendable job in the rough terrain. We got hold of a mechanic some 20 minutes away, who drove along on his bike, and helped us 'jump start' the car. Just like whiplash, 'jump start' is another term that is usually used analogically but we experienced in real life. 

We capped off the adventure with a late but big and satisying lunch at Ma Da Dhaba, Yelahanka. Some of us were quite astonished at how well planned Yelahanaka seemed when compared to rest of the city. After that, we all drove off into the sunset.   

Labels: Travellog

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 10:47 PM