After lengthy talks of hiring a Tempo Traveller to accommodate
scores of "trekking enthusiasts", we finally set about to Skandagiri
in a Santro with 5 members last Saturday (5th Oct). The team was relatively new
with Netra and Vindhya joining us for the first time. Avinash and DP were the
other two troopers.
This was my second trek- after the breathtaking Kumara
Parvata 2 years back. Skanda is of moderate severity- with an average pace, 2.5
hours to ascent and 1.5 to descent. We had set certain rules- pickup points,
timings, what to and what not to carry etc. These rules were followed only by
Netra... First time with us, she will learn...
People generally trek Skanda either in night or early
morning, maybe we are the only ones in the history of Skanda who started the
trek at 10:30 AM under the scorching sun, with just 3 bottles of water (half of
which we had finished in the car) and a few chocolates/biscuits (no prizes for
guessing who carried them). After a failed attempt to be a Vasco-da-gama to
discover a new route to the top of Skanda, we followed the regular route (if we
Indians are good at something, then that should be 'following').
Skanda didn't disappoint us- during the trek and after we
reached the top, it pumps in us new energy at every step. As we progressed on
the trek, Sun god got kinder. After at least 6 "we reached the tip" proclamations
by DP, we finally did reach it.
The cool breeze that caresses our faces when we seat at the
tip, rejuvenates our souls and eliminates all the traces of tiredness. I spent
nearly 30 mins sitting there idly... how refreshing and blissful this place is!
We need to do Skanda trekking as often as
possible.
