Climb every mountain

As I sit down to pen a few lines, I am suddenly transported to my childhood days subconsciously and start to hum this song .....

"Climb every mountain,
search high and low
Follow every by way,
every path you know
Climb every mountain,
ford every stream
Follow every rainbow,
till you find your dream......"



Work and other happenings around me had put a break to my short trips for the past few months and it was only last weekend that I headed for a short day's hike to the Brahmagiri hills (near Coorg) organized by the youth hostel folks . Almost a dozen of us from various cross sections (not all were the IT type) got into the tempo traveler already booked on a cloudy saturday afternoon and were greeted with heavy showers as we headed out to the Sreemangala govt guest house . After a quick dinner on the way and a good night's sleep we were all ready early sunday morning for a 20kms trek .

The trek started once we crossed the Irupa falls, the initial stretch of 1.5kms was a little steep but after that there were stretches of flat green terrain and a few uphills and downhills. We did cross two nice little streams (not much water since the monsoon was on its way) where we filled our drinking water bottles and had a short break. We also took a few stops at a rocky section in b/w that has great views of all the ranges around and one at the Narimalai GH. I believe lots of people take a break at the GH and complete the trek the next day. However , we just had the day at our disposal so on we marched.

As you climb up there are tracks that separate kerela and karnataka and one also steps into no mans land ( see the lines in the pic ??? )

The last 300mts climb is the toughest. It gets almost vertical and one gets to use all four limbs as you scamper up. There were times I almost gave up but was pushed on when I saw some others giving it a shot and just managed to hold on to some scrubs for support.

The effort is worth all the trouble once you are on top of the mountain.You get a great glimpse of all the hills around including the Chembra Peak.

We had an hours break at the top, that included finishing every morsel of lemon rice that we had carried for lunch.

The way back though seemed to be faster but nevertheless a bit tiring since It had been awhile I had walked 20kms on the trot. I would suggest doing this in 1.5 days if one wants more time to do it at a slower pace and also wants to camp in the surroundings or stay at the GH.

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