Addiction to climbing hills and mountains (around Bangalore and Western Ghats) peaked for me in 2011 and 2012. And then, as with most things in my life, I lost interest and started other events like cycling and running. Late 2013, I started trekking again, and then thanks to trekking groups in Bangalore, I ticked a few off my to-do-list. Very sub-consciously as well as circumstantially, I have been doing off-beat events which include trekking and hiking, but not predominantly involving climb. Latest of these is beach trek - a concept I haven't much heard or read before. I have been to beaches before - Rameshwaram (way back in 2000), Kerala (industrial visit in college - 2006) and Chennai (briefly to Marina, once to Mahabalipuram and many times to Besant nagar). But knew very little of Karnataka's famed Gokarna and still know very little of ones in Goa (haven't gone there ever).
Picturesque
In January, some trekking group did this beach trek - but only amongst organizers. When Bangalore Hikers announced this event, I didn't want to miss - only consideration being the hot weather. But then, who knows when the next opportunity would arise - I jumped in. Good I didn't miss ;)
Organized by
Deepika, most of the assembled group of 11 were known to me. Naturally, the meeting point was Shantala Silk house opposite KSRTC Terminal 3 in Majestic. Last minute posting of
blog post made me pack things in a hurry again (though I didn't miss anything major like previous occasions, I ended up packing more than I needed). But when I got stuck in traffic jam in Indiranagar (had to walk more than a km to Old Madras Road - told myself that this was practice for next two days :P, traffic diverted from CMH road near HDFC bank due to Mahashivratri festive) around 8PM, I cursed myself and sent status SMS to Santosh - reply came soon after to not worry. I ended up at meeting place earlier than appointed time :P Ashay, Ankit and Deepak were already there. Shwetha came soon after. Then got to know that Santosh himself was going to be late! :D
Finally, around 9:45PM (around an hour late), we were all in and started to Kumta. The other 5 of our group were Anurag, Harish, Narender, Deepika and Surya. Despite tiredness, we didn't allow anyone to sleep until after midnight. Naturally, our discussions centered around treks (Surya leading with tales of Himalaya) and cycling (especially the cost of bikes). I surprised everyone with my decision to quit job without an alternate plan (Something about me or my face must be wrong - takes lot of convincing on my part to convey simple truthful statements :D. My college friends would attest that I rarely joke about myself and take things rather too seriously. But my words aren't taken seriously :-/) Santosh and Deepika were bent on posting a cheesy liner in fb. After various suggestions including Ocean's 11, we settled on "Eleven Pirates of Arabian" as our tagline.
Travel was bumpy, as we avoided Pune highway and had to keep near to west coast. Around 5AM, we crossed near Jog falls. An excited Harish wanted to visit Jog, but given our destination and delay, we couldn't. Nice scenery and chit-chat kept us busy until we finally reached Kumta around 8AM. After some confusion, we stopped at Kamat Hotel for refreshment and breakfast. It was off the road, train line passing on the opposite and dry red mud and short hill to left. We had sumptuous breakfast - Chow chow bath (those not visited Kannada hotel before assumed Kara bath was some rice item :P) followed by idly-vada and tea/coffee. The last two items not so good - if chutney was salty, tea/coffee was too sugary. We packed for lunch too.
Finally, at 9:30PM, we were at starting point in Kumta beach. On the way, Harish and Surya got loads of maggie (they had forgotten to read carefully 'Things to bring' mail from BH). Quick thinking on Santosh's part resulting in off-loading much of our heavy luggage in TT (to be later picked on the way). Day was hot, Sun blazing in all its glory on poor souls daring to trek in early March. I had only a cap to protect, while others applied all sorts of cream. There was some sort of ritual going on - lot of people bathing and some sort of tent on shore. An elderly gentleman coming out soaked advised us to remove all gadgets before getting into water - we replied our intention to only trek.
After a short pledge (which I managed to mess up while trying to take a pic) to enjoy the trek, we started our long walk. Trek mode switched on inside my body - almost total blanketing of everyday life and those muscles used to trekking abuse kicked on. It was nice to see the sea again and always pleasing if its the first time at that particular beach. There was tide - sea waves lashing, perhaps not normal in daytime to the extent the water was reaching close to road. After short walk on road, we entered beach on wet sand and pretty soon most/all of us got our shoes/sandals wet. Bad thing for me - the sticky sand gets abrasive if one is wearing hiking sandals. Some got wise - removed shoes and walked barefoot.
Starting at Kumta
