On the Rocks, Hell yeah!
August 7th, 2011On the Rocks, Oh yeah!
An active exploration to find the cave at Antargange in the district of Kolar, a cheerful Saturday, while we were geared up with our sports shoes to hit the rocks. Enthusiasm had spread like fire among the nerves of seventy excited faces. After two hours on the road from Bangalore we reached Antargange conquering curvy, coiling roads as the clock struck ten, but that was not our final destination – the cave was. Huge rocks stood before us meanwhile trekking experts gave us guidelines to climb the rocks.
There were gigantic rocks we had to challenge. The worst part for some was once we were half way into the cave there was no turning back as the exit was elsewhere. Gladly the sun seemed to be smiling at us which made the day more pleasant. We began our trek and screams of ‘Oh my God’ accompanied us throughout the trek. Some were scampering from one rock to another, while some legs were shivering with nervousness. Many paths led to huge rocks which could not be escaped, but nevertheless we were eager to find the cave.
We crawled, climbed, jumped, and raced. Our bodies were stretched to the maximum. There it was, a huge empty grotto blended with colours of brown, green and grey and a sign of relief on all the sweating faces. We sat on the uneven ground inside the cave smiling, laughing and sharing each other’s encounters, while posing for random cameras. We never expected a trek o turn out so amazing. However, that was not the end as the path to the exit was much more challenging. Sun rays were peeping through small holes which provided enough light to find our exit. Fighting our fears we waited for our turn to climb the rocks that seemed impossible without the many helpful hands that reached out. Local children who were probably 3-feet were jumping around like spider-man with excitement. We got the best view of Kolar standing on the mount which is above 4000 ft high while the photographers did their job.
Three painstaking hours of trek had passed by and it was a ‘finally reached’ expression on each face on behalf of all our shivering nerves. We looked back at the hill wondering in awe if we really survived this life or death trek situation. It was lunch time and thankfully food was arranged as the region is not blessed with many food joints around. We shared our food with those little spider-men too. Although some had small bruises due to thorny shrubs, it was an experience filled with thrill that will never be forgotten from our minds.
Your checklist: A small water bottle, a light bag if necessary, experts or locals who know the path else you might go off track and of course a lot of energy with you.
Reaching there: KSRTC buses operate on a daily basis from Bangalore. Four km from Kolar is Antargange and cave is located around the temple.
Cost: 500 for two excluding food/guides.
Getting around: Local guides are the best who are available at Antargange but you can also try a package with Bangalore Mountaineering Club.
Anita