Sangagiri Fort - relatively easy trek, good views from the peak

Since Nagala way back in Jan 2018, it took me until Dec 2022 to complete another trek! After my first taste in 2009, I had been going to at least a few treks every year. And Bengaluru had so many trekking clubs and places nearby. After leaving the city in late 2017, the opportunities dwindled and I wasn't that motivated to go alone.

I decided to get back to being active physically on a more regular basis last year. Visiting Yercaud, lakes, hiking to nearby places, etc. And finally, this December, I decided to do a solo trekking. And nature decided to play a prank - it rained about 15% on the way up! It was still helpful as I got a feel for the place and also got to know about a fork in the path (from others who were sheltering from the rain).

Near the entrance, cloudy sky

Undeterred, I went again two weeks later and this time I finished it! As per Sangagiri Fort wikipedia:

Sangagiri Fort was built in various times. Before 15th century total 10 of 4 Entrances were built by Vettuva Gounder King "Kunni Vettuva Raja" and after 15th century by the Vijayanagar empire. It has 14 fort walls built on and around a hill and the last phase these walls were built by the British. The fort served as a British tax storage facility for Kongu Nadu, a region comprising the districts of Salem, Erode, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Namakkal, Karur and Dindukal.It is also known as Guptha Giri

It was an important military base for Tipu Sultan and later for the British East India Company. This is because only one side of the hill is climbable, as all the others are too steep to climb. This has a death well, granary, two oil godowns, one explosives godown, two masjiths, 2 Varadharaja Perumal temples, former British administrative buildings, and cemeteries formerly used by armies that were stationed at the fort.

 

I was better prepared for the second attempt. Got up early and reached Sangagiri around 10AM. It's about a kilometer walk from the bus stop to the fort gates. The weather was pleasant for December, although I sweated plenty once I began climbing due to humidity and exertion.

View from the base

Unlike the first time, there weren't many people at the fort when I started climbing. Perhaps it was too early? As per the board outside the gates, opening time is 9:30AM. Only met one group of three college students on my way up.

Enjoyed taking macro shots (wish I had better camera though)

 

I didn't know how long it takes to reach the peak, so I tried to keep a good pace. There were steps or forest paths for about 90% of the climb, so I'd rate it one of the easier treks I've done. However, some of the sections were moderately steep and given I was out of shape, I had to take breaks often.

One of the many forest paths

The Sun was hidden behind the fog and clouds more often than the rays gracing the Earth. A bit of wind in relatively open area was a huge welcome. I had to stop a few times just to wipe sweat (to prevent my spectacles from falling off).

Spot the spider

 

The college group were climbing leisurely, which made me wish that I was with a trekking group like BTC. Anyway, I passed them soon and steadily made my way to the top. Had to encourage myself a few times that I had completed way more difficult treks in the past, it was just a matter of getting used to climbing again.

Near to the peak (didn't know while climbing though)

 

There were a few sheltered structures along the way. While I didn't linger too long, I kept wondering what it was like to live there a few centuries back.

Hard to spot amongst the rocks? Luckily I did and not stepped on it.

Just about an hour later, I had suddenly reached the peak. It definitely came across as a surprise, and here I was guessing the climb would take close to two hours.

View from the peak

 

I spent a few minutes near the temple at the peak, taking pictures and feeling relieved that trekking was still something I could do and enjoy, even solo.

 

One of the many ponds

 

Apart from the temple, there were other buildings as well. There wasn't any clear paths to roam around though. Still, given that I had plenty of time and wasn't feeling too tired, I went around just to soak in the sights. There were a few ponds and the views overlooking the town on one side and highway on the other were great. Couldn't get clear shots due to fog, but it was still a nice experience.

 

Spot the bee

 

After going around as much as I could, I stopped when there were too many trees. Relaxed for a while, had snacks, took more pictures/videos and then started my way back.

Spotted this insect many times along the trekking path

 

Climbing down was much faster. Hardly took a break, other than conversing with those climbing up, taking a few more pictures from different perspectives, etc.

View from about halfway

In about 40 minutes, I was at the base. The trek took less than 2.5 hours in total. By then, a lot more people had shown up - some idled around the pool at the base and some were on their way up to the peak. A few school kids were even busy playing multiplayer games with their smartphones.

Another view from the base

Overall, it was very satisfying to have completed my first trek after close to 5 years. I'm definitely planning to be more active in the coming months. Even if they are easier treks than what I used to do, they provide a much needed break from being in front of the computer all day.

Exploring Kanawai Hills - 30 July 2017

Exploring treks with BTC are sure fun, even if it means getting scratches all over your body. The name Kanawai hills doesn't even show up when searched online except for BTC references. It hosts the Bala Kondarayana Swamy Thirukoil (temple) and 2-3 houses at the base on one side (with proper steps all the way to peak)

Another oddity was Silk Board as meeting point. After everybody had assembled, we took a bus going towards Krishnagiri and got down at Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Engineering. We had our usual intro session there. Organizers Ashish, Dinesh and Bharti re-iterated BTC policies. Shopkeeper  nearby helped us with rough way ahead to the hill. Dinesh had bought seed-balls from previous day go-green event - we dispersed them as we trekked.

Sun played hide and seek throughout the day. Overall, it wasn't too hot as can be in these parts. Being first trek as organizer, Bharti was the primary bakra to pile jokes upon.

As we neared the base, we came upon large open grassy field. The villager overlooking his herd of sheep called to us and advised not to proceed the way we were going. He said that this path was full of thorny plants and trees and that our clothing was bound to be all shredded. Given other organizers had done this route the previous week, we still wanted to go ahead and the villager told what he knew about the path.

Pretty soon, we got a taste of thorny challenges that would follow us all the way up to peak. It wasn't that difficult initially. Branches and bushes to be avoided here and there, still on legs.

Then the bad stretches started. Our progress came to a standstill very often. Dinesh and his lieutenants did their best to choose the way ahead as well as clearing bit of thorny branches. Still, we had to literally crawl, using our bags as protection wherever possible. Many a times, we didn't even have space to use our hands for support. Despite our best efforts, we got plenty of scratches. Certain kind of clothing were ill-suited and likely thrown away when they reached back home that day :P

The rocky clearings were a great relief. Not only did they allow momentary change from thorns everywhere, we could gather as group for rest, snacks and photo-shoots. Green spiders, wild flowers and fruits, weird insects, etc were another source of entertainment and photography.

 

 

 

Our progress had same story repeated again and again. Crawling through bad stretches sometimes took as long as half an hour to cross about 20 meters. Often we would joke that we might have to come back the same way, may be as bad as returning after going 90% of the way up.

 

 

 

After three hours of slow going, we finally emerged out of worst of the thorny forests. The peak was still elusive, but we got much needed breather. And the team has to be applauded for sticking through patiently and joking (for ex: game of thorns) during the climb instead of complaining.

 

 

 

We still had another hour of climb left. More than negotiating around thorns, we faced with finding the right way up. For few minutes we worried we would have to go back the same way when we hit a dead end. But we were able to find another way and finally we could see the path to peak clearly.

The neat temple at top is nestled amidst largely bare rocky surface. A few tiny ponds with lotus and a narrow split is re-purposed to serve as water well. It was quite windy and lovely view all around. After bit of rest, we sat for tasty potluck. Special thanks to those who brought sandwich, stuffed chappathi, fruits and sweets. Monkeys surrounded us but compared to other places weren't overly attacking.

Afterwards, we descended a short distance to rest under the shade of a tree. Given heavy lunch and difficulties while climbing up, we weren't in a hurry to go back. Lots of chitter-chatter and leg-pulling.

As we took the normal stairs way back, it was lot easier and quicker - just about 40 minutes to reach base (including breaks). We were running short of water but then we hadn't expected the morning difficulties. 

At the base, we settled down for refreshing ourselves. The villagers must have thought us mad to be scaling the hill from the other side and asked why didn't we take the stairs built for this purpose. Nevertheless, we were lent water and given directions for reaching the highway.

Before starting back, we had feedback session under the shade. Everybody expressed joy and amazement for finishing the trek, especially the newbies. Few nice suggestions were made as well. We filled our bottles and were on our way. Turned out that the remaining distance to highway was always around 2-3 KMs irrespective of whom we asked along the way. Our exhaustion showed and we took breaks often.

Finally, we did reach the highway and spent another hour refreshing and eating along with a dose of anthakshiri. It was getting dark but everybody was happy to rest, eat and then go instead of rushing back. We were lucky to get a bus to stop for us, which took us till Hosur. There yet again we bought water before catching bus back to Bengaluru.