Sumeet Agrawal Blog

  Ranthan Kharak Trek (Uttarakhand) Indiahikes - April 13-19 2025          After the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek in April'24, our Vista Brunch and Trekking Club (VBTC) wanted to do another long trek in 2025. 14 people signed up, of which 8 were first timers for a Himalayan trek (other 6 had gone to ABC).  We were in the 12-58 age range. So we chose a moderate trek, and within India this time for variety. We closed on Ranthan Kharak in Uttarakhand, through Indiahikes. Kharak means a clearing in the forest. The highlights here were going to be lots of rhododendrons, great mountain views and camping in tents. The indiahikes group had 23 total trekkers (other 9 were from different parts of India) and 3 guides. We all trained hard for the last 2 months - walking, running, treadmill incline, elliptical trainer and weight training.          On April 12th, the Fantastic14 set off to fly to Bareilly and then a 2.5hr drive to Haldwani...

              This was Trek#13 after our Vista Brunch and Trekking Group (VBTC) started in Sept’23. Not bad, 13/16 months! We have had as little as 5 people, and as many as 40 😊 Age group 5-70. One trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), rest all around Bangalore.                The pictures of Shivagange looked interesting, steep steps going up the hill with handrails, multiple temples, the intrigue of a famous suicide jump in bygone days, monkey threats, and a final 70degree climb to a Nandi sculpture. The weather was rainy the previous few days, but promised to clear up in time, and we took the risk. Breakfast was always there to enjoy anyway 😊               We were 10 in 2 cars – Devaki and SrikanthR drove. The place is a little before Tumkur. We started at 5am and made good time, stopped for tea/coffee/biscut curtesy Vijay Mirji and were rea...

  It all began in the Adarsh Vista gym in the summer of 2011. I was on the treadmill, when suddenly I heard a loud groan. I almost fell off, only to realize that it was Sathya on the adjacent treadmill letting off steam during his grueling workout. I used to joke – “When Sathya gets on, he gives the treadmill a workout and the treadmill begs him to stop!” Soon we started seeing Sathya with a heavy rucksack on the treadmill at maximum incline. He was headed off to Nepal for trekking. A few weeks later he returned, completely tanned, from the trek to the Everest Base Camp! He said it was very doable – that very day I decided I was going to attempt it, to build on my hikes to St. Helens peak, Mt. Rainier base camp and South Sister peak in the US Pacific Northwest. My wife Bindu said she was not going to let me go alone (perfect excuse to not miss out). Our 13 years old son Sahil was not interested - just kidding! This boy, at the age of 5, would jump out of bed at 5am at the mention o...