Savandurga is a monolithic hill located at 60 kms from Bangalore. It is formed by two hills Karigudda and Biligudda. This easily qualifies as a half day trek.

This was a trip with a group of my friends. Our initial plan was to do a night trek at Savandurga. I was super excited because that was gonna be my first night trek ever. Since not all of us were allowed at home for a night trek keeping safety in mind, we had to back out. But our good elders were okay with us going on an early morning trek. So we chose to start as early as ~2 AM from Bangalore 😀 I hardly slept with the excitation.
After meeting all friends and picking everyone up, we hit the highway around 3 15 AM. We followed Google maps and it took us through a strenuous terrain and narrow gallis of a village. After what seemed like losing our way completely, we magically managed to reach the main road and took the proper road leading to the hill.
We were all set to trek at 5 AM. Our goal was to be there on the peak for the sunrise. We had approximately 45 minutes to make it to the top. So time was crucial.

View of the local village from half way through the trek.

Since it was not bright enough, we were going by guess. We got stuck after we had climbed 1/4th of the hill. It was steep as close to 80 degrees and there was no way possible climbing it further. At this point, we had lost good amount of time trying to find a route up the hill.

As if that was not enough, I did a stupid mistake by wearing casual shoes with improper grip on boulder terrain. We were stuck at a steep point with no hopes of climbing up and no chances of descending with those ill gripped shoes.
I’m thankful to my friends who helped taking the shoes off from my feet so that i would not slip down the hill losing the balance. It felt like it was the end for a moment. 😀
From here, it took us a while to figure out that the only choice we had was to descend down a bit and take a zig zag route uphill.
It was an easy terrain once we found our way out. We almost raced to the peak. I enjoyed trekking barefoot from here.

We all made it to the top just on time and it was amazing when the first golden rays of sunshine hit our face. It was the best thing ever to witness after all the efforts.
Your hair shines golden. Your face gleams golden. Its the golden hour for photographers.The view from the top is beautiful with Arkhavathy river flowing by the base of Savandurga also lit golden by the sunshine.

There also is a small mantapa and pushkarani on top.

We rested under the sunshine for a while. We then had packed chapathis for our breakfast and started descending. We were back to the base by 10 AM.

We also spotted this beautiful architecturally rich temple near the base. I wish it was well maintained.

Trekkers Quick Guide:

Distance from Bangalore: 60 kms
Type: Moderate due to steepness (Please wear gripped shoes)
Availability of water/food: NO
Trekking Fees: None(when we trekked as of December 2016)

Happy Trekking! 🙂