Premium Community

there are several folks in the community. open water swimmers, scientists (herpetologists, ecologists), birders, mountaineers, rock climbers.

the best way to keep track of the latest info (permits, bans, other news around trekking) is through the community.

Open Community

I run an Open & Free WhatsApp Community for outdoorsy folks in Bangalore. Anyone & everyone can join that. More on that on a separate page.

I also run a Premium Community for outdoorsy folks in Bangalore.

And people often ask me what extra do premium members get?

You access to my guide to off-beat hikes around Bangalore. The number of trails listed are at 24 right now. But I have at least 13 more in the works. Ask me for it directly via email for info on those.
Free access to the classic hikes I lead
Free access to exploratory hikes for moderately experienced hikers
Special Experiences at a highly discounted price (30-80% off)
- 30% for events where I bring in a expert (e.g. the prehistoric excursion to an ancient burial ground we do with a historian)
- 50-80% for cookouts, SUP in a lake, camping in the wild and such
- More details on the special experiences below

You might wonder, why do I call them experiences & not just hikes. Because most of my hikes have more than just a hike.

As a premium member you mostly get free access to these experiences.

The cases when these experiences are paid too these are heavily discounted (50-80%) for you as a premium member.

These involve significant planning, effort, skill or equipment on my end.
- When we go swimming after a hike & need buoyancy vest or life jackets.
- Or you ride a SUP board in a lake.
- We go on exploratory hikes to new spots

For instance, my upcoming hike + SUP ride will cost about ₹3000 for non-members, but only ₹1000 to premium members.

Premium members get access to detailed information about off-beat hiking trails around Bangalore.

Why do you even need these when there are so many popular trails, you ask?

On Official Karnataka Eco-Tourism Treks:
1. you won't be able to spend as much time as you like*
2. can't take your pets*
3. can't get into water bodies*
4. can't camp*
5. they will randomly shut down trails without explaining anything* in public
Popular trails are often crowded on weekends & public holidays. On the ones I have listed as off-beat, you will hardly find any one else on the trails, maybe a few locals at best. (Be friendly & respectful to the locals)
They're also often full of trash.
1. I clean up the off-beat trails I frequent.
2. And since these are lesser-known trails it's relatively easy to clean them.
3. And our community helps a lot with clean ups. (We don't have to hikes specially for clean-ups, only a few minutes of work on every time takes care of most of the trash)
4. Moreover, once we clean up the place in 2-3 visits. We might not need to clean up for months or years.
Once you've bought the guide, you can either plan a hike among your friends, find folks to hike with within the community or even ask me to organise one.

Spending unlimited time on a hike: beware of night stuff, wild animals. you can spend as much time as you like if you account for certain safety concerns.
Pets: have them on a leash
Swimming in open water in very different from an artificial pool. There are several factors such as water quality, rocks, plants & local customs that you should take into account before getting in.
Cleanup: We have been cleaning plastic trash from the trails, but haven't yet figured a reliable way to deal with glass bottles, esepcially broken ones. Because carrying them back is a safety hazard. So the currently we collect them all in one spot, so that they're easier to dispose later.
Trails being closed without any intimation. Tweet