Mission Peak Hikes – Mission Accomplished !!!

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2 batches of KVites went to conquer the Mission Peak separately their own way on Feb 16th and Feb 17th respectively.

Last year also 2 batches had attempted to conquer the peak but did not reach the absolute top. This year we decided to try again. 🙂

I was with Batch-1. Hence the below is the hike report in brief for Batch-1. Someone from Batch-2 can write a short summary as well.

Batch-1
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Seven of us started off from the foot at about 8.20am. These were Prashant, Amit, Samir, Manish, Jeinay, Honey and little Niyom. Jeinay had brought the kids carry backpack to carry Niyom. I thought that Jeinay will make it halfway due to the additional weight that he would carry. I was also surprised to see Manish wearing shorts in that weather. But as it turns out Manish was fine.

The initial climb seemed a little bit tougher than last year. Honey started getting tired before the first bench itself. And she said that she wont go beyond second bench. I myself started to think that we also probably may not make it all the way to the top. Anyway we relaxed at first bench and motivated ourselves and of course Honey towards second bench.

Jeinay seemed like a superman among all this with him going strong even with Niyom on his back. Slowly but steadily we made progress and kept crossing benches. We ate snacks also at most of the milestones as a celebration :-).

With each bench we thought that Honey would go back now. But she kept her resolve and chugged along. After 4th bench there was flat terrain and
and provided much needed respite. By now most of our legs had become used to the strain of climbing and we actually started to think of going all the way to the top.

On the way we did so much medavo that hard to get such medavo in normal get-togethers. We took more breaks towards the end of the climb. But we made it to the peak at around 10.45 am. Honey needs to be commended for not giving up. Jeinay was a superman the way that he carried Niyom to the top and back without any hint of agony on his face. All others also need to be commended for conquering the peak successfully. I am sure Batch-2 has similar stories of people not giving up easily and making it eventually.

We took photos with the pole on top of the peak and opened all our snacks. We rested and enjoyed the view for 30 mins before heading down at 11.15.

The climb down was more hard on the legs since you have to use your legs to brake. And you need to walk slowly to avoid slipping on the pebbles. Amit did try 2-3 times to lower his center of gravity by slipping but he managed to balance himself.

WE reached down at around 12.45 pm. The sense of conquering the peak felt awesome. And it was a great hike with a fun bunch of people.

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Batch-2 (Dimple, Swati, Sanjay, Ameeta, Komal, Deven, Hiten, Ami and Hiten’s friends) did the hike on Sunday. Even they made it all the way to the top. On return journey they decided to explore another way down and had lots of fun going down the narrow tracks. They found a creek and saw a coyote in the distance as well. So the return journey was more eventful for them.

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Next time around, lets check the map of Mission Peak and take a different route to go up and then a different route to come down.

Good Job KV Hikers !!! Hiking Season has begun well. Looking forward to more hikes in 2008.

All Photos (Batch1 and 2) are available here