Out of the 6 cars present, 4 were Mahindra Thar SUVs and 2 were Toyota Hilux pickups.
BHPian megazoid recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
The hardware
The humans
What makes a bunch of guys meet at 6am 50kms away from home? Without a doubt the euphoria of a car meet. In this case, it was a handful of 4x4s with a plan to catch a sunrise. As it turned out, the temperature that morning was a nippy 15 degrees and visibility was 10 meters with heavy fog. Driving on the streets was turning out to be a challenge and everyone had their blinkers turned on making it look like Christmas.
The meet point came without incident and the four Thars and two Hiluxes waited expectantly in complete darkness. The group comprised of Jfk1975 (Hilux AT), Highrevving (Petrol Thar AT), RobiMahanta (petrol Thar AT), Dr.AD (petrol Thar AT), RakishRam (codriver), Jaguar (diesel Thar AT), megazoid (Hilux AT) and praveenbalan (co-driver). It made no difference to the weather Gods that we had mighty 4x4s and we were left to grop around in the heavy fog to make our way to the sunrise spot.
Dr AD led the convoy with a confidence that made me doubt his sanity. When he wasn’t visible, I kept thinking he had fallen into one of the numerous ditches that dotted the landscape. But then Dr AD is no ordinary man. He marched with an assurance that would have put Columbus to shame and we trooped along behind him looking for the invisible hill. We followed the Thar in silence until at one point the good Dr turned into a smoke screen and disappeared and his voice crackled on the radio urging us to do the same. I thought he had driven into a fire pit and waited hesitantly but then the reassuring voice crackled again promising safety and hope.
It presented a rather surprising morning for the villagers who on waking up saw unfamiliar vehicles in their backyard but they didn’t bat an eyelid and went about their business without a care. After driving for the better part of half an hour, we arrived at a dirt track that would kickstart the little business for which we had assembled. We didn’t waste much time and woke up the 4×4 switch from its slumber. The trail was narrow and the 4x4s trooped forward with Dr AD calling out a few obstacles in the path. It was a small drive and it ended as quickly as it had begun.
To our left was a steep slope and the more I looked at it, I was sure that we were quite mad to lose sleep, risk life and limb trying to climb this incline on a foggy morning. But then we were hardy men on a mission and had to earn our medal. So we walked up the slope to study it, slipping and sliding while at it. There were multiple paths to the hilltop and all were in a chewed-up state. We picked our line and decided to go for it one by one. The tires were aired down and we went up one by one. It was a slow crawl on the rutted path up the hill. The BLD and MLD woke up intermittently to move the Thars forward. The incline was quite steep but the vehicles managed it without difficulty.
JFK1975’s Hilux
Dr.AD parked on top
Panting Hilux
The views at the top were quite good, especially the reservoir waters gleaming in the morning sun. We took some photos and Jaguar and Robi posed for some pictures with their Thars in signature 4×4 style. The morning fog had reduced visibility and we missed the sun coming up over the lake. The plan now was to continue on the trail and the next challenge was peculiar. This was a negative side incline on a hill face and the feeling of tipping over was always present as we traversed it. The cars went sliding a little at places making for even more drama. The side slope was followed by yet another climb. Once on top, we parked up and had our little discussions over some light snacks. Thanks to Dr.AD, Jaguar and Highrevving for the snacks.
Thar crawling down
Hilux making its way down. Can see others in the background
Once we decided to leave, we packed and carried the trash back with us. The process of inflating the tires to proper pressures for the road was a time-consuming affair once we got off the dirt trail. We had a spirited run to a nearby breakfast point where we spent a good time over a nice breakfast and conversation. Parted ways and headed home thereafter making it an unhurried and nice morning in the sun on a trail.
An Ariel view of the landscape. Credit to Highrevving
The picture credits go to the appropriate gentlemen. Would love to hear their views of the foggy morning and also request them to share their collection of pictures.
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