Bengaluru city-based ex-judge Anand Byrareddy scales 12,500 feet

BENGALURU: It has been a year since 63-year-old former Karnataka High Court judge Justice Anand Byrareddy retired. Known to have been a workaholic with no time to be adventurous. But all these assumptions were proved wrong when the ex-judge joined the group Great Expedition on a six-day trek to Kuari Pass, Uttarakhand.

“This is my first trek ever. I am not an outdoorsy person and have only travelled to mountainous areas inside vehicles. I heard of the six-day Himalayan trek and thought of giving it a try,” says Byrareddy.
Byrareddy had already been doing yoga, brisk walking and other exercises — that he needed to do for a trek a month before the expedition — for decades.

“We flew to Dehradun and drove to Rishikesh and finally reached Dhak, where the real trek began. We started with an 8-km trek to Akhoda, standing at 9,100 feet. It was so hot until 3 pm that I got
sunburnt, and still am,” Byrareddy says.

Their journey had quaint villages, shepherds, boulder-strewn parks and local kids asking trekkers for toffees. “While the scenery was beautiful, we were all panting because the oxygen level was low. We set up our first camp in the afternoon, and that’s when the weather changed. The temperature dropped to -4 degrees. Post dinner, it started raining,” says Byrareddy.

Byrareddy adds, “For once, I understood the phrase ‘silence is deafening'. We are so used to noise in cities but there, we sat quietly wearing fleece jackets and thermal wear, watching mountains, cracking jokes and exchanging views.”

The team faced their toughest stretch when they were trekking from Kullara to Kuari pass. “We had to wade through 2 to 3 feet of snow, our feet sinking in while we trudged forward. The winds were so heavy, they almost knocked us down!” Byrareddy adds. The group had to walk on a narrow treacherous ridge. “One slip and you could go rolling down the valley. We finally reached Kuari pass, scaling 12,500 feet. We only spent an hour on the summit due to the climate,” he adds.

The return was by no means an easy feat. Every 100 meters, they stopped to take a breath. The steep, slippery terrain brought a lot of strain on his knees. “That’s when I realised that I need not go to the summit to have an accident, as walking on boulders and rocks, had a high probability of one’s breaking bones,” the quick-witted senior says.

"There were times when I thought, why did I come on this trek? But the sights and views make it all worth it. Everyone was inspired by me because I am an oldie,” he says, nonchalantly, further adding, "I was too caught up with work until I retired. I figured I better go for a trek before I grow any older. It was a spontaneous decision.”

Sachin Mehta, founder of Great Expedition, who is also a lawyer by profession, hopes Byrareddy’s achievement inspires other senior citizens to go for treks too. “It was such a paradigm shift from seeing him serious in the workplace, reading papers and disposing cases. I never expected him to come along. He was a completely different person on the trek,” he says.