I heard a distant voice chanting my name continuously and shaking me heavily. I woke up groggily to notice it was a fellow trekker waking me to conquer what we now lovingly call the "Otha maram".

A quick peep into my mobile and I realized it was roughly 4 am and already half the crowd of 17 odd trekkers were up and zooming. All this, after a tiring dry and tough level scaling of a trek trail the previous day. Seriously the enthusiasm of trekkers with CTC is something to be noted.

This is not a stand alone event. This happens at every trek with CTC otherwise known as the mighty Chennai Trekking Club. All the pain of waking at a time when IT professionals go to sleep is justified by the beautiful sunrise, pristine air unpolluted with chemicals and crystal clear water available on these mountains.

CTC was found by Peter Van Geit on Feb 22nd, 2008. Incidentally we just celebrated our second birthday with 13 different treks to different exotic locations. Every weekend is looked forward eagerly by the ardent trekkers and the locations conquered range from Nagalapuram, Venkateshwara National Park, Nagarhole, Anaikatti, Talakona etc.

CTC also takes underprivileged children on easy trek trails once a month which is fondly known as Social treks. The joy of the kids itself is a big motivation for the volunteers and each trek has more takers.

On March 6th, CTC is organizing the "Trek Polama" event which is an eye opener on our activities to the citizens of Chennai and mainly to motivate them to attend and enjoy our treks.