Bhubaneswar, July 9: An increasing number of youths are taking up trekking to stay fit and healthy.

Bhubaneswar Trekking Club, which started two years ago with three or four people, now has 30 active members. The club organises hiking trips to local hills on weekends. The members are both students and professionals.

The club has conducted trekking trips to places such as Chandikhol and Dhanmandal.

"Trekking involves travelling through uneven terrains. So, it is not only challenging, but also helps one stay fit. It strengthens the leg and the back muscles. It also has cardiovascular benefits and increases metabolism. It is a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. You spend time in the lap of the nature," said Alif Hossain, who founded the group in 2013.

"When I started the group, very few people took interest in it. They felt it was not safe. But in the past two years, more people have joined us," said Hossain.

Trekking is a great way to discover the unexplored beauty of the state.

"Odisha is an amazing destination for trekking enthusiasts due to its relatively untouched forests and many water reservoirs. It provides trekking opportunities to beginners and experts," said Abhas Choudhary, another active member of the group and a student of KIIT University.

They have found out ways to discover trails in the forests. "We take help of the local people, especially the tribal communities, and the local children. In the process, we make new friends and sometimes they often invite us to their houses, which gives us a great opportunity to know about their culture. We also take the help of GPS devices," said Choudhary.

Many of the youngsters also go on trekking to explore their hobbies such as photography and bird-watching. A few of them also write blog posts after each trip to promote the habit of trekking.

Their trips vary from daylong ones to those covering the entire weekend. "It depends on the areas and the height of the hills. We have camped at night when we went to Jhumuka dam," said Choudhary.

The first man from the state to climb the Mount Everest, Ganesh Jena, said the craze for trekking had picked up.

"A number of educational institutions in Bhubaneswar are organising trekking sessions as an adventure trip for students. I have been escorting a number of teams lately as a professional guide. We have already been to Mayurbhanj, Jagatsinghpur and Koraput," said Jena.