Mission Death or Alive/3, June 12-15 2009

1 deadly mission, 11 members, 4 long days, 75km rough terrain, swimming through a 400m long - 5m wide - 100m deep gorge, 40m high falls, vertical rock climbing and amazing team spirit.  

                                                                 
aquamarine green blue...

When Peter mailed me the invite I was tempted immediately. i began having 2nd thoughts about this Mission - Yes, this  trek deserves to be called a Mission - when i realized it was a target of 60 kms or so. Peter the smooth operator convinced me to sign up saying he always gives higher km estimates. And how much we did walk... not 60 kms.. Not lesser like i had hoped, but around 75 kms!!! This has been the longest trek Me and my friends have ever been on! And Yes!  it was worth every bit of the effort!

Day one - We started from Tirupati on Friday morning in a jeep

With 11 of us and our backbacks stuffed in.. Guess the driver felt lonely looking at the crowd we were, So he decides to make it even more comfy by stuffing his friend in the front seat even thought he himself was almost out of the jeep - driving precariously. Had yummy egg dosas and spicy idli, vadas at a roadside eatery on the way to Oblivarapalli ... i think .... Guess it was 10 am when We started , after having walked for around almost an hour or so, Thats when we saw it! A beauty of a pool of water.. Crystal clear.. aquamarine blue...

cool... tempting.... Inviting and beckoning us to jump in.. And Jump in we did.

Glad to beat the heat so fast, in such a mystical, seemingly untouched & almost magical pool. We didn't wanna get out of the pool when Peter called for a time out saying we had to head onwards deeper into the trail. And so began our Run To the Hills }:) The walk got more and more dry as we headed into the hills, walking upstream on rocks and boulders. We found water several times along the way though it was far spaced out. At one marshy bog, we saw a sight to behold..Butterflies nesting...

They were everywhere... Flitting around  in the sun... After several stops along the way, we stopped for lunch at a place with ufficient water. We even managed to grab some quick winks under the cool shade of trees. We finally get a move along and walk for about an hour or so to find what seemed like Sheer Bliss. A long cool pool, dark and mysterious with canyons towering all around

and even a small waterfall at one end inviting us to venture further.. Jus when we began wondering how we should go about crossing this stretch, Peter spoke up... Wanna know what Peter is thinking  - Says Peter ?  Peter thought the place was good enough to call home for a night.... And so it was.

Some people almost didn't wanna believe that it was DOA and yet by 5 p.m we had ventured into the campsite but glad that we were, we dumped our stuff all over the place and dived into the cool waters. A decision some regretted later...

Buoyed by the fact that we wouldn't have to lug our backpacks any more for the day, the bunch kept on walking beyond the small waterfall at campsite.

The stretch was lush, green, dense and cool with water gurgling all along. We came across a steep wall over which there was a sprinkler of a waterfall. After we passed this one and walked over some more rocks, we came across a two tiered waterfall pitstop.

We lazed around happily soaking in the views, the fine weather, the vast territory unfolding slowly in front of us - revealing its treasures –

One gem after the other. Sure you are dreaming by now..

Back to reality! What happened next??

Oh the Rain Gods decided to toy with us, thats all. As we were heading back to Campsite 1, the cool blue skies clouded over  and opened up and before we knew it, rain was pelting down. We made it back as darkness fell to the small waterfall which now seemed to be more Alive and gushing than it was barely an hour or so earlier. Myself a novice swimmer who tends to panic at the drop of a waterdrop, was terrified that the water below the falls was inky black and that it was raining and all that. Somehow managed to jump in and get across to safety. Phew the ruckus was over.

But We were too late to cover our backpacks and camera, mp3 player etc which had soaked in lots of water by the time Guru got there 1st. Well, that was day 1. It rained all night but there were clear skies for brief periods and we managed to get a warm fire going and have some

Dinner!  :P

Yummy soup, rice and puliogare masala, parappu pudi and dhal powder etc. We did catch some sleep out under the sky but before
long the rain was back and we crammed ourselves into the crevices and niches that were cut between the rocky faces along the water pool. 

After the rains…

There were bugs crawling all over the place. Finally by dawn, the skies had cleared and we got out of the corners we had sneaked into and caught some decent sleep out in the open. I awoke to the sight of lush greenery all around me, filling all my senses, The canyons Towering all around with no sun in sight for quite a while. Peter's plan to leave early in the morning did not even come close to working out and we finally left Camp 1 after a good breakfast of apples, rusk, jam, biscuits.

Day 2: We headed back towards the 2 tiered waterfalls after which we headed upstream on the left side. 

Soon we were back to swimming across long, marshy pools and the cycle of ferrying backpacks started all over again ..And again.

After ferrying, comes the fun … 

We came across many huge, wild mango trees with fruits afloat in the pools. I am astonished that this territory was not leech territory as its a thumb rule here in Karnataka - - Where there is moist land and water, there MUST be bloodsucking leeches.

But Here it was H-e-a-v-e-n.

We headed up into dense bamboo shrubbery and walked on until lunch when we finally dropped down on some flat bed rocks along the water stream and ate merrily wondering about a packet of chilli pickle which seemed to be missing even before the action began. A yummy lunch of methi chapatis with various other condiments were munched down and we walked and swam on until we hit  this long gorge of rocks with steep rock faces towering on both sides and water flowing lazily below...

A bunch of us tried to do the impossible here.. Instead of getting into the knee deep water and wading along the shallow parts near the rockface...  We thought we'd push ourselves to our Vertical Limits...  So we began clambering along the sheer rock face complete with backpacks and all... Holding on to the niches and footholds..  Clinging on to stay high and dry...

We managed quite well for about 45 mins or so after which not knowing what comes after the next nook of the rock face got to us. Peter, Guru, Diwa, Rajiv n Gauri started ferrying the backpacks across this long, seemingly infinite tunnel or rather channel of water. Good job guys but their efforts were not rewarded. Divi also swam along with the back pack ferry club - Something we must have all done.

The bACKPACKferry clubbers returned after what seemed like an eternity perched on the rocks.

Myself, Akshaya, Vinayak, Ravi and Brijesh finally heard the other side of the story.. The gorge was about 400 mtrs long

After which there was a 40 mtr waterfall at the end of it – "Gorgeous Gorge Waterfalls". It was a dead end as we could not camp anywhere there and all that time and energy spent ferrying the backpacks was of no use. Peter came back soon after to take Ravi - the official photographer along for a "once in a lifetime" view.

Guru had gone ahead and climbed up as much as he could to see if there was a way upstream by came back to report that the steep rocks had us stuck. Vinayak and I were swimming along stopping at every shallow place possible to catch our breath and Akshaya was being helped by Diwa who too had come back soon after realising it was a dead end. Before we knew it, Peter and Ghosh babu had reached the far end of the gorge and were clambering over the huge rocks over to the side where the waterfall was. Akshaya, Diwa and Vinayak grew cold feet and decided to head back towards firm land than swim further for any longer.

Brijesh was keen on going to the falls

and I decided to swim along with him and even made it as far as the huge boulders. The unseen other side but Rajiv caught up with me by then and said that the team was planning on returning to the waterfall the next morning and that there was an equally long swim on the other side of the rock boulders.

Brijesh had climbed over the boulders by then & was not visible from the lower side any more. The thought of another long swim did me no good and I decided to head back before darkness set in as well. A decision that is still haunting me !

 

:(

The swim back was dreadfully slow with Rajiv scouting for footholds and shallow places to stand for breathers. Diwa and Akshaya made it out first followed by Rajiv, Vinayak and Myself. The rest of the team which made it to the falls caught up with us not long after after we stepped foot on dry land. With the sun down and drenched with wet clothes, all we wanted to do was get dry, hog some hot food and stretch out and sleep. Great job backpack Ferry club! 

We retraced our path for a short distance and came upon a place with flat rock beds and running water. This was Campsite 2 With trees circling around and stars playing hide and seek. A yummy hot dinner soon followed - Good job Akshaya and troupe!!! - Pics were clicked around the fire everyone settled in by around 11 pm but sleep did not come easy with some ghost walkers awake quite late into the night. Finally, we drifted away like the white, puffy clouds that formed a canopy over us.

D - day : 3 - After coming upon the "Gorgeous Gorge Waterfalls"

our trek route plan changed to circumnavigate it. The next morning we headed out from campsite 2 into dense bushes and trees but not before we solved the case of the Missing chilly pickle pack. Any guesses about who had it? Well who else but Peter!  LOL. Next time i know - Anything thats not spicy goes into Peter's backpack. Nothing else. We soon found a little water and hoped the entire route which opens into a valley had water all along. We soon hit a dead end and had to do quite some monkey climbing

to push ourselves higher. After getting over a couple more Tricky spots, we heard monkeys and the guys found some animal trail which we followed out until we reached quite high on that hill. The Vista views that panned all around us were breathtaking.

The view of the falls

did push me on for as long as the sun was not beating down on us as we were under shade for quite sometime but soon we were out on the open and the climbs became harder cuz of the heat and lack of any streams. Soon I lost track of the number of hills we climbed up, down and around. Late in the afternoon we descended down yet another steep hill into a shady but dry side stream.  Guru and Brijesh who had gone ahead to scout for a route came back soaked. There was apparently a small pool of water beyond which there was a bigger pool leading to another dead end. Envious that we would not be dipping in the bigger pool we walked on until the small, narrow almost tub like water source.

After having filled our bottles to the brim, all of us jumped in and splashed around to cool off. Soon it was time to keep moving as we were still in the middle of nowhere and this was to be the last leg of the trek.  Soon we climbed  more hills after Peter made me give up my backpack and its belongings as I was trailing at every uphill climb. Walking hand in hand with Peter, there was not even time enough to feel the drain. Thanks everyone - Gauri, Guru, Brijesh, Diwa, Vinayak & Rajiv as well for lugging my stuff around when I was down and Out. Would not have made if not for everyone's help and  support. Thanks again!

Soon we were on top of the valley with the sun heading down westward and us walking at the edge of a luscious green, bowl-like canyon. Deep within we could spot the stream - possibly almost dry - with the mirage of water reflecting in our minds, almost quenching our dry parched throats, Egging us on... To move along... and So we hit the mysterious 

 

Jeep trail after some photo pitstops. How we celebrated that we were back amidst civilization after so long. Walking along we even found a milestone in Telugu indicating that we were 9 kms away from a certain "Date palm tree point".  Blissfully dreaming about the yummy food we would eat at Hotel Bliss once we made it out, we started walking along the jeep trail anxious to cover as much of the distance possible before the day's light went out. At some other milestone that followed the 1st, we discovered that if we headed back some 18 or so kms we would reach an even more mysterious sounding place called "Thief's Point" when translated from Telugu. I guess that’s where we had to call the bluff, but we were way too excited and carried on towards "Date Palm Tree point" inspite of seeing lights blinking en-masse, out in the horizon behind us and almost no lights visible in the direction we were headed. After having covered the zig zagging 9 kms to Date Palm tree point, we made it! Where to you ask? To the Date Palm Tree point. The milestone in Telugu pretty much claimed something like - "Date Palm Tree Forest Point-This is it." Outrageous to believe but that’s the rough translation I got out of Divya who was the only one reading the Telugu words right!

Well, we looked around and the trail which had not looked used in quite some time went nowhere at that last googly of a milestone and we were still inside what looked like dense forests. Peter who had doubted where the trail led seemed flustered as we had been silly enough to wander so far away from CTC's marked gps trail that the place we were in was not even seen on the map. Suddenly we were a much quieter group than earlier, Treading back on the very same trail that led us astray. We passed the places we had stopped at to grab some quick bites. The night air was light as darkness enveloped us. The lights of civilization glittering Far away were almost an Intrusion.  Soon we covered about half the distance we had wandered away along and reached a milestone called Cell Point - a spot deep within the hills where surprisingly most cell networks worked.

Calls were quickly made, the group updated on the delay so that there would not be any Search and Rescue operation mounted, Bosses informed about the missing in-action employee(s) and soon we crashed into our sleeping bags, not mindful of the fact that we had not eaten much and eager to let sleep drown our fatigue. The sky was not cloudy and the moon shone high over our heads late in the night as I drifted in and out of the wakeful state of mind.

Day 4 - Freedom: With yesterday behind us, we awoke to a crisp, cool morning much before the sun was out.

Breakfast was skipped as was brushing our teeth due to limited water supplies. Who needs to brush when there is no breakfast anyway??!!! :D Soon we walked back some more along the jeep trail and then wandered off the jeep trail and back on to the Right trail - the route to the Holy grail (of sorts) - The CTC trail.

Before we knew it we were faced with panoramic views of the plains spreading down and out from the hillside we were on. We descended into rocky creeks and were following another dry stream right after that. The grand face of the rocky, canyon like mountains watched in   Silence as we walked onwards. We hit a point where the water if there has been any would have fallen like a 30 ft waterfall. Peter the adventurer took the left side of the rockfall

even though Guru had scouted the right and found a walking trail that seemed to have been pretty often used. Soon we caught up with Peter who came up with Guru after the two had refilled water bottles from a source after the dry waterfall. Walking this clear flat trail was a cakewalk compared to the walking we had done over the past 3 days. It was not very sunny for most part of our walk as we had left campsite early by 6 am on Monday. Once we found the trail through - what would have been an impossibly dense bush walk through - forests that encompass the hill, we even discovered tell tale signs of human activity which included some fresh bullock cart wheel print leading us along.

After walking until 1030am on Monday morning, we came across 2 villagers – one of whom led us toward the royal APSTRC bus that was waiting. Leftover jam, rusk, and other eatables were given out to the villagers – A jarring note of alien consumerism introduced in a land where time seems to have stood still. Whereas the same generosity displayed towards us by 2 ladies in the bus - who smilingly distributed mangoes  -

out of the sack loads they were carrying for their grandchildren seemed so much more Real and worthwhile. 

Lessons we city dwellers need to soak in Perhaps…

The royal bus ride

Took me more than a week to complete this birds eye view… Make the picture perfect by describing in words what u all saw in your mind’s eye … There are so many in the team, letsee who comes up with what

aDiOs AmiGos! Until the next DOA?? Time alone will tell.

Written by: Ashwini

Organized by: Peter Van Geit

Image Galleries:

Ravi Ghosh
Diwakar

Mission Death or Alive/2, Apr 30-May 3 2009

You like the treks organized by CTC? You have no idea about our deadly, under-cover DOA missions... Read more below...

“Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations.” – Ralph Charell

And that is what we did. No trek in CTC is ordinary, after all CTC is not for ordinary people. The excitement and expectation always hang heavy in the air when the treks are personally planned and organized by Peter. Imagine then what would be running through the minds of the nine brave souls hand picked by the specialist himself for one of the toughest missions in CTC. 

Mission Dead or Alive – II

The hills and jungles of Sri Venkateswara National Reserve Forest have always been alluring to CTC. There are many who make a pilgrimage to this mystic place and come back only to find their heart and soul still wandering in the wilderness. And as peter rightly says “The only cure is to be out there in the jungle”. This is what makes us brave souls go on daring missions to this forbidden place pushing the limits of human endurance farther every time. DOA missions are specially planned and executed for these high priests of hard core.
As is the case with every single trek in CTC a lot of planning, screening and coordination went into the preparation for this mission - right from planning the trails to getting food and essential supplies. We were determined this time to outsmart anyone or anything that challenges us during the course of this mission. And finally “d” day comes.

Thursday, 30th April 2009 (Day 1 – mission starts)

I come to the primary pick up pint for all our treks – Tidel Park. I find Peter sitting o the bench along with Bastien who is still recovering from jet lag after his travel to France. Karthik is also there with them. In a short while we are joined by Gowrishankar and Diwakar. All of us hop into Peter’s Scorpio and head off to Koyembedu to get the other operatives of the mission. Ramki’s bus is delayed for sometime and by the time we leave Chennai along with Rola and Muthu it is well past 6 AM. In no time we are on our way to Thirupathi enjoying the views of Nagala and Nagari hills on the way, planning to conquer the few unexplored parts of this range. Senthil joins us at Thirupathi and we head off to Alipiri bus stand to park our vehicles after a quick breakfast. We hire a jeep which drops us Talakona and we are ready to enter mission area. The climb up the steep Talakona falls was taxing with heavy back packs and hot sun sapping our energy. As we ascend further up we leave the ordinary tourists behind and enter the realms of the unknown meant only for those souls with a thirst for exploration. We start walking on the flat trail on top of the falls and enter the forest. We find elephant dung all along making us wary of us the presence of the native inhabitants of this place we could encounter anytime. We come across a reservoir on our way and cross it using a huge tree that had fallen across it. Soon we do our usual routine of following a stream which would take us to the planned destinations and unplanned surprises. In many places the vegetation was razed down by forest fire and that made our progress faster. We walked well into the evening and it started to get dark. We hit a challenging vertical drop and use Bastien’s rope to climb down and proceed further. After walking for sometime we come to a narrow gorge with a 150 m vertical drop. We decide to set camp for the night and start cooking. The whole team chips in with voluntary zeal and food is ready. Thanks to Ramki and Senthil for making some delicious soup and pulav. One of the best foods I ever had on treks. With our stomach full we settle down for the night under the open sky looking into the sky and eternity that goes beyond it.

Friday, 1st May 2009 (Day 2 – mission continues)

We wake up to bright sunshine and have our tea after which we climb up by the side to avoid the vertical drop and enter the main valley through a side stream. We get down into the valley and start walking along the main stream. This is the same stream where V4 trek was done and Peter and Karthik are happy to be back to the place again where they celebrated the New Year. After walking for sometime we come across a steep drop with a narrow pool at the bottom of a falls. The crystal clear, cool water is more than inviting and we jump into the pool to have a short but good plunge. We formed a human chain to pass our back packs and proceed further on the mission where we reach a fantastic pool with some nice rock formations. One of the rocks formed a good diving point and that set off a diving mania with most of us exhibiting our diving skills while Karthik’s camera shutter clicked endlessly. After a good one hour we had breakfast and started to walk again. After spending sometime in yet another pool we proceed on the mission to reach a wide, 50 m high waterfall. It was mostly dry and there was a nice shady tree at the bottom of the falls. As the team retired under the tree for sometime to listen to the sounds of the jungle, some of us decided to climb up to the falls to pose for some photos. After a few clicks we started walking again. Most of the places along the way were flooded and we had to fabricate rafts using our sleeping mats to transport our back packs. We also had to walk through thick vegetation at some places where there was clear sign of presence of elephants. By evening we were at the base of the thread falls which we had seen from the other side during V6 trek. We swam across the large pool at the base of the falls and climbed up the slippery rocks to reach the top of the thread falls and from there we proceeded to the most beautiful pool we had ever seen in this range. The V6 pool. The very sight of the pool set us diving into it and after some good dives and fun in the water, we settled down for the day cooking dinner and setting a huge camp fire. After having god food we settled down for the night.

Saturday 2nd May 2009 (real DOA begins)

As soon as we woke up in the morning the majestic pool lured us in and this set off another diving mania with people diving endlessly at times. The cameras would have pleaded with their owners to let go off them given the endless clicks they had to bear to capture all those thrilling moments. Especially the dives from 40 feet. It’s a great feeling being footloose and falling free through the air, plunging into the cold waters of a deep pool. Those few seconds take you through an amazing journey that no road on earth can take you on. After spending a lot of time that seemed like a few seconds we dragged ourselves on to the mission traveling upstream. After walking for sometime we were surprised to hear dogs barking. We later discovered that these dogs were accompanying people who had come into the forest cleared tracts of land by burning down the vegetation and exploiting the natural resources there. Guess it’s high time the forest department did something about this. We quickly crossed this area and proceeded on a dry stream to reach a majestic falls with a large pool at the base. The falls had encircled the area by about 270 degrees except for the point of approach. We climbed up by the left and reached the top of the falls. After some beautiful snaps at the top of the falls we proceeded on to follow the stream at the top of the falls and in the process walked through some burnt down vegetation again in the hot sun. Soon we came across a walk able trail that would take us to a construction site. But that was not what we were here for. We decided to walk in the opposite direction and explore the unexplored. We came across some vertical drops and steep rocks in some places which we climbed up or down pumping adrenaline like never before. The climb was close to deadly at some places. This was real DOA stuff. Soon it was dark we were walking with our torches in unexplored territory. We had to climb down several drops on the river we were following and at one point came across a dead deer. After spending some time doing a verbal autopsy of the deer we proceeded on the mission and soon came to a deadly dead end. We hit a 100m vertical drop surrounded on both sides by steep rocks, impossible to descent. The view on the underlying valley was breath taking. As we got a nice breeze and view here we decided to set up camp here on the flat rocks at the top of the vertical drop.  The night was pleasant – half moon shining bright. No dinner (insufficient water to cook), just some biscuits and very little water. This was truly testing out physical and mental limits and we were put to tough test. We spent the night at this valley and decided to move on early in the morning.

Sunday 3rd May 2009 (the final day)

We woke up early in the morning and climbed up along the side to circumvent the large drop in front of us. We reached the top of the mountain and walked on for several kilometers before we could reach a good place to climb down. Along the way we were treated to some spectacular views reminiscent of the Grand Canyon. We finally reached the main stream that lead to the Papavinasam – Mamandooro valley and started following the wide dry stream. We had been walking for several hours now in the dry sun with no water and our parched throats were desperate for a few drops of water. Soon we reached a point where there was water running along the side of the stream. I had never been so happy to see water in my life. We dropped on al fours and drank like a wild animal. We then proceeded on to explore some amazing deep narrow gorges near Thumburu Theertham. After the explorations we proceeded to a stream with nice cool, crystal clear water. We cooked noodles and had it sitting in the water. A welcome respite from the searing heat of the day.  After resting a while in under the shades of the trees along the stream we started on the final leg of the journey. Walking endlessly on dry streams in the scorching sun was a tough task and all of us were up to it. Finally we exited the mountains near Kokkaladoddi and entered civilization after four days. After ransacking a shop on the highway we took a bus to Thirupathi and had a sumptuous dinner at hotel Bliss. With the satisfaction of accomplishing yet another challenging mission the operatives proceeded on to resume the everyday fight for survival in the concrete jungle.

 

Written by: Baskar

Organized by: Peter Van Geit

Image Galleries:
Chennai Trekkers
Bastion
Karthick Ramalingam

Nagalapuram 10 (Nagala to Tada) - Dec 25 - 28, 2008

Survivor series – Nagala to Tada (N10)

The previous day (night 12A.M) - Peter and 2 others were held up in Nagala. Myself, Divi, Baskar and Arun decided to sleep in that no mans land. Strange sounds came and soon we were in deep sleep. Morning we spoke to some villagers and they said the place where we slept is a graveyard!


Day1 - Feeling hungry, waiting for our Captain. Yes, he came with a roar in his Scorpio and finally we packed up with our gears. Believe it or not, the food we carried alone weighed nearly to 4 kg. Other than that, we carried a pair of dress, slippers, sleeping mat/bag, 3 liters of water! So, each was carrying around 7 to 8 kg of stuff on their back pack. It was very late in the afternoon and we decided to start the trek with no further delays!


The trail was excellent with full of running water all over it. For Nagala6, we conquered the 800M peak from front side. So, Peter decided to conquer the peak this time from back! We walked, walked and finally it was around 7:30 PM. We stood near an undiscovered waterfall, with flat rocks near by. When we looked up, gosh! There were fire flies (around 50) all around the area! I felt the Cinderella story true! We opened the Christmas cake, decorated it and started celebrating. Imagine @ the height of 600M+, a waterfall nearby, fire flies on top, with cool breeze, celebrating Christmas! No 5 star hotels can give this feel! Our dinner was with Mushroom soup as starter and the main course Vegetable pulav. We slept with good meal and peace.


Day2 – Woke up in the morning, had hot green tea. Started the trek a little late and we climbed the 800M peak from the back side. By afternoon, we reached on top of 800M peak and screamed! Luckily, Airtel was working there and I immediately called Ram for sharing this. Then, we messaged around 30 CTC members about this. Here comes the toughest part. We examined the trail from the 800M peak. Peter and few other lost hope as it was very far than we calculated/imagined with the topo maps! Though we know the distance, the dense forest and climate worried a lot. So, a quick decision was made among us. The captain, Peter gave us 2 options of either going right (which has water and very scenic, but a long trail!) or left (which is dry, but will be trekking throughout on top of the peak to reach the Tada hill range which is little less distance). Since we did not have enough time, we decided first to go left. Huh, when did last time CTCians lost hope? I guess it was never!!! We decided to trek on right side and came into one determination that we should exit Tada by 5PM on fourth day! But it was not easy. Dense bushes, thorns, ahh all played in our legs creating minor wounds. Nothing stopped us. End of the day, we reached another pool were we camped. Before hogging the food, we had a small discussion on how to plan our 3rd day trek as we were far behind the Tada range.


We came to a final conclusion that we should start the 3d day trek by 6:30 AM and for that we should get up by 5:00AM in the morning. Peter said that we all just talk, but no one is determined. So, we decided to raise the captain's hope on team. We had raw rice with dhal powder, ghee, Bhel poori, Vegetable soup and fish fry. Thanks to Tamal, Arun and Baskar for getting fresh fish from the waterfall and pond.


Day3 – Morning 5AM the alarm was disturbing everyone! Thanks Nani for waking up everyone! We completed all the morning formalities, had hot green tea, packed our back packs and were ready by 6:00AM. Peter was so happy to see his team's determination! We started off the trek by 6:40AM which was an initial steep, loose rock climb! Our entire mind was filled with only one thought. It was to reach the Tada hill range before evening! We climbed up many peaks and we do not even know what the altitude of those peaks was! Thorns, bushes were playing on everyone feet. But none minded about those pains. After 5:00AM, a long exhausted walk, we could see the Tada hill range. Just one peak to climb over and we do not have water also. Just a 40 minute climb, we reached the other side of the hill where we spotted the source/origin of Tada waterfall. Believe it or not, we trekked 21kms in 11 hours.


No trail. We just cleared the bushes and thorns with our boots, climbed down steep slopes, stood on numerous view points! Man that was an amazing experience. We felt how our determination and mental strength can fulfill our wildest dreams and targets! Purely, physical fitness was secondary in this trek. We all felt, mentally we were fit and that's the reason we kicked 21kms with very less breaks and no water. Each and every step we placed on the terrain was determined to conquer the Tada hill range. We slept near that waterfall, cooked maggi noodles with some chicken soup! It was freezing cold and all the 4 night camps, we literally froze by early morning 2AM. Soon, we all covered ourselves with the plastic sheet which was actually brought to pitch tent. 3rd day was very long, toughest part of trek with thorny bushes and no water!


Day4 – Nani, waked everyone by 5AM today also. Peter was still on bed as he was little tired. Tamal poured the entire petrol bottle on the woods and it blew the plastic over there. Peter woke up with this noise. Immediately, we started to pack our things and started our 4th day trek by 6:45AM in the morning. Peter was much excited as there were numerous pools on the trail. We couldn't resist ourselves to take a dip. Check the diving special pictures J Confident raised and we were on top of Tada water falls by 1 PM in the afternoon. Baskar got a bamboo pit viper and we took some videos and pictures. None was feeling hungry. I just turned people's mind about Chennai Deluxe hotel. So, everyone wants to have a tasty chicken soup, with some spicy starters. We were in full energy even on fourth day and we reached the Tada base by 4:55PM. We were on time! We messaged to all core members regarding this and kudos came from everyone. I called my mom to convey that we reached safely. She congratulated Peter and team for this successful trek.


I was happy to hear that too! Since our cars were in Nagala itself, we had to walk a long way to the Tada check post to get a transport first. Luckily we got a Sumo guy who helped us in dropping near a share auto point. We got a share auto and dumped ourselves inside. Pondering the 4 day experience everyone's taste buds were waiting for Chennai Deluxe! We hired a cab from the town and reached our cars by 7:00PM. From there we roared in Scorpio and reached Chennai Deluxe by 9:15PM. Hogged the food, enjoyed the drink and bid farewell to all. Reached home by 12 'o' clock in the night and crashed ourselves in the bed. Next day was light for me without my back pack! I need gravity!!! Kudos to Peter and CTC for this wonderful trek! Finally, Peter told this was the toughest trek ever done in CTC to till date!


I knew this this now or never, Nagala trek was the best days of my life!


Lessons learnt from this trek:

1. Punctuality.
2. Determination and goal.
3. Mental strength – this worked out for each and every step we placed on terrain even without water! Peter told it's just a mental thought that you are thirsty J yes it was!
4. Team work – helping and sharing with all.
5. Life long friendship!
6. How to make quick and sensible decisions with a team.
7. Patience was taught and panic was gone!

Write-up by: Vikram

Trek organized by: Peter

Participants: Peter, Divya, Vikram, Arun, Baskar, Guru, Tamal, Nani

Image galleries:
Vikram
Guru

GPX trail (can be used for Geotagging)
KMZ file (click to see trail in 3D in Google Earth)

Other post on Nagala 10 is here