Trekking, you see it’s
not a vacation and is surely far from being comfortable but there is certain
kind of inexplicit joy in the madness, large traces of strength in that
discomfort and a sort of satisfaction in the struggle.
We a group of 17
planned to trek on this monsoon in the Western Ghats. Some hodophile volunteered to
do the pre-planning of our travels and, they bought everyone the same t-shirt
with a bag. Kudos to them...!
We opted to choose
Kumaraparvatha full circuit challenge from Get Beyond Limits. It is a
challenging trek we need to ascend 7 km and descend 14km on the same day at
total we must trek 21 Kms in the misty mountains. This is our third trek and we
had few first-time trekkers joined but they didn't realize the lies behind
trekking.
So, do we...!
It was a wonderful
Friday and skies are a bit breezy with a quite contradictory of the routine
city life... However, we are already on our way and started to see the glimpse
of an exciting day.
We took the train from
iconic Madras Central recently baptized as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MG
Ramachandran Central Railway Station (Probably the longest name for a railway
station. Good they did not expand the initials "MG") and all 17
beings boarded the train to Bangalore.
Around 9 pm, GBL
outdoor leaders Arun, Suraj and Surat picked us up at the Cantonment railway
station. A pit stop for a small byte to all our stomach and then headed our
journey towards kumaraparvatha. Then the GBL Leaders started their details
about tomorrow's plan and asked everyone to introduce themselves...
Our grinning faces
into full scale laughing riots. Laughing, teasing, casting insults and I was
just admiring them. Music, laughs and some crazy dances from the gentlemen's.
Drizzling morning, raindrops were soft like snow and our bumpy
bus got us to the homestay.
At about 8 AM after freshening up, and a plate of “rice balls”
in the homestay, we proceeded to the trailhead, a short drive away. As the tradition goes, some photos shot before getting on the
bus.
The villages of Karnataka
on the Western Ghats are ravishingly alluring. It is serene and colorful.
So, we reached to the base of the mountain, after a small warmup session we began our walk exactly from Beedehalli and entered into the greeny Pushpagiri forest region.
So, we reached to the base of the mountain, after a small warmup session we began our walk exactly from Beedehalli and entered into the greeny Pushpagiri forest region.
The trail is quite a well-defined and is more or less level
until we reach the forest check post where we got our entry tickets and we were
also checked for plastics in our bag by the forest rangers.
After crossing the check post the trail goes through thick
forest initially and later as we go up, the forest gave way to tall grasses.
Also, we encountered a small hanging bridge on our way and a stream of water
flowing below.
Trekking in the Western Ghats during monsoon is not complete
without at least one bite from leeches. They seem very happy to see some good
and easy food at their place finally. And they started to suck our blood, and
we were struggled to get rid of them...
Unfortunately, they can't be able to complete the challenge, so
they decided to return to the base. 3 plus one outdoor leader started to
descend back. For them, the peak is not the destination it was always the
journey...!
Rest of us started our hike to the peak which is 3 km ahead.
Huge, rocky plateau adorned with derelict stones gave us some
tough time on our way. Here is where everyone praised them on their eclectic decision to
going back.
While reaching the top all we saw is fog and dark human figures.
As we kept ascending towards the peak, it only got farther and
farther. The trek seemed endless. We had started from our homestay around 9 AM
and hadn’t reached the peak even at 2 PM.
Exhausted and
hungry...!
After a while, with our scrambled stomach and frazzled legs, we
saw the peak.
At 1712 meters above the ground with the company of ever running
clouds with its moisture and chillness.
Hunger helped us to shut our taste bud and we took the nutrition
to stay awake. The food seems so delicious for everyone.
why I came to this trek, why...? someone vigorously asked
himself.
Some of us found it hard to digest the fact that they chose to
do this trek... and they felt pity for not descend back with the earlier team….
There is a small temple at the peak it was built with just rocks
next to the temple we had our way to descend.
 |
Yes, we made it!
seemed like we pierced into the sky...
|
We just crossed 7 km
it is a 1/3rd of our
challenge.
14km to go... and our next stop is
at Bhataramane which is 7km away...
On our descent, we had a cliff that slough off great slabs of
rock without a second’s Choice.
I call it a "murder point" (Maybe in monsoon season).
it can literally kill you if you didn't do anything. We were at the edge of the rock and fully covered by fog, next
to us was a deep sheer, a small mistake could take us to heaven. It was very steep, and we had to tread very gingerly, prodding
the ground in front of us. Water was all over the rocks and Guides hadn’t
offered us much assistance in overcoming the difficult section.
Stranded...!
And then the local forest guide came up and guide us through
each step. so, we need to place our one foot in a crack on the rock which can
give us some grip at the same time we have to hold the tall grasses next to us
avoid falling from the steep.
Few of us got to that side of the rock and helping others on
their every step. I still hear the words in my ear.
"please place
your foot at the crack and hold the grass"
"come one by
one"
"hold the grass
and watch your steps"
Still hearing...!!!!!!
While on the other side one of us got slipped, I don't how he
got managed to balance but he did... that was the moment when my heartbeat just
stopped for a second...
After that, he stayed there diligently until everyone crossed
that spot.
It was one of those slopes you look back at and wonder how you
got down. You certainly wouldn’t be tempted to climb up.
After this, the trail goes downwards to a clearing, which there
is an uphill hike leading to huge boulders. A rocky stretch leads to meadows
and then to another summit.
Scattered and smaller
but as beautiful as floating cotton!
Here we let the clouds pass through us, and we were attacked by
the tiny droplets of water from the clouds sticking to our hair on eyelids,
beard, hands and all over.
As we traversed the ridge beyond, the clouds thickened overhead,
and everything became a bit dull again. The walk down is treacherous with a path full of rocks. The
amount of stress you put not just on your knees but your heels, toes, other
parts of your feet.
look at us we are crossing paths between the mountains.
under blazing skies...
with fearful rain and a fitful storm...
The rain made our path a bit more difficult to walk because the
rainwater was flowing in our path. We stopped for a short rest here before embarking on some rough
scrambling down a wet grassy hillside. so that the other will join us too. Some
of us are heavily struggling to trek down because of the rugged descent path.
During the rains, the forest has a different shade of green. It looked
fresh everywhere. Whenever the rain stops for a while, the fog starts to crawl
up between the trees to the hills. This seemed likely as the grey veil gradually melted away and
more of the landscape was revealed.
As we approached near to Bhataramane one of us unable to trek
down more so we two decided to stay on Bhataramane overnight and planned to
trek down in the morning... It took us more time to reach Bhataramane and everyone legs had
died already - Caving for rest...We were already so late and it's getting dark. So, we enquired
about the overnight stay there for two of us...
But suddenly profound impact from him saying us that he can hit
the mountain off ...
He made the brave decision and motivated himself to trek down...
So, we decided to help him all the way down. Then we gathered up at the peak... and our outdoor leader
shouted...
"Guys get ready
for the night trek"…
We wended our way in the dark, dodging rocks with our torch and
flashlight from mobile phones...
We raced down as quickly as our feet could take us. Stretches of the trail are quite strenuous and
going zig-zag all over the mountains. we thought the next stretch would be
comfortable.
How wrong we were..!
We were just scrambling down a very steep hillside any which way
we could. Sometimes we were on a clear path, grassy banks, sometimes an eroded
path; other times we found ourselves boulder hopping. We eventually tried to
keep trek down without giving comfort to our legs.
Our groups were separated, and we took a short pause for others
to join. The trek becomes more difficult as you reach halfway with sloppy
rocks, slippery stones due to rain, wet mud, brushing wet plants, and many
more.
As like everyone begged their legs for a few more steps and it
was the time we realized the importance of even a drop of water. Our bottles were empty, and we were grueling to find the water
streams near us because its midnight and too dark... our body started to suck
the last drip of energy which is not there anymore literally...
Anyhow, we ran down the hills like there is no tomorrow.
Well, what else can you do but walk?
We kept walking though, in tiny steps towards our next
destination (kuke Subramanya). Keeping our legs on the mountainside, right
foot - left foot, torchlight, again right, left-right, left, breathing slowly
and looking around in the dark... It makes us believe mountains are scary pain
in the ass.
Somehow again we get separated into three groups: 9 in front, 3
in the middle and we 5 in the last with the local forest guide. The absence of a clear trail gets us more
fear...one in the middle shouted all the way along to find the trek path. Every
group had their own difficulties on the way.
Some of us fell down due to the lack of light, our battery was
dried out...
Maybe this is where we learned about patience...!
Patience, I realized, doesn't necessarily mean waiting; it's
being able to calm throughout the wait, with an understanding that time doesn't
always have to be on a run, and we do not have to rush into things to see
what's coming next. Patience comes with the acceptance and ability to live each
moment before unfolding the rest... More importunately all were sanguine and
never lost hope …
We asked him the local
guide...! How far is the destination…?
Just five minutes,’ he
said. ‘Keep going. You’re nearly there.’
We laughed outside. But cried inside...!
‘But how far really. Are we halfway yet?’ we asked him again...?
he gave the same...
Remember,
If somebody tells you during the trek that our exit point is
15mins away, keep in mind that for us it will take a minimum of 1hour in the
mountains.
The final 1 km is the difficult part of the trek, it is steep,
and you need more time to trek this stretch... But at last, a sound which made
us happy, a smile on everyone's face. It was a dog who is making the sound.
Once we have reached our endpoint the sadness, pain, hate got
blurred in time. Our tempo has been waiting for us on the exit point, it’s
already 12.30am and it takes 2 more hours to reach our homestay.
And it was a flourishing moment for all of us as we completed
the trek on their own and very safely… (it would not be exorbitant to say, that
not a single incident occurred).
At 3 pm we reached our homestay and they gave us hot chapati's
in that morning. Their hospitality was great and later we went to sleep.
I don't know they got woke up after that frazzled night, but some
of the hodophiles from our team were ready to explore more… and tried to wake us
up...... we were like naaahhhh...! so, they left us in the homestay... and
started to the heavenly waterfall a 2km away.
Early morning; the sun
has just risen but the clouds covered him, it's unveiling the greenery and
engulfing the landscape around it with a soft and hazy touch of light.
They were, Gazing at the falls. while the waters are gently
crashing the ground... It was a whirruping waterfall.
After this, they reached another small pool like a gigantic
water spout and when it toppled into an ecstasy pool, it foamed at the bottom, which
gives them an ambled nature bath.
After gobbling down some sumptuous breakfast in the homestay.
With our tired faces, we said bye to kumaraparvata and started
to Bangalore with our cramped little tempo.
While cherishing our moments of kumaraparvatha, we had trouble
which no one ever wanted after the hard day... sadly, our tempo had an issue
with the clutch plate and it's really really struggling to move forward.
On this condition, we won't reach Bangalore by 8 with this
speed. So, we decided to catch public transportation, but luckily we
had one next to us and everyone rushed into the bus with their bags grabbed.
'Kumaraparvatha' - you make feel as nascent
And, every day isn't full of sunshine
and there can be days hovered in clouds….
Often, I wonder what pulls us off from the summit. I think the
answer is in the life that lies above 3000 feet...
Live it once and you'll know...
It is about understanding our physical and emotional strength.
Yet and yet, it's all we
that brings the best of us and reunites us to help each other.
You know, there were these big moments from this trek, say when
we made it to the summit, or we struggled to rappel down the mountain and our
brave walks on the edged rocks.but also, for me, there were plenty of these
special little moments that keep playing in my head like a nostalgia song and
bring a kind of contentment every time I remember them.
I have never experienced like this before, yet the emotion felt
oddly similar, like those rare time when the eyes tend to swell up a little and
then lips widen into a smile upon experiencing something incredible, something
so out of the world...
I realized that we always crib and cry over petty issues in
life, despite having all the facilities and resources at our end, we end up
complaining about our life! What for? I questioned myself.
Love is so common yet very rare
So, let's try to be in love with everything around us as much as
we can...!
- PRAVEENKUMAR DHANUSHKOTTI
Feel like i traveled with you♥ Good Job👍
ReplyDeleteThank you. Glad you liked it!
Delete