Kabbaladurga night trek

It was a Saturday and it all started with a simple question by Raj on the Intrepid Hikers Whatsapp group, " hey guys shall we do Kabbaladurga this weekend ? It will be a night trek ".  Since I had dropped out of the Nagala East trek by CTC for that weekend, I immediately said yes to this.  Also, it was a place whose name I had been hearing since many years but never managed to visit.  Thirdly, night treks on the cute little hillocks surrounding the city of Bangalore are really mysterious, and have a flavor of their own; that eerie feeling you get while you watch suspense movies.

Bangalore is a really cold place to begin with; the outskirts even more so, and doing a trek in the middle of the night in an unknown village with only the hooting of the owls for company, definitely adds to the thrill and excitement of a trek.  After getting a sufficient number of members (9 of us) to say yes, we booked a car for the trip and managed to leave Bangalore city by 12.30 AM.  This was good in the way that we would be able to do a quiet night trek while the whole world slept, but had we left earlier, we would have had time enough time to cook food and get a good nights rest as well.  We decided to keep that plan for another weekend.

By the time we hit Kanakapura town, it was well over 2.30 AM and dew was falling fast.  The air was much cooler and dense here, since we were in a thickly forested and rural area.  We got out of the car right at the point from where we'd have to get off the main road and get onto a muddy village road.  We rechecked the map, completed our morning ablutions, and, set off for the base of the hill which was just 2 Km's away from this point.

The moment we reached the base of the hill, we spotted a little bunny rabbit hopping around in the bushes but it was really fast and we couldn't take any photos of it.  There was a marriage ceremony taking place in a nearby temple, so it wasn't as quiet as we had expected it to be at 3 in the morning.  Raj and I went to look for the correct trail, located it, and came back to take everyone else.  Since we were already pretty late, we didn't want to waste much time at the base and quickly proceeded to hit the trail.  The trail seemed to be lit by a long line of light poles which went all the way to the top.  We decided to quickly head for the first light pole and regroup there and then have fun with discussions and jokes.

Initially, we didn't feel very cold, (as we had already acclimatized to rural air) but as we kept ascending the hill, the temperature kept dropping and the wind started blowing harder.  Raj, myself, and another girl had got separated from the group somewhere at the start of the climb, and it took us a while to find the trail and regroup with the others.  After this, we all started moving as a single group.  The climb got really steep at some points, and the authorities had thoughtfully installed railings and carved steps into the stone at these points.  It barely took us an hour and a half to reach the top and start taking in the scintillating night view of the well lit towns below.

We then proceeded towards a temple which was located at the center of the hill.  We also figured that this place would be the most wind resistant as compared to all other sides of the hill, and set up the tent here. By the time we set up the tent and tarpaulin sheet to sleep on, it was already 4 in the morning and we knew that we would barely get to sleep for an hour before the sun came up, so we slept for an hour before someone woke up and said, "wow, what a view!".  That was enough to wake me up from my half asleep state and take in the mesmerizing view of clouds floating all around and below us.

After that, everyone started waking up one after another and started taking photos of the floating clouds.  The next one hour was spent clicking pictures, hopping from one side of the hill to the other, visiting small shelters that were built there during ancient times, eating snacks, and dismantling the tent in order to pack it up.

We started for the base at sometime around 8.30 and didn't take much time to descend the hill as it was easier.  We encountered a couple of folks climbing the hill to go to the temple at the peak.  We reached the base by around 10 and hit the main road immediately to have some tea and snacks from shops located on the state highway.  After that, we headed to Kanakapura town in order to find a decent restaurant from where we could have breakfast.  With that done, all that was left to do was to head home and hit the sack as not a soul had a wink of sleep the previous night.  The return journey took a bit longer as we had to face some traffic while entering the city but we all managed to reach home by around 1 in the afternoon.  Not bad for a night trek; we would at least get a good half days sleep.

Tada to Nagala, September 2016

This was my second trek to Tada, and my nth trek with CTC (Chennai Trekking Club).  I have  lost count of the number of treks I have done with them.  When the same question is asked to me in the trek registration form, I just happily put in something like "50+", "60+" , and in every trek, whenever someone asks me the this question, the reply is again the same.  There are few clubs (or should I say, people) on earth who will make you push yourself beyond what you thought was your highest accessible potential.  CTC is one of them.

The only club that told me that I have an unlimited amount of brain RAM and muscle power.  The only club that taught me that 'life begins at the end of your comfort zone', the only club that pushes its members beyond the limit so that they can reach their highest potential in all spheres of life.  When you do a difficult trek with CTC, you tend to carry the new traits of tolerance, limitless energy, and enthusiasm out of the forest and apply them in all other spheres of life.  All it takes is one monsoon survival mission or difficult trek with them and you'll get to know where you stand.

                                                                            Day 1

Now coming back to the trek, there were 21 of us, each carefully selected based upon their stamina, past trek and volunteering experience, and willingness to exhibit the same.  We started trekking at around 9 AM, as far as I can remember.  The trek invite said that it was to be a moderate trek.  However, it was the initial part of the trek that proved to be the toughest.

Right before the climb began - the smiles say it all

We started off with this 70 degree rock face:

At the start of the trek

The 70 degree rock face

At the top

Yup, an almost 90 degree climb for the first four hours of day 1 !!  That ought to lift the spirits of the first timers to complete the rest of the trek, but they weren't worried as they were rightly selected according to their fitness level.  On reaching the peak, the organizers had a surprise and reward waiting for us.  It was the perfect treat to us after that grueling climb. A rectangular pool fed by the stream coming from the opposite direction.  It was pure bliss.

The surprise pool

On the way to the next pool

The second pool

We swam, relaxed our muscles, even taught a few a few non swimmers how to swim, and then bid goodbye to the pool.  Since we were really fast, we could afford the luxury of spending time at another pool which was just a ten minute trek from this pool.  The water here was crystal clear, deeper, and, had a small waterfall too.  After spending enough time jumping, diving, and bathing under the waterfall, we had our lunches and started off for the campsite for the day, the Tada plateau.  It was afternoon now and this was the time we really felt the intensity of the sun on our sweat soaked skin. We followed the stream for quite a while, climbing the rock face to our right whenever a pool was in the way, and then finally took a break at a point where we had to leave the stream.  It was our last water point for the day, and we would have to get through the night along with the second half of day 2 with only this water, so we were very judicious in its consumption.

There were only ten of us here, and we were still waiting for the rest of the guys to get to us so that we could regroup and head for the peak together.  After waiting for more than forty minutes, and with no sign of them approaching, one of our organizers, Raj, decided to go and check on them to see if they were okay.  We thought he would be back in a few minutes as he was fast.  Minutes, turned into hours, and there was still no sign of him or the rest of the gang.  Two guys from this group, along with me, went to an adjacent hill and started screaming and whistling as loud as we could to attract the attention of the other group, but all our efforts went in vain as we never got a reply.  After a few more tense minutes we saw Raj coming back, but no one was following him.

With nightfall setting in, we decided that we'd be better off at the campsite, so that we could make a tent and start cooking.  It would also be a better place to discuss on what has to be done to find the other group.  After collecting how much ever water we could, we left for the campsite and found ourselves there in just twenty minutes.  Luckily, we got cellphone signals here as we were on a plateau.  We quickly made a few attempts to reach the other group via mobile phone and managed to obtain their location.  Two people from our group set out to bring them back to our campsite, while the rest of us started clearing the ground of rocks and plants to make the sleeping space as flat as possible.

The view from our campsite in the morning

Just a few minutes after the rescue team left, it started raining heavily.  We quickly covered all the backpacks with one tarpaulin sheet and used the one to cover us.  As it wasn't enough for the eight of us, a few of us had to stand and hold the tarp to prevent rain water from getting inside through the sides.  After we comfortably settled down, we started having a round of introductions followed by consuming some of the ready-to-eat items.  It was fun doing all this in the pouring rain and cold wind.

After about an hour or so, we could see a huge bunch of flashlights approaching us and were relieved to see that the other group had been found.  When they reached us, we got to know that they had taken a left turn somewhere at a point where our group had continued straight.  Also, there was one person, Nambi, who was still left to be found.  Knowing that he had a tarpaulin sheet and some food gave us a sigh of relief, and we went about rearranging the bags and tarpaulin sheet to accommodate twelve more people.

The rain finally ceased at 11PM.  This was the point where everyone got to sleep, uninterrupted, for the rest of the night even though a few of us were almost outside the shelter zone of the tent.  It did drizzle on and off for the rest of the night but it never rained so hard as to wake up the whole group and make everyone stand.

                                                                           Day 2

We woke up to a chill and breezy morning the next day, with melodious birdsong for company.  The earth was still moist all over the hill as the sun was yet to come up.  We decided to have an early start as it was going to be at least 3-4 hours before we could hit the next water point.  Today's plan was to visit an ancient fort built by the British, which was situated at the North-East corner of the hill.  We ate whatever dry food each of us had brought for breakfast and then started for the fort at 7.  After barely trekking for an hour, we came to a point where we started seeing stones that were placed in a line, indicating that it was some kind of fort wall and that a fort was nearby.

The fort wall

Ruins of the fort

We reached the fort, left our bags there, and then decided to take a small hike to a viewpoint nearby, which offers scintillating views of the kaalangi reservoir.  A few of us wanted to save energy since we were running low on water and decided not to go to the viewpoint, and instead rest at the fort.

The rest of us enjoyed these splendid views:

Since we were short on time, we couldn't spend much time here and had to start back for the fort.  After regrouping at the fort, the organizer said that our next target would be the ruins of a temple which was located 500 meters below in the valley between this hill and the next, along a stream.  Since it was to be our first water point for the day, most of us were really looking forward to getting there.  It was a cloudless day with the heat of the sun beating down hard on us.  By the time we got to the temple, it was around 2 in the afternoon.  Lo and behold, who do we find waiting for us at the temple ? Nambi, of course!  He narrated the story of how he had got lost searching for the second group, endured the rainy night using the tarpaulin sheet, had searched for us at some other peak this morning and had finally gotten here as early as possible, knowing that it would be our exit route.

With that, we all quickly had lunch, filled up our bottles, and, left from there by around 3.  Our target was to exit the forest by 5 PM and Raj told us that this could be easily achieved.  We had another 8 kilometers or so to go but it was mostly a flat trail used by the villagers to graze their cattle and woodcutters to enter the forest, so there wasn't much effort needed to complete this last section of our trek.  After descending the hill and reaching the flat section, we were delighted to find a small stream flowing next to it and went ahead to drink from it and fill up our water bottles again.  After everyone quenched their thirst and filled their bottles, we bid goodbye to the crystal clear, unprocessed, nutrient dense stream water and ran towards the village.

Vaddipalam village

Rain on a distant hill

The village trail

We exited the forest with more than two hours to spare for sundown. In the end, we had logged almost 20 kms on the GPS, making it a truly moderate trek.

A picnic to Nagala East

Finally, a trek came out of the planning stages of a Whatsapp group and manifested itself into reality!!  Raj and group had been planning this trek for quite a long while after the Nagala West trek.  I myself didn't know that I would be joining them until Friday night.  It was sheer luck that I was able to join them.  I had applied for a job and was told at home that I can only go if I get selected.  I checked my email a few hours prior to departure and found an email saying that I was selected.  This sent the adrenaline rushing to my head and the only thoughts were of me running on the boulders of the eastern stream of Nagala, getting to picnic pool as fast as possible.  I then packed my bag as quickly as possible, purchased a few eatables and then went straight to the pickup point at tin factory.

We reached Nagalapuram town quite early at around 5 AM.  We made good use of the extra time by checking into a lodge to freshen up, having breakfast and purchasing a couple of grocery items that we would need to cook food for the night.  It was 10.30 by the time we were at the starting point of the trek, the TP Kota dam.

At the T.P Kota dam

We then quickly distributed the common items and started for picnic pool at a steady pace.  The weather was actually good for the month of March and the sun wasn't burning our faces.  We reached the turning point for Magic pool within two hours, then decided to take a call on what route to take.  Everyone decided that we would go and camp at picnic pool itself as we had already arrived at magic pool and there would be nothing else to do for the rest of the day other than swimming and eating.

With that we set off at a hurried pace to the dead end pool so that we could start ferrying bags as and when people came.  As soon as we reached there, we inflated a tube, set a sleeping mat on top of it, and then started ferrying bags and helping non swimmers cross the pool and climb the rock face on the other side, which was actually tricky for the freshers.  There is hardly any space to keep one's foot on at this end and very few handholds to pull oneself up but once you do it a couple of times, it becomes a breeze.  After everyone had crossed and had repacked all their belongings and clothes, we had a quick lunch, and set off for the gorge crossing.

calm, serene and peaceful

By the time we crossed the gorge, it was already evening with only a few hours left for sundown.  I then told Raj that I would take the fast group and reach picnic pool as quickly as possible, so that we could get all the firewood and campsites ready before it turned dark, and that he could come with the slow folks at their own leisure.  He immediately agreed saying that it was a good idea, as it would motivate the slow group to increase their pace knowing that the rest of the gang has already reached the campsite.  It did work, as the whole group had successfully reached the pool just as it became dark.

We did swimming, cooking, photography, storytelling, and had more than enough time for chit chat before we could hit the sack.  It was an amazingly chill night with the campsite lit by billions of stars and a bright moon.

Picnic pool

On Sunday morning we again spent plenty of time frolicking in the water and taking tons of photos and videos.  A CTC (Chennai Trekking Club) group had reached campsite in the middle of the night and now, they too were busy in having fun in the water, experimenting with various angles for photos and videos.  We decided to leave the campsite at around 9 to target an exit time of around 6 PM.  This was easily achieved at a comfortable and easy pace. We then again reached the dead end pool, had our lunches after crossing it, and then set off for the beautiful Magic pool.

Magic pool

We had loads of fun at Magic pool for not less than 2 hours and it took a huge effort to leave it just as the sun was setting.  Due to our late start from Magic pool, we had to trek in the dark, and because of this we were able to exit the forest only by 8 PM.  As usual, it felt really hard to say goodbye to Nagala, her monkeys, and pedicure fish, but we only did it to look forward to the next trek.

Nagala trail run trek - The trail run that never happened

You must be wondering, "trail run trek?, now what's that supposed to be ?".  Well, due to certain reasons like time constraints, late start, sleep deprivation, or just whatever it was, what was intended to be a trail run, became a trek. It is unplanned events like these that actually made most of my treks in the past interesting. It was also because of this, that we had plenty of time to dive and swim in the amazing pools of Nagala.

The original plan for the trek was this: Mark out a 20 km trail on the GPS, do a recce of the trail on Saturday with trekking bags, reach the campsite by dusk, leave the trekking bags there with one of us guarding them, and then run the same loop on Sunday with trail running bags.

There were five of us, and Kashyap volunteered to guard the trekking bags while we ran the loop on Sunday.  Our planned campsite was Magic pool and it was one that was well thought out. I have to give it to Karthik for his navigation and trail marking skills. For one, magic pool was ridiculously close to the dam (the place where we enter/exit the forest). Secondly, it made a good campsite with an ample amount of open space (with faint mobile signals as well), and thirdly, if the volunteer got bored, he/she could easily spend plenty of time diving, swimming, or lazily enjoying a fish pedicure while taking in the sights.

on the slide

We started for Tirupati by the 12 am Airavat from Bangalore, reached Nagalapuram bus stand at around 7 after changing buses at Tirupati, had breakfast, and then waited a while for Saumia who was to join us from Chennai. After she arrived and was done with breakfast, we took an auto rickshaw to the starting point of our trek, the T.P Kota dam.  On the way, we picked up our packed lunches from Subbarao's house. His wife makes and packs food for trekkers on almost every weekend and this has been the tradition for some years now.

We got off to late start as it was 8 by the time we reached the dam and we could commence trekking only by 8.30. I was excited at the prospect of having to trek with just four more people after trekking with 39 others on the same trail (partly) two weeks ago. Imagine the noise and commotion that could be made by a tribe of 40 humans! Phew!! The plan for the day was to reach Picnic pool, have lunch and then commence for Magic pool, which would be our campsite for the night.  We reached Picnic pool at exactly noon, had fun diving and swimming for a while, and then quickly finished lunch.

Picnic pool

 After that, we took a side stream which was to the top left of the picnic pool and kept following it for some distance. After a point, it got dry and the size of the boulders started increasing. Climbing these huge boulders upstream at a fast pace is a joy that can't be described perfectly. It was exhilarating, thrilling and gave us a trekkers high. It was an endorphin release festival. Nothing, and I mean not even a marathon, has given me a high as much as running on the boulders of Nagala. However, we had to get off the dry stream as we realized that we were running short of time and had to bush whack our way to the ridge on our right. This was time consuming.

It was 4.30 by the time we were out of the bushes and had found a trail.  Kashyap and Prateek were totally worn out by this time and were desperate to settle down at a campsite.  With only 2 hours left for sundown and our pace being slower that what it previously was, Karthik decided to camp at another campsite that was not very far from the Magic pool.  We reached this campsite just as the light was fading and stared collecting firewood to make soup and Maggi. There was a water point just two minutes from the campsite. It was a full moon night and there was enough light to get around the campsite without a torch. Other than a few galloping sounds that could be heard very close by at around 3am, everything else went fine and we woke up to a magical Sunday morning with dew fall and bird song all around us.

It was 8 am and we had still not started our trek for the day. We had intended to start at least by 6.  We quickly finished breakfast, checked the GPS for the right trail, and were on our way in no time. After crossing two ridges and a dry stream, we finally arrived at magic pool. Karthik and Kashyap had picked up a couple of gooseberries en route and we were now munching on them. As always,  the monkeys on the adjacent hill made sure that their presence was felt and that we were intruding on their home ground.  Their alarm calls reverberated all across the adjacent hill and valley.

Kashyap and I were an elated lot as we decided to go to sliding pool first and then hit magic pool.  We had the time of our lives at sliding pool, diving, sliding, going on underwater exploration, taking videos and photos.  We were enjoying ourselves so much here, that we almost forgot to save some energy for magic pool. As a result of this, we were all worn out after reaching magic pool and so didn't spend much time there.  However, on one of our mini underwater exploratory missions, I found a pair of Nabaji goggles at the shallow end of the pool.

There is always something waiting to be found at the bottom of the shallow end of magic pool. Towels, batteries, plastic, you name it. After our treasure hunt, I resolved to improve my diving and swimming skills so that we can go deeper and look for even more treasure in future.

Magic pool

It was 2.30 now and we decided to go to a waterfall just 5 minutes away to cook lunch and take a power nap.  We had decided not to trail run as we had found no suitable trail around us for a 10km run.  After lunch, Kashyap and I decided to nap at sliding pool rather than here as it was very stuffy and humid with mosquitoes all around.  We decided to leave at around 4.30 for Subbarao's house, where we were to have an early dinner.

We found ourselves gorging on the delicious fare served to us at Subbarao's place at 7.  After a day long trek, curry tastes ten times better than it usually is and we were in no mood to stop the chapatis from coming.  After this, we set off for the main road at a brisk pace as we had a 11pm bus to catch at Tirupati.

Walking from the dam to Subbarao's house, having food there, bidding my goodbye to the Chennai folks at the main road, waiting for a bus or auto at the T.P Kota bus stand, and waiting for the Bangalore bus at the AC waiting room at Tirupati are things that a Chennai trekker would never get to experience and I will cherish them forever.  I will sorely miss all these treasured moments once I move to Chennai and start a new trekking journey there.