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.