Nagalapuram freshers trek, March 19-20

Post trek write up by Samim.

The waves of adventure buzzing in the head while moving to Tidel Park right in the

morning 2am signals to oneself that this is indeed gonna be different from your

otherwise ordered, predictable day.

Saturday early morning Tidel park is not a deserted sleepy sidewalk as it would be

otherwise. Rather you will find a group of energetic folks in trekking gears with a

sparkle in the eyes and a spring to their step about to start the TRAIL.

And this time there was the group led by Biju, our group and the DOA(Dead or Alive

mission 'Acronym help for newbies:)') group led by Peter himself at the Tidel.

After getting ourselves introduced to the new friends and anticipating the adventures

to follow, we boarded the bus from Tidel sharp @ 2:30.

The atmosphere got charged up with Guru and the rest of the group joining from

Koyambedu. The Bangalore trekkers joined in from Renigunda and we were all set to
Venkatagiri , the EX-2 Trail.

On getting down the bus with our bags packed up with yummy food distributed by the

organizers(ORG is the lingo :)) we started along the small road paved with metal.

Everyone was asking these questions quite loud,

"When are we going to climb up:
"When are we going to see the water pools"
"Where is the peak to climb"
"When will we reach the peak"
"How long we have to walk"
"Is it difficult :) "

We all sat under the tree post the dam and waited for the group to have the first

regroup/refresh point.

The UFX channel group with Sheriff constantly amused the trekkers.
The cameraman was walking the trail with the camera along and it was quite a moment

when one of us couldn't hold his curiosity no more.

He asked the cameraman "How do you carry the camera along the trail and do it so

easy. Do you practice it daily ? "
(Don't know the reply of the cameraman to this :) )

Peter got his group together and told us in a firm tone that his group will be moving

bit faster and hence the tougher and faster and eager ones can join him.
And there they went.

After moving a lot more further we had our encounters with the thorny bushes,

polished boulders and the dry streams. Rashes from the thorns did annoy quite a few

who were not expecting the hostile environment quite up that early.

Here we saw another regroup point where we heard from Guru that we may have to back

down as the forest officials were not in the mood to share the same excitement and

spirit for trekking as we do. Guru and Aditya went to talk with the officials and we

took our power naps under the tree hoping for a good news. We waited there and

prepared a small little fire to heat up the chappatthis for lunch with the much in

demand pickles that we carried along.

Few of us took their first 'dips' in the 1 feet deep pool that we found near the

resting spot. Manoj was the center of attraction with his adventorous dip braving the

moving predators in the water around him.

Bad news came to us soon that we will have to retreat from the Venkatagiri hills.
There again we waited to see what Guru would say to us when we meet him.
"Will he take us somewhere else or will we be seeing Chennai the same night?"

We all reached the 'Pettikada' in front our bus and devoured all the items in the

menu without any apologies. Vada and chutney was in high demand.

Here Guru announced that we are heading to Nagalapuram to all our delight!

Actual words from Guru " We are heading to Nagala, Nothing can stop us !"

Hurray ... Cheers to the Org!

We all got into the bus and blasted Tamil fast numbers(aka dappu) and put on the

dancing shoes(oops trek shoes!)

Lakshmikanth, Guru, Manoj, Abhishek enetertained the crowd with their fast and slick

moves( :) ). The pole dance by Abhishek was quite a moment.

The ladies too joined and amped up the entertainmnet quotient of the evening.
We decided to have our dinner along the way to Nagalapuram due to the uncertainities

of the camp sight and the night trek challenging us from having a concrete campsite

and dinner in Nagala.

On reaching Nagalapuram, we saw the mountains bathed in moonlight as we walked

towards the dam(quite a familiar sight for the regular CTCians).
We perched on top of the
small hill that we see near the Nagala dam and spread out

our mats.

I'm afraid few CTS groups would have beginned the Nagala trail at 6: 30 am in the

morning from the dam. Oofoo, we the lucky ones!!

Arun's T shirt logo sums the spirit of the group- "BRING IT ON".

We saw the rising sun lighting up the mountains from N61 TO N92 gradually with the

rays spreading and warming us up from the misty night.

The trail began with Guru leading and Aditya sweeping the group.

We proceeded at brisk pace to the first pool and dipped out foots in to the clear

chill waters. Gulping a few mouthfulls, we proceeded swiftly and reached the 2nd pool

where we literally splashed into the waters.

Advance swimming lessons were provided free of cost by some expert swimmers to total

newbies and in an hour an half the entire pool teemed up with high octane filled

action.

Back dive, breast stroke, underwater strokes , all the tricks in the bag were

tried out. Reaching the falls and sitting under the rock with the tricking stream of

water dripping on the head, mmm, the feeling never gets old.

Aditya and Vel prepared a nice fireside to prepare the noodles for the 30 hungry

souls. Hema came in and checked the taste in between by taking a bowl full of noodles

and claiming that its time to pull the soup out.

We all waited in eager anticipation for the soup to be poured into our baby bouls

(term stolen from Lakshmi :)).

A group of 8(including me) took their backpacks and announced that they are moving to

the 3rd pool.

Nagala 3rd pool welcomed us with the spectacle few other in the world can match with.
A clear round pool at the bottom of a 7 storey high steep cliff. The Nagala version

of the blue pool shown in 127 hours maybe.

Another small group by Nityan was also having fun there while we reached the 3rd

pool. Soon the entire group joined us at the 3rd pool. The attraction of the 3rd pool

is the 20 feet dive from the cliff top which shook the nerves of even the seasoned

divers. Seeing each of them taking turns fighting the fears was a spectacle in

itself.

After an hour at the 3rd pool, Guru started talking about the way up to the 4th pool

and about the 'kutti pool' on the way.

A small group of us again got up and followed Guru way up. The narrow edge and the

rocky wall with a narrow stream leading to steep fall tested the nerves of the best

of us. Guru lend out his helping hand and took us to the 'kutti fall' and we again

dipped our feet marking the feat of conquering one more 'falls'.

Back to the 3rd pool and we saw Vel and group heating up the chappathis and the

hungry souls surrounding the fire. As usual the demand for pickles was phenomenal and

the guy carrying the pickle was stalked by all for a pinch more of pickle.

Aditya prepared the Oats by this time, which turned out to be quite yummy and after

half an hour of hydration and rest we decided to take the trail downhill.

We reached the 1st pool for the regroup and here Guru, Aditya and Vel entertained and
quenched our thrirst for adventorous stories with their past trek experiences. The

narrrative of Vel about the cheetas he encountered in a trek was quite captivating!

We walked along with a sigh watching the sun about to come down the Nagari hills.
A group of cows lined up near the dam remainded us of a sceinic painting and we

prepared ourselves for the group snap.

Someone was heard saying while the cows ran up the boulders to where we were standing
"We had enough adventures already!" and let the cows run their way.

We shared some candid moments during the snap. After which we proceeded futher to the

end of the trail with the sun completely sinking down the mountains. We had came the

full circle in a day.

When we looked at each others faces and exchanged the parting pleasentries, we were

all thinking inside "When is the next trek?"

Yes we are always waiting to hear someone yelling "Trek Polaamaaaa.."