CTC is a recently founded organisation started by a trek enthusiast named Peter Van Geit. Mother nature loves this guy you could see that when you trek with him. A man with great stamina, climbs cliffs, crosses water stream, literally runs on dry stream filled with rocks as if on a plain surface and he does this with 1/10 of water, food i had during my first trek :).
Nagala 23 was my first trek was the first trail even for CTC. I never knew that until late afternoon the first day when we ran out of water standing on top of the second moutain under hot sun. It was meant to be a 2 day trek and i was in wait list of 34 ppl who registered for the trek. The response for the trek is just mind boggling they got around 50 registrations with in just 2 days. I got in the last minute 'cos i agreed to take my car. It was only a 2hr drive from Chennai and drove through pickup points in Guindy & Koyembedu. We were advised to carry 4 litres of water since we wont be able to find any water stream during the first half of the trek, sleeping mat, one pair of dress. Man i sure took it lightly or never knew how it feels when there is no water. We rushed through the first mountain with ease and being my first trek i was eager to see whats ahead of us. Peter kept advising us to go easy on the water and providing us status with his little GPS gadget he had on his hand. In his own rough accent 'Make sure you finish of 1 bottle every 3 hrs mate, we wont be hitting a water stream till late in the afternoon...'
'We have been walking for 1:30 mins and stopped for 1:46 mins' - It looked as if this guy was providing us false status we never stopped for 1:46 mins. But in reality we were making stops often finishing of water, glucose... It was not a pleasant view it was an usual hot day inside some not so lush forest, didnt come across a single animal during the whole trek. On top of the first mountain i was already down in energy they showed us the second mountain that we were about to climb it was half burnt due to forest fire i guess. By then i had almost completed my 2nd bottle. Downhill was relatively easy how can one not appreciate gravity but i was dehydrating a lot so started with my 3rd bottle of water. When we hit the bottom i was already searching for the s0-called water stream. Peter was leading us and i managed to keep up with him till the first mountain. I wanted to rest before i start the second climb. So i decided to stay back wait for the rest of the ppl to join. Apple never tasted so good. ah, enjoyed the last bit of it. There i got in touch with a new guy with no energy to talk we just showed signs 'shall we start' i gave a nod and than asked for another 5 mins. There was a sweeper in our set who being an experienced trekker was uncomfortable in letting us go but after gaining energy after the rest and apple, we said we will follow the dry stream and wait if there is a fork and unable to find the way. So he decided to let us go and we moved up hill. According to the master (Peter) it was a 3km climb and then down hill we hit another dry stream and just 300m from there is the water stream. Wow the thought of water was appealing, whatever you gained in life so far doesnt matter at that moment. Actually nothing matters when it comes to survival of the fittest. Ego, Money any tangible, intangible asset that you have earned, learned doesnt matter.
Having a fit body, ability to swim, anything that has got to do with the survival matters a lot. So we start climbing the second mountain i got tired more easily than the first one...but managed to keep up resting a min or so often. It was getting steeper & steeper if only we had water my thoughts would have been filled with fear. Slippery & no shade it was a horrible sight on top of the second mountain. There i was sitting in the blazing sun left with no choice other than to follow the lead to the water stream. By that time i had completed half of my 4th bottle. I was asked to wait till the next set comes over show them way, i disagreed. Not able to bear the sun, i had to move on. The sight was awe-inspiring, it was dense with dry plants, thorns and no ledges or grip at all. Not a good sight esp when there is no water or energy. Half way down like a four legged beast couldnt bear the weight of my back pack anymore. It was heavier than it was during the start of the trek with 4lts of water. Now with less than 1/2 a litre it weighed a tonne. An idea suddenly clicked and instantly i removed my bag off my shoulders and threw it down the mountain and managed to slide down the hill. And there we reached the bottom of the second mountain and with no water i convinced myself that it was only 300m. But 300m at that moment felt like i was a light year away from the water stream. By that time i had lost my water bottle during my down-slide. The best thing about the CTC is 'no-litter' policy, we had to carry our trash back with us.
Having a fit body, ability to swim, anything that has got to do with the survival matters a lot. So we start climbing the second mountain i got tired more easily than the first one...but managed to keep up resting a min or so often. It was getting steeper & steeper if only we had water my thoughts would have been filled with fear. Slippery & no shade it was a horrible sight on top of the second mountain. There i was sitting in the blazing sun left with no choice other than to follow the lead to the water stream. By that time i had completed half of my 4th bottle. I was asked to wait till the next set comes over show them way, i disagreed. Not able to bear the sun, i had to move on. The sight was awe-inspiring, it was dense with dry plants, thorns and no ledges or grip at all. Not a good sight esp when there is no water or energy. Half way down like a four legged beast couldnt bear the weight of my back pack anymore. It was heavier than it was during the start of the trek with 4lts of water. Now with less than 1/2 a litre it weighed a tonne. An idea suddenly clicked and instantly i removed my bag off my shoulders and threw it down the mountain and managed to slide down the hill. And there we reached the bottom of the second mountain and with no water i convinced myself that it was only 300m. But 300m at that moment felt like i was a light year away from the water stream. By that time i had lost my water bottle during my down-slide. The best thing about the CTC is 'no-litter' policy, we had to carry our trash back with us.
We managed to cross the 300m and hit the water stream and the sight of water fall was beautiful during sunset. It was around 6:30 when we reached the water fall, 3 hrs behind Peter. The master must have been disappointed not able to extend the trek. So he decided to extend the Nagala 22 trek (all ladies trek). There was another group with all ladies following another trail in Nagala which is supposed to be our exit trail. By the time we took a dip in the pool near the waterfall there was sight of few ladies. There was lot of activities around ppl cooking maggi, soup. Few other demonstrating their diving capabilities in the pool. I was too tired for all that took my share of maggi and went off to take care of my sprained ankle and then dozed off...
So much for the entry trail...let me see if i can manage to write about my exit trail which was fun-filled when compared to the entry, with ladies joining us and the rain it could never get better.
