Chambara beckons Ananth,

Chambara beckons Ananth,

Chambara beckons Ananth, The start was just like any other trek, but none of the trekkers knew what was in stock, for them, on the morrow’s trek. An article in a Kannada weekly SUDHA, somewhere in 1999 triggered the thirst to scale the Chambara peak in "Swamy", (The leader of the expedition) what blossomed post that is unveiled below.

The Start,Myself, Swamy (Former YHAI Trek Organizer), and the other 6 Men boarded Raja Hamsa of the KSRTC, heading towards Calicut. It was a typical Swamy's (Associated with KMA) way of organizing a trek. Well-informed and well-organized start. The trekkers were briefed about the proceedings and the backpacking etiquettes well in advance. Few had dinner and a few just Chaay during the journey breaks on board Raja Hamsa; all in all we had a fairly nice journey. After getting down from the bus, few had Chaay, few displayed their camera focusing antics, and few lazy ones like Ananth decided rest when u get idle time and slept. We then hired a jeep, my negotiation skills came in to act, we got a fair deal and we headed towards the base of the peak. A journey through the gorgeous green Tea and Coffee estates of Wynaad - Kerala and a pleasant weather, it had all the makings of a nice start.

Base Camp / Nostalgia / MasalaWe reached the base of the peak and organized ourselves for the ordeal. Jeep that carried us was sent back and asked to return next day morning at 9:00 AM. Cameras and cell phones made their presence felt and few expert opinions and the counters for the same were floating on various issues ranging from Cell Phones to future babies to A K Anthony and Sonia Gandhi. Earlier, (2- 3 years back) whenever we reached remote places, we used to pull each other, saying we would be having STD booths after this peak, well, One need not have STD / PCO’s any more we carry the cell phone in our hand and pockets now. Most of them by now were checking their signals on their respective cell phones and passing expert comments on the same, few apparently made a call to their houses and spouses and of course did get a few calls back, may be few suggestions and guidelines :). Cell phones did start making some unpleasant noise in the otherwise serene eco system. Well, we were on the base of the peak, but less did any participant realize the ordeal and the fun ahead, and the nescience of the place and language to all the 8, made it even more curious and eager.

The Trek BeginsWe started and headed towards the forest watch tower either side of the path were serene green tea plantations, about 400 M in to the trek we saw a man approaching us with a typical colorful Malayali Lungi (Red Pink Maroon, and a few more colors), we presumed him to be a localite, but he asked for a forest entry permission, he identified himself as a Forest officer / guard, with broken English and hard core Malayalam. He gave us the guidelines for the route and trek in his Malayalam and broken English, we all assumed and presumed (emperor’s new clothes kind) that we understood every thing and started. We followed the path (Jeepable route) suggested by that Malayali forest officer for about a Kilometer and realized it was going down hill and we are supposed to climb the peak.

Turning Point We then saw a small path heading upwards and decided to take that route 2 nutty trekkers went first and gave a confirmation that there was a route going upwards. The route did lead us upwards but after 15 minutes of confusion in that path leading upwards, we met the dead end in that route. Shrubs, Trees, Elephant Grass, slippery mud you name it. It had every thing of a thick jungle, the group turned towards me (Ananth) and Swamy It was decided Ananth and Chinmay should go and search the route. Being a hard-core trekker myself and fairly experienced, blended with age and maturity the duo treaded up with caution in search of the path. But Chambara posed all the treats that any trekker would dream of, treacherous paths, slippery grass, Rocks without holds.

The ordeal had begun
Again a dead end stopped the trekkers and were stranded on a place which gave no clue on the where abouts of the place and how abouts of the path ahead. Thick jungle covered with shrubs, trees and wind at a high speed on the outside, hey that’s not all, Leeches made their way in through the trousers and socks till the undergarments. Undeterred by all these, the trekkers made their own way and moved further up. After negotiating through hard, treacherous height gaining exercise through a jungle, which offered least of the assistance, the trekkers reached a place where not many options were there. Deep valley on either side, thorny bushes, and covered by elephant grass making it virtually impossible to know where would be the next foot landing - on the thorns or slip to the valley. I reached a precarious spot returned back and explained the scenario to Swamy the leader of the expedition, after seeing the place followed by some discussions and consultations Swamy signaled green for that path. The trekkers realized soon that there would be a repeat of precarious tread again. It was any trekkers delight to be confronted with such situations twice.

The gut feeling of some trekkers, backed by awesome experience in handling such situation by Ananth and Swamy. Few Trekkers, who by now had realized the ordeal and the skills of Ananth and Swamy, made the balancing act by being with rear bunch and helping them out. Ananth, Chinmay and Swamy made the front bunch for most part of the trek and explored safe routes towards the destination. It was after this, Swamy said Ananth, we should be getting the actual path some where after traversing these peaks. His words came true after 30 minutes of misleading grass paths and I first saw the path to Chambara peak and 15 minutes in to the trek after finding the path, we saw Chambara peak standing tall and high. We also came across a lake (an oasis), which was in the shape of a heart; few christened it Love Lake and few Lucky Lake. It was decided that we should be camping at this spot after the summit. Chambara scaled - Saturday, 27th Nov 2004Chambara had one more thing in the kitty, it portrayed as though the last stretched cannot be climbed, it was steep and edgy. We were asked to sit and relax on the base for almost 1 hour, but then few NSS students of Kerala started climbing the peak, we followed and in the true spirits of a leader Swamy stayed back at the base of the peak and let the team summit the peak. I Summitted the peak ahead of all the packs of trekkers available on that day and was calm and composed atop Chambara enjoying the high speed winds and serene beauty of nature.

There were photo sessions and we started descending down. We camped near the oasis lake or the Love lake or the lake in the shape of the LOVE HEART J. It was an awesome experience. It has to be experienced than written as plain text, Tents pitched on elephant grass, made the coolest of beds, high speed wind, gave us the floating experience, Moon light showered rays of pleasant light, Swamy cooked MTR fast food, I displayed my camera works, and lent my voice with some nice songs, few shared their experiences and dialogues, raised their opinions on various issues and a few pickled in all issues.

Nature Honors and Rewards As though a blessing to my efforts, I had the privelege of experiencing the midnight moonlight and the gale winds. The next day we were treated by Swamy for the awsome effort, we went sight seeing - places of interest like, Edakkal caves and SujiPora Falls, we had a very cooperative and enterprising jeep drivers who helped us reach the bus stop and we headed back to Bangalore. We had a bit of an issue in getting buses back to Bangalore or even Mysore or Gundlupet / Nanjangud. We hired a Jeep, it came with a price tag, no negotiations were the mantra we followed. The jeep driver agreed for Nanjangud and we convinced him up to Mysore for an extra thousand. The curtains were slowly descending down on a wonderful trek. We reached Bangalore, around 12:00 mid night and headed towards our houses with loads of adventurous and unforgettable memories.
Ananth the Parvatharohi

Sharavathi Valley Trek 29th and 30th Dec 2008

Sharavathi Valley Trek 29th and 30th Dec 2008

I had missed an earlier oppurtunity with Sampath and couldn't afford to loose another!

I was taken ill for almost more than a week before this trek and the fatigue continued. To rub salt on it; I had a stomach upset through out this trek. That was the health I carried on to
this trek. Thanks to Sampath for booking a sleeper coach else ....,

An otherwise extrovert; I had to behave an introvert on this trail. All said and done. I had a good trek and a good company too.

Let me stop this blabber :)

Bangalooru to Sagara to Kargal

It was a good start on the Maharaja Travels sleeper coach bus. We had couple of groups who knew each other; a group from Thought works, a group from McCafee, we also had individual trekkers like me; It was a good mix.We had a well laid out mail from Sampath about the start point and the trek details. He even indicated about the weather being clear there in Kattinkaaru and the trail. But Bangalore had the side effects of a cyclone/depression else where. The bus moved and I hit the bed in no time. Most of us woke up before we reached Sagara. Narayan Boarded the bus and was introduced as the guide. Sampath dropped off at Sagara to attend another camp. We reached Karagal. Narayan took us to an okay hotel for the morning chores. Since it was mens only group, it didn't matter much.

Most of us had Idli, Vada, and coffee at Kargal itself; Narayan was busy organizing the vehicle. He later informed us about the breakfast arrangement being made at a different place. But
staying in an empty stomach after downloading was a tough task. Well Idli Vada coffee and the vehicle was ready. Some of the members took a little long to join but eventually the
journey started and were heading towards Kattinakaaru a quiet village place on this route.

We had a healthy breakfast a different kind of Kadabu, I dono how many realised the importance of having that kind of breakfast, adding to that was a ginger kashaya, hats off to the
organizers there. The Kadabu had all the carbos to give immediate energy and the kashaya was good enough for a trekker to be stimulated. The vehicles pushed all the lazy bones for a
little more distance and distanced away.

The start Day 1

We had the load distribution, mainly the groceries. Finally we were all set for the start. The weather gods were kind and it was a good weather to start any trek. I was on medication and a bad stomach upset. But I had to trek this trek was too good to be missed.

The Cameras had made their presence already. I vividly remember not long back; we had the aim and shoot Cameras, then came the SLRs and now people are all upgraded every body has either a digital or a SLR or D-SLR and all branded ones :). I still remember the jokes we used to cut on the STD booths being available at the top of the peak as a irony; But now we carry our phones and are able to make calls at the top of the peak. Well Technology and economy has had its effect on the trekking industry.

The trek trail was going downhill and I was wondering what's in stock. Before I could realize we had reached Basavanabaayi. We stopped and went for the a Water fall there. Folks enjoyed a lot, I didn't venture in to the water as I was recovering from a viral infection. Instead I ventured around and explored. We had a fantastic lunch there, thanks to the cooks and Narayan for a well prepared Rice Samabar, appala and of course pickles.

Post Lunch Day 1

Now the trail moved upwards and light showers had made their way during lunch time making us trek a bit faster, but the upward slope slowed us down. There were quite a few breaks as we moved in side the thick jungle, the whole group had to be intact a slight deviation and it would be calling for trouble. There was no path as such in most of the places and Narayan's ability in steering us in the right direction was amazing and commendable.

He took us in shortcuts as he knew the jungle inside out. We did see some of the pug marks of some animals and being close with Narayan in the front group helped me learn the animal trails as well. Leeches had made their route inside and were partying by now. There were few trekkers who didn't bother much and there were few who were busy removing it.

Lights off on Day 1

Photographers had a festive session all along, But the trek was tiring, some of the trekkers repeatedly enquired/asked about the end or destination :). We finally made it to the destination around 6:15 PM. First was to remove the shoes and then immediately remove the leeches. I was not well stomach was noisy. I relaxed till 8:30 PM and when I woke up dinner was ready. Folks had dinner and one by one searched for the sleeping slots. We did have some issues, eventually all of us got comfortable sleeping space. Few of them were busy photographing the stars and the night sky.

Day 2 Start Day 2

had a late start, we left the backpacks and headed for the water falls. First it was the view point; We were shown the horizons and explained about the place. From Murudeshwara to local villages, we could vaguely see the sea from there as there was haze cover. Later we headed towards another view point from where we could see the Belli Kambha Water Falls. It was a good one, again the haze cover was a little too much and not much of Cameras picked the image properly. We had a funny incident of a fellow trekker loosing the trail and shouting for help; He was talking over the cell phone and we had made our way to the view point. When the call was over he found none of us and the there were too many paths; some leading to dead ends. This trail is that dangerous if one doesn't know the area one should stick to the group.

Water Falls Day 2

We finally headed for the Water Falls. Naraya showed us the falls from the top and what a view it was, one has to see it to beleive it. All the trekkers showed skills of Photography. Now we headed down the water falls to see the magnificient of the 3 cascading layers of this waterfall. It was galmourous good and provoking. But for me every body bathed, danced and spent a good lot of time under the falls, I had no intention of taking risk and have a relapse of the viral fever. Sun bathing and relaxing followed suit after this.

Lunch and Return Day 2

We had hot lunch prepared by the cooks, as any treks should have; there should be some thing missing or forgotten, this time we had missed the plates. Narayan had some make shift plates in the form of jungle leaves. After a good lunch, we started heading back after having a value time at the water falls. We relaxed a bit and picked up our back packs; Rain Gods finally showered on us and made the return trail a bit faster. We had to wait a bit longer at the end of the trail as 3 of the trekkers slipped on to a different trail.

The Return

We took the local bus up to Kargal, and later the pride of Karnataka the KSRTC bus to Sagara. We had dinner at Sagara. We had initially booked the seater but our folks showed awesome negotiation skills and got few sleeper coaches, my special thanks to the ones who had saved a berth for me. We reached Bangalore.

For me, the day started with typical Monday Blues. 25 people laid off in our office on Monday, 1st Dec 2008, welcome to IT City Bangalore.