Pleasure in the pathless woods - Palani to Pallangi Village an exploratory trek

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
There is society, where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
I love not man the less, but Nature more, 
From these our interviews, in which I steal 
From all I may be, or have been before, 
To mingle with the Universe, and feel 
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal”

Lord Bryon

Every time when I go into the wild, I re-collect Lord Bryon’s enchanting lines which energize me to take the pathless mountains, live amidst the lovely woods, respire the pure oxygen, drink the cold crystalline water, get drenched in the unpolluted rain, bathe in the ice cold waterfalls, admire the mammoth peaks, enjoy the blissful melody of birds, lie under the skies, gazing at it even as it is busy with its chore of accommodating the twinkling stars!

Promenades along the Palar dam, gentle drizzles welcoming the us, dark rain-bearing clouds engulfing the mountains, a herd of cattle staring at us, avid pelican’s frisking waters, misty mountains revealing its beauty, the aroma of wet soil, the over-flooded streams caught inside the scenic Dam, the rhythm of birds flapping their wings adding melody to the fresh and colourful morning – I swear “I saw and felt heaven on earth”.

Whilst marching ahead on the jeep trail along the wide river we were successful in crossing a side stream with sheer team work; but we could not even attempt to cross the over-flooded main stream; the flow and currents were terrific and we would have miserably failed if we tried to cross it.

Undaunted by the never-allowing ferocious river which denied us from crossing it we decided to climb the dense and bushy parallel peak and trek along its ridges to explore the valley and get drenched in its beauty. The temporary waterfalls overflowing from the mountains would be the best scene which a trekker would be dying to get at the start of the trek to quench his thirst not for water but to trek more; nevertheless the thirst for trekking is insatiable!

Heavenly hike to scale the 1,200 Mts peak

The western side of the valley had no trails; all it had to offer us was  dense bushes, thorny plants everywhere, a 70 degree steep climb, loose and slippery soil, and yes, the icing on the cake, the non-stop rain! We started our hike slithering, crawling and rolling inside the dense bushes; some of the brave soldiers who dared to wear half sleeved shirt and trousers had love bites (between bushes and trekkers to be clear) throughout their body.

We started the climb from 350 Mts altitude and for every 50 mts hike my heart started beating harder and harder - despite the strenuous climb I was still able to listen to my heart which was pounding to remind me “there is pleasure in the pathless woods… society where none intrudes” enjoying the adventurous climb to the fullest of the extent; I can sense from the expressions of my seasoned fellow trekkers that this “the best climb” they have had in the recent times.

Spell-bound with the Palar Dam’s beauty:

As we hiked to a decent height on the mountain we were lucky to observe the mist slowly clearing away and exposing to us the hidden beauty of the “Palar Dam”. The beauty of the Dam and the small mountains which formed the natural boundary to the Dam are beyond my expressions; my eyes were hesitant to blink and it’s a gift to the trekking souls. I heard one of the trekker confessing “man, wish I had this view at my backyard to see this throughout my life”. “There is rapture in the lonely shore….” kept ringing in my ears over and over again.

 After negotiating with the bushes and finding our way to reach the peak we were invited to the witness one the best views our eyes would have ever seen. The rain bearing clouds above the winds mills, the fully decorated Palani temple, the majestic view of the peaks below us, the greenish valley with few waterfalls tweeting out, all these mesmerized us and made us feel that we are living on a place people call it as “heaven”.

Camping on 1,200 mts peak – a delight:

We pitched our tents before the darkness started to engulf the entire Palani range. The drizzles were cold and the heavy wind banged the trees making it to dance to the tunes of the nature. My heart was thoroughly enjoying the music of the wind and the dance of the trees sitting on top of the 1,200 mts peak.

Sleeping under the dark rain bearing clouds un-knowing when it will drench us completely I enjoyed the soupy noodles with few like minded CTCians. Still during the nights I feel like sleeping above this beautiful peak with my heart admitting “There is society, where none intrudes”.

Woke up in the “Heaven” – still a miracle:

It was around 5.30 a.m I could hear inside our tarpaulin tent “We are in heaven, we are in heaven” before my heart could realize my mind feared if something happened to us in the night. Rolling onto the next trekker’s sleeping mat I crawled through the tent and went outside only to be taken by surprise on what I saw – yeah, I also jumped in delight echoing the words “We are in heaven, we are in heaven”.

Would it be suffice if I say the “clouds were beneath us and surrounded the entire valley”.

I am unable to stop my heart to confess here “if there is something called as ecstasy, it is before me; if there is something called as paradise, it is before me; if there is something called as dreamland, it is before me; if there is something called as heaven, it is before me” my heart cried with happiness and my soul flew along the clouds while my body danced in blissfulness.  My heart again never failed to recollect “What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal”

Walking over the ridges – a trek I would repeat 1000 times:

Finding an animal trail we kept walking on the ridge braving the sharp edged shoulder high grasses and thorns. We were able to see the magnificent beauty and heights of some of the adjacent peaks penetrating into the sky. The deep and thick woods gave us the required energy to trek through the up’s and down’s we encountered while the melody of the birds never allowed us to feel exhausted.

One after the other we kept encountering small and beautiful streams inside the valley and kept marching ahead while at few places we also had quick dips to drench ourselves completely into the chilling water.

Encounter with a 200 mts. (plus) cascading waterfalls:

As we crossed a heavily flooded stream we could hear thunderous sound towards the upper stream, I was taken by nature’s beauty when we saw a waterfalls cascading down as if, directly from the sky I never moved from that place for quite some time and admired with my jaw opened to witness the beauty of the waterfalls.

It seemed to be a no-man’s land and there was no evidence of any man-made trail’s leading to this place. We quickly bouldered to reach the base of the waterfall to be completely awe-struck in the mightiness and magnificence of this cascading waterfall. Yet, another great exploration and astounding discovery by CTCians. Indeed, a discovery to be proud off not only by the PX/2 team but by all the CTCians for being pioneers in exploring these sort of natural hot spots even in this 21^st century.

With heavy heart we left this natural beauty just to penetrate into the dense forest and the tall grasses and after hours of hard core trek we went to a hamlet in the Palani hills. The villagers were initially taken by amaze and they felt hard to believe us that we trekked all the way from Palani to reach this hamlet, with an old lady in the village informing us that even the villagers dare to take this path to reach this place from Palani. 

My heart confesses and records “if there is heaven, it can’t be more beautiful than the magic clouds which I saw below the peak we camped; if there is purity, it can’t be better than the fresh oxygen which went through my nostrils; if there is melody, it can’t be as mesmerizing as the hum of these birds; if there is something called as beauty, it will shy away from the face of these mystical mountains”.

I self-realized that my heart was precisely correct that “I love not man the less, but Nature more”

Happy Trekking,

Durai Murugan 

Walking along the streams of Western Ghats - Palani - Vadagounchi - Permunal peak an exploratory trek

Drenched in the melody of the birds; caught in the beautiful sight of the peacock’s; walking beside the huge mass of icy water; loving the aroma of the wet sand; adoring the misty atmosphere; admiring the peak which is penetrating into the sky, a bunch of CTCians started their exploratory trek into the Palani hills. None had the wisdom to predict or the guts to reject the “love and adventure” which the Western Ghats had on store for us.

The outline of this two day adventure was to hit the Permual mountain peak lying at an altitude of around 2,250 mts cutting through one of the side-stream of the Palani hills which is less known to mankind and waiting to be explored. Starting our trek at an altitude of 400 mts to hit the peak, the trek had all flavors which a trekker would aspire for and term it as “this is a trek to be cherished”

Bouldering and splashing in the charming streams:

Like every other exploratory trek this mission also started along the gorgeous stream passing through the wet and lovely woods; jumping on the boulders, running on the grasslands, diving in the beautiful water pools, bathing in the rejuvenating waterfalls.

The size of the boulders as we started our hike started increasing and at most of the places it was wet and gave us numerous challenges to proceed ahead. Unmindful of these huge boulders and slippery rocks we kept heading ahead to discover those beautiful pools and streams which was flowing through the valley. Splashing in the ice cold water pools we moved into the woods to trek along the side of the stream. A perfect beginning until we started facing our encounters.

Encounter with a huge waterfall:

Walking along the ice cold stream and climbing the greasy rocks roughly in the afternoon of a misty day – witnessing the numerous small waterfalls we first discovered that the stream is dropping from a height of almost 25 mts with a big pool in front of the fall – it was a moment of surprise watching this master piece of nature unfurl in front of our eyes. The mere sight of the falls attracted us and provoked us to jump inside the pool and in no time the experienced swimmers were at the base of the falls to feel the spine chilling water hitting them hard. Indeed, the lifelines of CTC treks are these beautiful waterfalls hidden deep inside the forests.

After admiring the beauty and taking couple of pictures I now decided to swim across to hit the base of the waterfall and I should confess “the spine chilling water re-energized my entire body; rejuvenated my inner soul; my body was crying for something hot but my heart never wanted to leave this ice cold water which was breaking my body into pieces, I was completely engulfed with chillness and after sometime getting hit by the waterfalls I reluctantly decided to swim back to the shore to continue the trek. Indeed, this was a sweet encounter to cherish unlike the other ones which were waiting for us in the day.

Innumerable blockades and the rock-hole encounters:

Even in the wildest of our imagination we would have never thought that we are going to face soo many blockades which would stand as threat for us in proceeding ahead. There were places where we had to throw our bags into holes and sneak through them to proceed ahead. Indeed, these challenging moments made the trek even more en-thrilling for the entire squad.

We had to sneak into few holes in the rocks to move ahead, we almost became like rats to crawl through these holes in the mountain. The innumerable blockades did not permit us to trek forward. Once, we encountered a place with mammoth slippery boulders which never permitted us to move ahead and we have to spend around 1 hour to just find a way to get rid of this blockade and finally few climbed up that slippery boulder and we had to pull the group using tarpaulins as the rope. It was one of the best encounters which I have come across in the recent times in my trekking life. While perching on to the rock I realized that if I slipped from there I will fell down just to be broken into pieces but the thrill was rewarding – worth the risk which some of us took.

Endless night on top of a waterfall soaked in chill water; shivering body; witnessing the first flash flood:

The sun was settling down for the day so was our body which wanted rest after a tiresome and arduous trek precisely when we encountered a beautiful cascading waterfall slipping through the mountains carrying chill water. Watching this beauty unfold in front of our eyes amidst a dense jungle in between the mountains was one of the best moments of our entire trek. Indeed, these sceneries pull us again and again to these natural hot spots.

We almost settled down for the day after preparing and having some hot soup and noodles when the nature warned us with lighting and thunder storms creating wearisome in our minds.

I and my tent mates spreading out a tarpaulin sheet were lying on the top of the cascading water fall close to the stream and witnessing the glittering stars doing the magic on the sky and slowly the stars were engulfed with pitch dark clouds and around 9 p.m it started to drizzle. Within no time it started pouring down ‘cats and dogs’ and we had no other option except to cover ourselves with a tarpaulin sheet. Slowly the ice-cold water started to trickle inside our tarpaulin sheet and completely drenched our sleeping bags and our clothes. Now completely soaked in the chill water our body slowly started becoming cold and there was no sign that the heavy down pour will rest now. I opened up the tarpaulin to see what is happening outside, the stream which was running almost 6 feet away from our side earlier has come closer to the place we were lying down.

Soaked in the chill water and shivering in the frosty breeze our bodies slowly become numb with rains showing no mercy hitting us very hard. Now slowly we started to realize that the water is flowing underneath our tarpaulin sheet and if we continue to stay here we will be washed away in the flash flood. Within no time we just wrapped up whatever we could get in our hands and rushed to an elevation in between the rocks. It poured and poured and we witnessed how flash flood occurs in forest right in front of our eyes. There was not even an iota of dry place for us to even sit throughout the night we had to literally squat underneath the tarpaulin with the heavy rain slashing us apart.

The next day early morning we were shivering with cold had no other option except to wrap up our bags and to continue our trek. Although it was tricky for us to cross the stream we were able to do it and we started our hike through a estate to reach the palani ghat road. Quickly preparing and having tea we left to the Vadakounchi village in a narrow human trail.

The ice-cold bathe in the spilt waterfalls:

Following the trail which is taking us to Vadakounchi we encountered another appealing waterfalls which invited us to take a dip and splash out with no second thoughts almost all jumped into the pool and took bath in the water fall. The chill water flowing from the valley above refreshed our entire body and gave us energy to proceed ahead, with heavy heart we had to leave this beauty and had to trek ahead to reach the remote village in the Palani Mountain.

Deadly hike to the Permual mountain peak braving the bloody leeches and heavy down pour:

It started pouring again when we decided to start our trek from Vadakounchi village. The villagers were starring at us in a weird manner and I can silently sense them saying “are these guys insane to trek to Perumalmalai peak in this pouring rain”. For the kind of spirit we carried with us this rain or for that matter even a thunderstorm could never stop us.

Un-battered by the heavy rains we marched through the heavily leech infected area and within one hour of our trek almost all our legs were bitten by the blood thirst leeches and every one’s leg sported in red colour, with leeches perching on to our skin. Yet, we did not want to give up and we kept hiking towards our target to hit the Perumal mountain peak, within 2 hours of non-stop trek inside the pine forest we reached the peak. It was a moment of glory for the team making this trek successful after passing through several challenges and hitting the peak lying at an altitude of about 2,250 mts.

Still the mission is In-complete:

Due to paucity of time the explorers were not able to complete the trek as planned and missed the 150 meters high waterfall discovered during Ex/4 mission. “Cannot be explored” or “Incomplete” are words which a true CTCian is averse off. With the unconquered palani valley left to be explored am waiting to capture its beauty with my third eye and pen the thrill coupling it with my imagination while walking along with a couple of like minded CTCians lead by the “trek guru”.

Am waiting to fly with the peacocks, sleep beside the waterfalls, listen to the humming birds, walk inside the pine forest, fly high in the smell of the wet woods; stare at the herculean bison’s; escape from the flash flood and take bath in the sky high waterfall. Nature is waiting for me as my heart is still dreaming for Palani exploratory 2 mission….

Happy Trekking,

Durai Murugan

Organising Kodai trek in Chennai trekking club

“THE DAY” - my dream day of organizing a trek in CTC came and I was overwhelmed with joy; I was cautious about the responsibility; I was eager to meet the new faces; I was delighted to trek with the new group; I was excited overall about this trek. The day was fresh; the sun was shy; the skies were dark; the breeze was chill; my heart was pumping hard; my eyes was filled with joy and the reason precisely being me organizing my first trek in CTC. A two days hike to kodai through Kumbakarai waterfalls lying at an altitude on 400 mts above sea level to Kodaikanal at an altitude of 2,200 mts sea level.

Being sent the invite to 12,000 + group I received an overwhelming response of 75 registrations just in 20 hours time. Then came the difficult time of scrutinizing the entries - I had to take some difficult calls to shortlist the participants. However, all said and done we were 20 trekkers 19 guys and 1 daring gal headed for this Kodai two day adventure.

Day 1 – A day of sun, steep climb, rain and cold night – Unforgettable volley

We reached Kumbakarai waterfalls and had a splashing morning enjoying the waterfalls by diving and sliding in the chill water pool. The sun was bright and it was dry, we silently slipped through the Kodai jungles and started our hike. Initially we trekked for 2 kms in a flat trail before we reached the base of the Kodai Mountains from where there was no flat walk.

First day’s target was to hit a less known hamlet called “Vellagavi” which can only be reached through legs trekking deep inside forest located at an altitude of 1,300 mts. All the 20 brave CTCians were geared up to reach Kodai through their legs carrying their bag packs. The steep climb, the sweating body, the heavy back pack all became like feather flying in the air witnessing the views of the impeccable kodai landscapes.

There was no mercy and we had to literally climb up the hill and most of the parts it was steep climbs. Until afternoon it was sunny and we had to walk in the sun and after reaching an altitude of 1,000 mts we started trekking inside interior parts of kodai through the dense valley which provided us shelter and chill breeze. As we started climbing up we started feeling the change in the weather and the chillness in the breeze.

The forest was full of flowers and fresh leaves and it was a life time delight to walk through beside those lovely flowers and thick woods. What made the trek more special was the sound of the humming birds and whisper of robin throughout the route. We felt almost part and parcel of the mountain and sensed that those birds were inviting us into their territory. Wish I also had a nest in that beautiful forest to fly and sing along with those lovely birds.

We reached almost 1,200 mts altitude and now we were able to appreciate the spectacular valley very well and the also the Vaigai dam below it was a very interesting scenery to portray it in one’s mind and flash it whenever one thinks of Kodai.

Visit to Vellagavi Village

Vellagavi a small hamlet in the Kodai mountain range till date can only be reached through legs. The people there are very friendly and at the same time very sensitive and they cherish their secludedness. It is located on the tip of a hill and is more than 450 years old much older than Kodai which would be some 300 years old. The locals consider their homeland very sacred and restrict themselves and others from wearing foot wears inside their village. We respecting their bye-laws roamed the small hamlet without any footwear and to admit seriously it was pleasant to feel the chill soil on my foot.

CTC Spiker’s vs. Vellagavi Warrior’s Volley clash

Having reached Vellagavi in the evening we had to spend the evening memorable – then what next to do – I had brought a volley ball with me since I knew that villagers gather every day in the evening to play volley ball which is the only sport played in that hamlet. Now it was time for a clash between the CTC spikers’ and Vellagavi warriors.

Being represented my state 5 times and played in various arenas’ I should confess that I have never played volley ball in such a beautiful arena. The volley ball court was located exactly on the tip of the mountain with three sides covered with mind blowing views of Kodai Mountains and the other side covered with kodai valley and the jaw dropping view of vaigai dam. I felt awesomely delighted playing my favorite game in such a location. I can equally understand from the expression of my co-trekkers how happy they were to play a game of volley ball in such a superb location. Although the Vellagavi warriors were a well composed and powerful team we did give them a tuff fight before surrendering the game.

The joy and happiness playing volley ball are beyond expressions and I am confident that my co-trekkers had similar feeling.

After the game of play it started drizzling and we had to settle down for the day and cook our dinner. Soon we prepared and had Sambar rice and soup although a rare diet in CTC treks, the thought of rain and the cold night made us to quickly unfold our tarpaulin sheets and settle underneath it. The night was cold and it was slightly drizzling throughout yet underneath the tarpaulins rolling ourselves into our sleeping bags we enjoyed the night. Another CTC style night under the tarpaulin and in open atmosphere.

Day 2 – Breathing the chill breeze and hitting the Kodai – celebrating friendship day

As planned we dropped our luggage in the village and went for trek inside some of the interior parts of that range the early morning trek through the forest was indeed a god sent opportunity for one and all to enjoy the nature at its best.

We trekked almost in between two range of mountains were we witnessed the fog slowly moving towards us as if it’s going to engulf us in no time. It was a spectacular scene watching the white gas moving inside the mountain and engulfing us.

Did not want to miss such a location and decided to pull out the few colour powder packets I had in my pocket and soon all our faces were filled with different colours. Indeed we were privileged to have celebrated it in such a place with some thick friends and other newly found one day old friends. Indeed that’s what makes CTC treks more special - one gets to make deep friendship with unknown people in very short period of time. While coming back we took bath in one of the wells in the village farm the bath in the ice cold water was a pleasure to bathe.

Soon we went and prepared CTC’s famous and regular menu Maggi and what made the breakfast special is the corn flakes along with milk a rarity in treks. After finishing our breakfast we started our hike towards Kodai. It was full of mist and the visibility level was very poor nevertheless we marched towards the mission target of making to Kodai by legs. It was steep climb most of the time and as climbed it drizzled and made the trek more interesting.

We had to wait in some of the view points for the mist to move so that we can have better view of the valley and the landscapes. There were places were a mere slip will directly take us down some 1,000 mts down but yet the views were brilliant.

After steep trek though the jungles of Kodai we reached the famous dolphin nose view point. Although it was misty still we enjoyed the pleasant weather and spent some time before we made to kodai climbing the Mountain.

The sense of achievement of making to Kodai through legs was palpably visible on the face of the participants and two days trek with new found friend’s added life to the trek.

The chill breeze, the dense forest, the thick woods, the smell of the wet soil, the misty weather, the drizzles, the steep climb, the mind blowing view points, the beautiful landscapes, the sound of birds, the lovely flowers all along, the heart touching people and the life time volley ball match. Life is wonderful

Happy trekking.

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