Deccan Trekkers

14 members from Deccan Trekkers have successfully completed DT’s  trek in Thadikkalpudi hill range. Let’s read what Krishnan, a first time trekker with Deccan Trekkers had to say about this trek …
I had bravely enrolled in this trek, thinking that it would be a breeze for my rather strong physique (yeah right, it’s an oxymoron ). No sooner had I registered than I fell ill with just two weeks to go for the trek! Fear began to creep into me, and I wondered at one point whether to cancel the trek. Luckily, I recovered in time.

DAY 1

First came the preparation which in itself was tiring. I being a first-timer, had to purchase a host of stuff, including a backpack (a rather large one), cooling glasses, a sleeping mat, and a cap – all of which cost a cool 3k. And then came the heaviest of them all – water – 8 whole litres of it (for just two days!). When my bag was fully loaded (with 2 kgs of food), it became difficult to carry. I was wondering how far I could go with this before collapsing .

We (14 of us) took Machilipatnam Exp from Secunderabad.

DAY 2

We reached Tadikalapudi at 4.15 in the morning. Having a penchant for frequent headaches, I emptied a litre of water early in the morning, hoping to keep one at bay that day. We started our walk from the station at dawn around 6 AM and kept walking through lovely cotton and paddy fields. Then I saw the ornage morning sun – something which I hadn’t seen in a while . We walked around a couple of hills and approached a small hill. It looked puny to us, but no one had an idea of what it had in store for us. We met one of the villagers on a bullock cart (which was in itself a rare instance – the first and the last time we ever saw humans in the trek!) who suggested to us to take a path a little further away to cross the hill. We ignored his suggestion, and took the nearest ‘route’ right in front of us. By the time we reached the peak, my breath had become faster, and we all needed rest. So much for this ‘tiny’ hill!

Having climbed down this hill, which in itself was an ordeal with lots of thorns (my protruding sleeping , we then reached the plains and our walk became easier. We reached the base of a taller mountain around 8 and settled for breakfast near a stream. A hundred grams of corn flakes with soya milk was all we had for breakfast (Poor me…I was used to eating upma and pongal!).

Yours truly emerged stylish after breakfast with sunglasses and a cap . We then started our ascent through the pass between a couple of hills. Our mission was the head of the stream, where we were planning to cool off with a possible bath and a swim. The ascent was smooth at first, and then became rocky. Climbing became difficult, but I was able to manage rather well, usually among the first few in the group. We crisscrossed the stream, and the weather was also perfect during this time (still morning at around 10 AM).

Somehow, in the next half hour or so, we lost the stream, and the land became kindof barren, with just dry grass and fewer trees. Combined with the hotter sun (the season being almost summer), trekking became difficult with more dehydration. I started sweating more, and consuming much more water.

A word has to be said about our leaders. None in the group had any idea where we were going, and simply followed Ravi and Raghu. Both these guys knew this place (this was their third trip here) and often asked the group to rest while they ventured out in the sun to explore routes when they were not sure of the path to take. And yet, they continued to climb with ease! Where did these guys get their stamina from???

The group as a whole started taking more frequent breaks till lunch. Then came the search for a lunch point. We couldn’t find a single area with a shade for around half an hour. Then came two smaller such areas, where we split in two and accommodated ourselves. Five chapathis with rajma and channa masala was our lunch. We stayed there for an hour and half (a few even slept).

Thinking we would all be energized post lunch, we resumed our trek – only to rest in another ten minutes . We had reached the peak of a 400m high hill and agreed to find the nearest decent plain area to retire for the night. Ten minutes later we found a good spot; but Ravi was still reluctant. “Our original resting point is atop that peak”, and he pointed to the top of a adjacent hill 600m tall (”peak 2075″ – which measured 2075 feet)! To reach there, we had to descend the peak we were on and ascend the other one.

“Come on guys, it’s just 1 km!” Yeah.. if we jump down straight, break our heads and then climb up straight! Otherwise, easily more than 2-3 kms, if we were to properly get down and then up. The group managed to convince Ravi to calm himself down and rest for the night . We then prepared the spot – flattened the grass, spread out our sleeping mats atop plastic sheets, and prepared a fire for dinner after collecting dried wood, and removing all the grass off a 2m wide circle. (The last thing we wanted in that scorching heat was a forest fire that we triggered). That was when my headache which started around noon worsened, and I took a tablet and slept soundly for an hour or so. I appeared in such a poor shape to quite a few people that they thought I was dead

After sunset, we began our dinner prep – a pack of noodles each for most people on a kadai. We noticed a couple of forest fires – one, on peak 2075, was composed of two magnificently bright lines tapering towards each other, and the other on our peak (the fire itself was not visible, but the fumes were). This was what really scared us – we did not know if and when this fire would hit us, and were told to pack up our stuff and be ready to start descending if we actually saw the fire. However, I and most others slept rather soundly, believing that it wouldn’t hit us. Karthik later revealed that he was so afraid (he even woke me up a couple of times), that he didn’t sleep well, what with both his legs bent (fearing a snake bite ).

DAY 3

Sure enough, as the night got cold, the forest fires disappeared – and when we awoke the next day at 5 AM, they were no longer there. We started our descent at 530 AM – the descent was tougher than the ascent since we usually do not use our hands during descent for grip (we would be on all fours throughout the descent if we did ) and had to rely on trees, and consequently I fell down twice. Thankfully we reached the base by 730 AM well before the shadows left. We moved on near the breakfast point, and after freshening up, walked towards the station. We were there by 11 AM and took a passenger train to Bhadrachalam by 12. We were there at Bhadrachalam Road by 1230 AM, and took a dorm. Most of us were truly relieved to see a town with facilities that we usually take for granted . After a good lunch, most of us went to the Ram temple there (35 kms away from the station) while Karthik, Venkat and myself stayed behind (Karthik had a swollen knee, thanks to his bent leg the previous night . I had been to Bhadrachalam the week before and had visited the temple, and Venkat was not interested). After idling around for the rest of the day, we had dinner and boarded the train to Secunderabad.

Overall, it was a fun trip and I’m looking forward to the next one!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Trek dates: 8-9 Dec 2007

After an successful attempt to climb the hill range at Tadakalpudi from the “Water Fall” approach on 2nd September 2007, we are determined to cross the hill range this time.  Having complete knowledge about the location and terrain, the enthusiasts included Arpan, Prathik, Deb, Sayanthan, Ravi, Shiv and Sridhar to cross the hill range.  Ravi was taking care of the transportation, Sridhar the food, Shiv and Deb the barbeque for the night stay, Sayanthan the route.

As the plan was to cross the range over 2 days and we did not have sleeping bags for all the members so 4 members (Ravi, Prathik, Sayanthan and Deb) purchased their own sleeping bags.  The planning for the transportation went for a toss as we could not get reserved tickets to Kothagudem.  So, we all decided to assemble at Imliban bus stand by 8:30 PM on 7th December 2007 and take the available bus for Kothagudem.  The “Snaffy” rotis (packed rotis which can be used upto 4 days from the date of making) we normally take for the trek were not available.  So at the last minute Sridhar had to make alternate arrangements and was unable to reach Imliban as planned.  Sayanthan reached sridhar over the mobile and the tickets can be reserved tickets by the 11:30 PM bus for all the 7 members.  After Sridhar reached Imliban, the common luggage was shared and the baggage repacked.  The bus started its stroll at 11:30 PM.

As we reached Kothagudem by 6:30 AM, we all rushed to the Railway station to catch the first train to Tadakalpudi.  The platform looked deserted and as we enquired at the station, the train left at 5:45 and the next train is available only at 8:00 AM.  The option of going by bus is ruled out as we do not gain much time by the bus journey and we have to do an hour’s walk from the nearest bus stand.  We quickly completed our routines at the railway station and awaited the 8:00 AM train to be bearthed.  The train dropped us at Tadakalpudi by 8:30 and enroute, Deb and Sayantan had a glimpse of the hills and the terrain.

We quickly retraced our path along the railway track till Tadakalpudi railway gate and started walking towards the hill.  This route from the railway station is quite opposite to the route we have taken for the “Water fall” trek.  We met a few villagers who were walking towards their fields for harvesting the Cotton crop.  The villagers were curious to get our where abouts and we were trying to get the details about the terrain and possible paths to start our trek.  After we exchanged the required information, they have shown us a small deviation from their routine walk path which will take us towards a hill behind which we palnned to start our trek.  As we walked along the path, the path became less prominent and we reached a cotton crop beyond which, the hill was visible.  We were sceptic to walk through the field as it is the harvesting season.  With extra care and slow walking, we crossed the field and walked around the hill.  Now we could see our planned path and everybody was ready for the trek.

The route planners Sayantan and Deb were leading the way and the rest of the team is following them.  The first objective is to cross the 100 feet hill range (3 small peaks) and as we climbed the hill, we could see our approach for the hill nearly 2 KM away.  Now we decided a plain ground as a references started towards the same.  By now, the time is 10:00 AM and the Sun started to show his power.  As we were walking towards the intermediate point, the climb down the hill was very easy as we could find a path, but after that it was a bushy jungle and walking through the rivulet was nearly impossible.  Ravi and Sridhar started exploring new paths and as we reached a small stream (with almost still water), Sridhar and Shiv found a way towards the reference point.  Everybody was delighted as we were reaching the reference point.  We found a huge tree giving us enough shade to have our breakfast and a quick rest.

Now we started moving towards the starting point of the trek again through a bushy jungle.  With criss crossing paths, we were sure that there would be wood cutters in this place.  After travelling for nearly 20 mins, we found couple of wood cutters and they informed that there is a path next to the stream and showed us the way towards the stream.  Our google research showed us that there is some rivulet and the information provided by the wood cutters lifted our spirits.  We quickly reached the stream and started walking along the path which was giving a gradual climb.  We made sure that we could see the stream or atleast listen to the sound of water flow when were moving.  After some time, the path and the stream were separated and we could not notice the stream.  Now the path was not at all prominent and more over, the bamboo grass was covering the path and we had to cut them.  Sridhar after talking to Ravi and Sayantan decided to walk through the stream instead of the path and move back to the path once it is visible.

The trek along the dry rivulet was tough for some of the members as they had to jump over the stones to avoid getting wet.  It was very tough for the first timers as they had to balance themselves and jump over the rocks and climb them with the rucksack (@12 Kg).  The first hurdle we faced in the rivulet is “you must jump”.  Here the rivulet was broad and we had couple of paths to move up.  One of them was very slippary and the lead runners got their feet wet.  Sridhar took another path, but this path needed a big jump and with the weight, it was tricky so, first the bags were passed across and then the members jumped to the other side.  Immediately after this, we faced a huge pool of water where in we had to climb along the rivulet bank towards the hill and join back.  Here as well, the slim and balanced guys squeezed through the narrow space available between the rock and tree and climbed up the 6 feet rock.  The movement along the rivulet was slow and tiresome.  We were having quick breaks and we actually reached our starting point of the trek @ 11:00 AM so the effective climb was very less.  The lunch was taken @13:00 hrs and we started walking quickly as the destined point for the night halt is a distance away.  As we were walking along the rivulet, the path became more and more difficult and steep.  We could see a path on our left side and we decided to explore the same, as the jungle track was even more tough, we decided to move back to the rivulet.  Walking along the rivulet, now we again faced huge boulders now we had no other option but to make our path, climb up the hill and join back after crossing the boulders.  We had to do this couple of times and every time we face such an obstacle, we are spending nearly 30 minutes for the entire team to navigate.

At 1600 hrs, we could see the change in the light and we quickly needed to find our resting place for the night.  Everybody is very tired.  Sayantan started climbing up the hill to get a vantage point, Sridhar started walking along the path to find a dwelling place, Ravi started assiting Sayantan to find the way up the hill by climbing a near by tree.  The path taken by Sayantan was very difficult as he had to crawl through the bamboo grass and all along the path.  Sridhar returned back with the news that the path is clear and navigable, but there is slope on either side of the path and fully covered with grass.  Ravi after reviewing both the paths navigated by Sridhar and Sayantan, decided to walk along the path travelled by Sridhar then climb up the slope along the grass and reach the top and camp for the night, even if we had to sleep along the slope, the the objective is to stay away from the water stream.

After reaching the top, Shiv and Ravi found a level place to camp for the night.  Quickly everyone moved towards the camping spot.  The climb through the grass was very tricky as the grass was dry and the climb was steep and we could not see where the foot was landing.  Everyone was tired and wanted a rest.  Cairns were made enroute for safety.  But the fact that we found an even place to camp for the night motivated everyone to move towards the camping place.  From this point, we could listen to the water flowing through one of the reentry points on the other side of the hill.  Deb quickly cut the grass and used the same as a cushion on the little unevenness on the ground.  He was helped by Shiv, Arpan and Prathik in pitching the nets.  Sridhar, Ravi and Sayantan collected firewood for the night.  The logs were very heavy and to move them up the hill was tough especially when you are tired.  As we settled, the camp fire was lit and everyone started sharing their experiences.  There was a big discussion whether we can cross the hill and reach Narsapur from here or go back to Tadakalpudi.  Looking at the terrain, we decided to go back to Tadakalpudi.  The barking deers voice were heard from a distance.  We kept an open eye for any other noices that could be heard.  Cooked parathas and the ready to eat that was brought helped us to make Dal Makhni.  The sky was crystal clear but for the shining stars and being the day after new moon, even the shy stars could show their face.

The cusion of the grass was very helpful to get a well-deserved rest.  The wind was blowing ocassionally and gently and this helped the team get a good and well deserved sleep.  We woke up by 6:30 and packed everything by 7:30 and ready to get down to tadakalpudi.  As we walked down the slope and reached the path, we could not locate the spot from where we took the deviation to climb up the hill last evening.  Sridhar tried to navigate along the path, but no luck. Deb and Sayantan quickly cut the bamboo grass and made a new route towards the rivulet.  Once we are at the rivulet, we started walking along only to know that the point we reached now is upstream to where we left yesterday.  We abandoned the walk through the rivulet yesterday because the path was very difficult and now, we need to navigate the same.  But we had no option but to walk through the tough route.  After walking for nearly 30 minutes, we reached the spot from where we could retrace our path along the rivulet.  Now we moved quickly through the rivulet and recollecting our activities the previous day.  As we reached the 6 feet rock and the huge pool of water, Sayantan, Deb, Prathik and Ravi jumped in to refresh themselves.  After spending more than 30 minutes here, we started our walk down the stream.  It was noticed that the water is flowing at a few places and dry at some other places.  The mystery was solved at the next water log that the water was flowing through some small gaps along the stones this is only to confirm that all the while the water is moving down below the rocks and sand we were walking on.

As we were walking along the rivulet, we could not trace the point where we joined the rivulet from the path.  As we understood that the stream we saw after we crossed the 100 feet hill and the one in which we are moving are the same, we were sure that we will not be lost, but the navigation was becomming difficult.  At this point of time, Sridhar found a small path which was leading onto the bank of the rivulet and from there another path was visible.  The confidence that this path (which was not the one we travelled along the previous day) was one of the cris crossing paths, the navigation through this path will definitely take us towards the spot where we had breakfast.  So the team got on to the path and started exploring the paths and soon we were on the right track to reach back.  Everyone was delighted as we reached the spot where we took breakfast the previous day.  By now it is nearly 11:00 AM and the sun was beating us down.

Now we had to cross the 100 feet hill and reach the fields. After reaching the stream after the breakfast point, we could not retrace the path we climbed down the 100 feet hill.  So, we decided to explore the path.  Deb, Ravi and Sridhar started exploring the paths and after couple of unsuccessful attempts, we found a path which will take us across the hill.  After climbing down the hill, we walked nearly 3 KMS to tadakalpudi railway station through the fields where bullock cart paths exist.  As we were walking towards the railway station, we saw the train leaving, we were late by just 15 minutes.  We reached the railway station by 14:45 only to know that the next train is at 17:30 hrs.  So, we decided to walk to Tekulapalli and climb the bus back to Kothagudem.  The distance is nearly 6 kms and walking through this hot sun and without lunch was taking its toll.  Shiv was lucky to escape in the Auto who was willing to take only one person.  A tractor moving along the way was kind enough to offer us lift till Tekulapalli.  Once we reached Tekulapalli, we quickly moved to Kothagudem and took a Taxi back to Hyderabad.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Trek dates: 2 Sep 2007

After an unsuccessful attempt to cross the hill range at Thadakalpudi on 19th August 2007 by Sridhar and Ravi (weather not permitting), we decided to cross the hill range.  Having the knowledge about the location and the transportation details, the enthusiasts included Kumar, the experienced; and Lakshman the core developer for the thadakalpudi trek.  As the planning started on Friday, the team decided to have a 1 day trek on Sunday.  The starting point, Thadakalpudi is known place to Ravi and Sridhar.  As Ravi took care of booking the transport and planning the route, Sridhar/Kumar took care of the food and Lakshman assisting Ravi.

On Saturday, the bus was starting from BHEL and Ravi, Kumar and Lakshman decided to borad the bus at KPHB where as Sridhar decided to board the same at SR Nagar.  The scheduled deparature of the bus from KPHB is at 20:05 hrs and 20:30 from SR Nagar.  Ravi, Lakshman and Kumar had dinner together and ready to board the Auto to KPHB only to realise that last minute shopping needs to be done by Ravi for the fruits.  As Ravi and Lakshman grabbed the fruits all three took a speed Auto to KPHB.  In the mean time, Sridhar reached SR Nagar by 20:05 and trying to contact Kumar for the status of the bus.  Kumar responded that they just reached KPHB and the bus is yet to arrive.  Sridhar made couple of friends in SR Nagar trying to find the return journey details.  The best alternative is to reach Kothagudem and then try for a bus back to Hyderabad: alternatively if the team is near Yellandu, reach Warangal and then to Hyderabad.

Finally the long awatited Super Luxury bus to Bhadrachalam (via Kothagudem) reached at 20:45 hrs much to the relief of the team waiting at KPHB.  As soon as the bus strolled out of KPHB bus stand, Kumar communicated to Sridhar who was delighted by the call.  As the team enquired, they came to know that there was a huge traffic jam at JNTU which resulted in the delay of all the long distance busses.  As the bus left Hyderabad at 23:00 hrs, the team was more than happy as the scheduled time of arrival at Kothagudem will be 5:00 AM which is ideal to catch the ongoing train to Thadakalpudi at 5:45.  Ravi, as usually quickly went into a deep sleep setting up the alarm for 4:30 AM hoping to wake up the team and Kumar quickly ecliminitised to the new weather.  Sridhar found the same music on his main road side apartment in the team sitting right behind Lakshman, but Lakshman had little tough time in getting a deserved sleep as the music was different and new to him.

As the bus was about to stroll into Kothagudem, Sridhar woke up and requested the team to get ready for alightment.  Quickly the team ran to Bhadrachalam Road (Rly station of Kothagudem) which is @0.75 km away and quickly took the tickets to Thadakalpudi.  As the train is yet to be bearthed (the train starts from Bhadrachalam Road), the train from Hyderabad had just arrived and yet to be taken off the platform before our train can be bearthed.  Lakshman quickly took a cup of Tea and Ravi joined him for the same.  As Sridhar spotted the train on the sleeping platform, the team ran quickly to take the seats for the 20 minute journey.  Kumar and Lakshman completed the freshup even before the train reached the platform.  The train started its stride at 6:00 AM from Bhadrachalam Road.

After reaching Thadakalpudi by 6:30, Sridhar and Ravi quickly completed the formalities and within 10 minutes they were on the mainroad of Thadakalpudi walking towards the hill range.  The team talked to the villagers to find out the route for the planned trek.  The guidance from the villagers was “just follow this path”, the team started walking.  The route is full of greenary and after walking a few meters, there were deviations; decisions were made to move left and right.  Sridhar in his usual style asked the memebers which way to move and got them say that they must move in the direction of the nearby hill.  Rains over the last two days made the route muddy and slurry.  After 1.5 hrs of walk, the team were looking at a hill, which they need to cross to start the trek.  Looking at the weather and terrain, they decided to climb this hill and return back.  The stomach cried for breakfast at 8:30 and we had breakfast here.  We also created xxx crains so that we can trace back the path.  After the breakfast, and taking a closer look at the terrain, it was decided to abandon climbing the hill.  The planned starting point cannot be reached as it was over the hill ahead of us.  The thought of walking around the hill was also abandoned as it was very muddy and we need to make a long path.  The impression was that we could end up reaching the starting point only.  So we decided to start climb from a different point.  Being innovative, we started walking in the direction of the path along the fields (trying to avoid the retracing).  After walking a few steps through the field, the shoes were tested to the limit as the black soil was sticking.  We started walking slowly and by the time, we crossed the first field, we were very tired and frustated.  As we realised that we took too many turns towards the hill and one of the paths will be in sight quickly.  The fields were fenced and then we realised that we were in a maze.  We started walking through the fields in the direction of another hill (towards west).  The maze was never ending and we were getting tired.  suddenly we found an old man in the fields.  The prior knoledge of Sridhar and Ravi prompted us to ask the old man the direction for the WaterFall, a known local spot for villagers.  The old man has shown us a rock formation on the hill and asked us to move in the direction.

The old man was kind enough to direct us towards a “Machan” where another person was sitting and he will guide us towards the water fall.  As we could see the “Machan”, we started walking with little more confidence and enthusiasm.  The old man was thanked (with a tip).  As we reached the “Machan”, we met “Trailer Ramadasu” who showed us a jungle track to move ahead.  We spent a few minutes here enjoying the view from the “Machan”.  This machan was erected as this being the last field of the village and being close to the hill, the monkeys, come here to pluck/eat the cotton seeds.  Thanking Ramadasu, we walked through the bushes.  Though the villagers were confident about the route, we were checking our way at each cross paths.  We kept cairns and walked towards the hill by making way through the shruby bamboo grass.  Couple of approaches towards the hill were unsuccessful and we had to traceback and walk along the hill side till we reached a small stream.  Now we had a little break and quickly started walking up the stream.  The terrain was just rocks and the water flowing fluently.  We hopped over the rocks only to find Kumar and Lakshman were getting tired quickly.  At 13:00 hrs, we decided to have our lunch but the sight of the top of the hill, motivated Ravi and Sridhar to jump a few more rocks to reach the top.  As Sridhar and Ravi travelled for @15 mins, the path seemed to be never ending and they returned back to have lunch with the team.

After a well deserved bath, we had lunch and started walking down.  The pace was very good and we reached the entry point to the stream within 1 hr.  Surprisingly, it took us more than 2 1/2 hrs to climb this part.  We retraced the path and reached back the “Machan” and talked to Ramadasu to find the way back.  As we were talking to Ramadasu, he has mentioned that walking in the field is not acceptable and it will be difficult when the manuring of the fields is done.  He almost warned us and suggested to walk away from the fields.  We took his help in finding the route and walked away from the fields.  Now, to reach Thadakalpudi from here just took 1/2 an hour.  But the onward journey to reach the Machan took us nearly 3 hrs (including the break for breakfast).  As we reached Thadakalpudi, we found out that the train is 1 hr away from reaching us.  As Ravi, Kumar and Lakshman took some deserved rest, Sridhar was exploiting the terrain for the next trek.  As the train reached Thadakalpudi by 17:45 hrs (15 mts behind schedule), we reached Kothagudem, followed the tradition of watching a movie; Yamadonga this time and started by 22:30 to reach back Hyderabad.

Popularity: 4% [?]