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% [?]

Trek dates: 10-11 March 2007

After the successful 1 day treks at Kondaveedu and Venkatayyapalem, this time, the mood of the team is to have a 2-day trek.  As this needed more planning and preparation, Ravi143, Sridhar334 and Basu424 increased the team size to 6 by including Kumar373, Rajiv342 and Shiv597.  As the Kondaveedu terrain is known, the team decided to spend the weekend at Kondaveedu.  Kumar and Ravi are busy involved in getting the required equipment.  Shiv was taking care of the safety needs.  Sridhar was assigned about the Food where as Basu and Rajiv are planning the detailed route.

Everybody left office by 17:00 hrs on Friday to complete the last minute purchases only to meet each other at 20:30 to catch Delta Fast Passenger at Secunderabad the train to Guntur.  As Sridhar reached by 20:40, the train is not placed on the platform and he started searching for the other members of the team, suddenly he realized that the train is strolling on to platform 4.  He quickly ran to coach S5 and took the place waiting for the rest of the team.  To his pleasant surprise, basu voiced his name and the team greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries.

Before the train reached Maulali, the complete team (except for Sridhar) had their dinner.  As the train started at 21:00 hrs, it took its dinner at Maulali.  After the busy trains Goutami and Nizamuddin Express whistled past, the delta fast passenger took its stride towards Guntur.  As some of the members took a quick rest, Shiv, Basu and Kumar were chatting.  At 4:00 AM, Sridhar woke up and to his surprise found the TT waking up all the members who are destined to get down at Guntur.  Thanks to Lalu’s initiatives the Railways have become a better place.  The team quickly packed their bags and got ready to alight at Guntur.

As the train stopped at Guntur, everybody got down and quickly completed the morning routine and were ready to leave only to find out that Shiv was missing.  As Dr. Martin Cooper’s invention (Mobile Phone) has helpful to trace him, he was having his morning walk, after he joined the rest, everybody started towards Bus Stand.  After having a quick breakfast at Siri Tiffins (our breakfast point in the earlier trek as well), we packed our lunch in the form of Idlis, re-packed our backpacks with water (4 lts for each member), biscuits, chocolates, chewing gum, etc., and took the bus to Phirangipuram.  Before we boarded the bus, we quickly measured the weight of the luggage each of us is carrying in the backpacks (@12.5 Kg’s average).  We also weighed each of us for statistics before and after the trek.  As the bus reached Phirangipuram, we quickly found an Auto to drop us at the foothill of the Kondaveedu range.

As the mountain and the trekkers are aware of each other, little did the mountain knew about the adventurists plans this weekend nor did the trekkers knew about the eastern side terrain of the mountain.  The team started the trek at 7:30 AM, at the foot hill and the six started with a 300 meter walk towards the Kondaveedu Fort Hill (1st hill).  As the team started climbing, with the heavy backpacks, everybody needed a break at half-way into the climb as some of the members are refreshing the cool breeze, Shiv picked up the juice to refresh and Rajiv the water bottle.  Rajiv quickly changed to casual wear, as his Jeans were not allowing a free climb.  As we reached the top of the Fort Hill, took a quick break to regroup our energy.  As we are taking the break, the Spy monkey (SM) arrived.  First playing hide and seek so that we do not notice it.  Once the SM knew that we have noticed him, he took a vantage point right above Sridhar and scanning our luggage for free meal.  As we did not unpack our luggage, he did not get a clue.  He quickly ran away into the bushes.  After a while Sridhar, Ravi and Rajiv setoff towards the deviation point (a designated place where a deviation must be taken from the first trek route), Shiv and Kumar went up the fort ruins to get an aerial view of the Fort Hill Top.  Basu accompanied them so that we do not loose track.  Sridhar explained the three water loggings found enroute and mapped them to the aerial maps taken.  Rajiv quickly mapped the distances between them to the map to get a gut feeling about the distances he has planned earlier.  As the maps were being digested, Ravi quickly got up a monolithic rock to get another view point (he missed this during our earlier trek).  From here, he could see the Spy monkeys running around.  In the meanwhile Basu, Shiv and Kumar joined and the complete team set out towards the deviation point.

After crossing the third pool, we moved under the shrubs for 30 mts and quickly found a vantage point to our left.  As Sridhar and Rajiv reached this point, they found as if this was visited before quickly Rajiv voiced for Basu and he joined them.  As the view from this point is being studied, Rajiv and Basu realized that this is nothing but R751 in the map.  Now the path are being chalked out to reach B1052.  As they found a path H2P1 (Hill 2 Path 1) at a distance, they decided to reach H2P1 and then cross the hill range in the vicinity before camping for the night.  The team picked up couple of spots D1BL1 (Day 1 Before Lunch 1) and D1BL2 (Day 1 Before Lunch 2) in between and keeping them as reference to reach H2P1.  The rest of the team members in the meanwhile are enjoying the nature and capturing the same in the camera.  The team regrouped and everybody is appraised about the path being taken and everybody started walking towards D1BL1.  As we took a few steps towards D1BL1, we found another small rock that gave a clear view of D1BL1.  As we were progressing in the right direction and the destination in sight, we quickly reached D1BL1.  Now the time is 10:00 AM.

Now we have to reach D1BL2 (a point between two small peaks) so that we can find our way towards the path viewed from R751.  From here, we could not find any easy path.  As Basu and Ravi were exploring the path of taking the walk towards the rocks leading to one of the peak, Sridhar was of the impression that the opposite direction will take us between the peaks.  The teams started exploring the options, Sridhar walked and found a path which is thorny as he walked for 5 minutes he was convinced that this path will lead us between the peaks.  In the mean time, Basu, Ravi, Kumar, Rajiv and Shiv were even exploring alternates to reach the path avoiding D1BL2. As we spent nearly 30 minutes here exploring the options, the team was tired as the sun started showing its power.  The team discussed and a call was made to move in the direction investigated by Sridhar.  After travelling this path for 5 minutes, we almost reached a dead end.  As Ravi and Shiv started exploring a small path, Basu and Rajiv were exploring through the bushes.  Basu was using the sickle and the knife to the maximum extent making the path and Rajiv following him.  The big fat sticks picked up by the members were very helpful in clearing some of the thorns. ( Ravi / Shiv …) Ravi shouted after a while that he made a navigable path for us, quickly all of us followed him.  As the team moved slowly from here, we found a 7 feet rock to be slide down.  (Gyan Session 1 …) Though this rock was slippery, everyone managed to slide down safely.

Now we are in deep bushes encircling us and we had to use the compass to find the direction to move.  The bushes were actually saving us from the heat.  As we moved with care on the dry leaves, we were constantly checking the direction under the pathfinder for this stretch, Kumar.  When walking under this huge umbrella, we travessed the peaks and now had a clearer view of H2P1 but still a distance away.  Now, Kumar and Shiv started exploring the path and they reached another vantage point between D1BL2 and H2P1.  As they could find a path from this vantage point as well, the team followed them.  After traveling a little distance down hill, we are stuck as the path we are navigating is closed.  Ravi and Basu now started taking the lead in exploring alternates paths.  As the path navigated by Basu and Ravi was tangential towards the direction of current path is going in the same direction as H2P1 which is at a gradient, we have to climb up the hill to reach H2P1.  Kumar and Sridhar thought of crawling along the original path that seemed closed.  Sridhar and Kumar crawled through the path and further exploration lead to a flat place nearer to H2P1 that was observed from R751.  They quickly retreated; collected the team and all of them successfully came out of the deep bushes.

Shiv, Ravi and Sridhar explored the route from here towards H2P1.  As they found a place that had little more shade, they decided to have lunch here.  As they retreated to move ahead with the team, Kumar informed that Rajiv and Basu have gone in search of Rajiv’s mobile.  Soon Ravi and Sridhar also joined the pack and started searching for the mobile.  The path was retraced for 15 minutes.  As the path was covered with dry leaves, it was difficult to trace the mobile.  After searching for 30mts, the team gave up and team united to move towards the designated lunch spot.  The packed idli’s filled the hunger but it was the lime juice prepared by Sridhar and the glucose that gave the required energy to the team.

Now, H2P1 was a stone throw distance away, but no sight of any path.  Ravi, Basu and Kumar decided to make a path through the bushes.  The objective was that the other 3 members would join after making a path for 30 meters.  Rajiv was guiding the path makers towards H2P1.  After cutting through the bushes for nearly an hour, Ravi, Basu and Kumar returned in a tired state.  A quick rest was taken till the 3 path makers are ready for the move.  As the path makers lead the rest in the newly created path, suddenly Ravi realized that there is an alternate route to reach H2P1 that is shorter than the path they just made for the rest.  And all of us started moving on this route.  Shiv was leading the team at the right pace that none of the members even felt like taking any rest and we have covered a huge distance in an hour.  During this trek, we found the porcupine spikes, looks like the porcupine had shred off all its spikes here in its defense.  After walking for nearly 1 hour the team took a quick break to have the cucumbers which were very refreshing.  The lime juice taken after lunch was refreshing but did not quench the thirst.  The cucumbers taken now did quench the thirst and made the body feel cooler.  Shiv lead us from here keeping the same pace and we moved quickly and were crossing the second mountain.  Rajiv and Basu informed the team that “I like this spot”, our designated dwelling place for the night must be just over the peak.  So, we decided to climb the peak K2-1059 and then decide on the path towards “I like this spot”.  Rajiv, Basu and Ravi quickly started moving towards K2-1059 everybody started following them.  The climb became difficult as we started reaching the peak.  Basu and Rajiv decided that it would be difficult for everybody to reach the peak.  So, we abandoned the climb towards K2-1059 and decided to move around the hill and find a place to sleep.  Sridhar, Rajiv and Shiv now went on a search of the route and quickly a navigable path was found.  As Sridhar and Rajiv had left their backpacks with the other team members, they requested Shiv to stay at a X roads.  This will be helpful to retrace the path and Sridhar and Rajiv can move quickly along the path.  As they walked briskly for nearly 10 minutes, they found a flat place that can be used as the dwelling place.  They immediately returned and the team reached the dwelling place by 16:30 hrs.

The dwelling place was an excellent viewpoint.  From here, we were able to view the cotton mill of Thummalapalem towards south east, to the south stood a huge peak, towards south west, we could find Boyapalem at a distance.  The Vallies in the South West and South East are providing cool breeze with natural cooling.  The remaining directions are filled with peaks.  As the team wanted to gear up for the dinner, they wanted to spend some time relaxing.  Ravi quickly found out couple of big rocks each big enough to take the complete team.  Sridhar, Basu and Shiv were exploring if there are any alternate places to dwell.  They traveled along the same path (towards south east) and found that the current place is the best in the vicinity to take rest for the night.  Now the team relaxed on the big rocks for 30 minutes, a well deserved rest.  After the rest, the team quickly started preparations for the night.

Rajiv and Kumar collected the firewood in the vicinity and started pitching the tents here by cleaning up the stones.  Shiv quickly found a better place which is towards the North which is away from the path, a clear area all around, on the rocks, giving a good view of 180 degrees and an ideal place to dwell in any trek.  Everybody thanked Shiv and the luggage was moved quickly to this place.  Rajiv and Kumar started camping the mosquito nets in the new place.  At the same time, Basu and Sridhar went in search of firewood by retracing the path.  Sridhar and Basu quickly returned with their handfuls.  The firewood was very dry and will burn out very quickly so we needed huge firewood to burn the complete night.  We could not find any logs as well.  In the meanwhile Kumar and Rajiv were exploring about the options to camp the mosquito nets.  There were two small trees on the northwest and all the other directions are open.  The challenge was to tie 2 mosquito nets.  They quickly tied both the nets together which left them to tie 3 supports on either side to keep the nets stable.  The winds are blowing at a high speed and we wanted the nets to be stable through out the night.  There were trees on one side, but the ropes cannot be tied here as the tree branches are swinging to the strong breeze coming from the South East and South West are disturbing the balance of the nets.  So, the ropes were taken over the trees and tied to the stones so that the disturbance is minimal.  Then came up the idea of planting a pole on the rocks on one side and tying all the supports on one side to this pole.  Imagine planting a pole on a hard rock, the team struggled to plant the pole and finally it was planted at an angle “/” so that it will be stable.  As we cannot make a hole to plant the pole, we created supports to the pole so that it is able to stand on the rock and withstand the heavy breeze comming in different directions.  Now we tied all the three ropes to this pole and the nets stood.  A huge sigh of relief and a satisfaction of achievement as the support to the pole were strong enough.

As it was getting dark (6:30 PM), the preparations were on for dinner.  Sridhar quickly made a salad with the cucumber, onions, carrots, chillies and lime; Shiv made soup for the team.  The packed chapati’s brought from Hyderabad along with Jam and Pickles served the dinner for everybody.  It was dark by 7:00 PM as the visibility reduced to near zero.  The firewood brought for the campfire was quickly consumed as the wood was very dry and the good breeze did not give us a chance to re-ignite the fire.  Everybody was in the nets by 7:30 PM to take a deserved rest.  It was decided that we are going to have a night out.  Keeping guard of the remaining team members.  Rajiv, Ravi and Shiv took the tent facing South (looking down hill) where as Sridhar, Basu and Kumar took the other tent facing North (looking up hill).

The activity is splitted into shifts and the first shift is up to 11:00 being taken care by Rajiv and Sridhar.  It was pitch dark and pin drop silence.  The only disturbance we had been the swinging of the branches and the dropping of the leaves onto the ground.  The occasional screaming of the monkeys was music to keep us awake.  We also heard the tyre sound of the vehicles running on the highway only to remind us how pollution (sound) free the environment was.  Rajiv and Sridhar were pinging each other every 10-15 minutes just to make sure that both are awake.  Whenever there was a small sound both the members used to coordinate to find out what the sound was.  It was around 10:00 PM when Sridhar heard a sound coming from the west and he could not see anything out as the view had to pass through 3 layers of the nets.  He quickly whispered for Rajiv and there was no response.  He quickly woke up Basu and they are inquisitive to find out what the noise is all about.  And as the noise is heard again, Sridhar shouted to shoo away the animals (thinking so).  In the mean while Rajiv saw a white shape at a distance and was shocked for a minute just trying to see what the figure is all about.  He was also surprised at the shout of Sridhar and quickly flashed his torch on the figure.  Ravi also woke up for the shout and everyone was attentive.  As the torches flashed on the images seen at a distance, they started running only for the team to identify that they are cows.  The team was relaxed from the shock of the unexpected visitors.  Looks like the visitors are also equally surprised to see someone occupying their dwelling area.

Ravi and Basu took charge of the duty from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM and when the handover is being given to Shiv and Kumar, Shiv was surprised at the unplanned event, but he agreed with the team to take his shift from 1:00 AM to 4:00 AM.  As Rajiv and Sridhar resumed their duty from 4:00 AM Sridhar heard a voice at 5:00 AM.  This time he quickly calculated as if someone is at this place at 5:00 AM, then they would have started their climb at 1:00 AM  or so.  And in that case who will be travelling at such an emergency?  All these thoughts/doubts were cleared when Rajiv said that the voice heard was from the loud speakers at the nearby village which were audible the previous day night as well.

As everybody woke up in the morning and completing their routines, packed the entire luggage and had the “Saffy” rotis for the breakfast along with pickle and jam.  Everybody checked their food items for the rest of the trek.  Some of the members were trying to reduce their weight by consuming some of the food items and some were conserving them for the rest of the trek.  The most valuable item was the amount of water each person had.  The team started the trek slowly at 8:30 AM thinking that they will be reaching back Guntur much before dusk.

As the team started their descent after nearly 30 minutes of walking, we found “I like this spot”.  Much to the satisfaction of Rajiv and Basu just to know how precise the team was in planning and execution of the path towards the destination.  This has brought more confidence into all the team members and the voice echoed that we would be reaching Guntur early.  Some people voiced about reaching Guntur by Lunch time.  Not a bad idea in fact.  After traveling for 15 more minutes, we reached a dead end.  As Ravi and Sridhar started exploring the path through the bushes in the valley, Kumar and Basu were looking at other alternatives.  Sridhar and Ravi found that the path through the valley is tough and it will be tough to make a route here.  So they were trying to find out if there is any rivulet to climb the next hill and look for a path from there.  Kumar and Basu found one along the same hill.  As the path found by Kumar and Basu looked realistic, every  body joined the team and traveling for nearly 15 minutes, we faced a huge boulder and the boulder was along the valley which Sridhar and Ravi found earlier.  Ravi and Basu set out to explore the boulder and possible paths.  Quickly Sridhar also joined them.  As the team walked across the boulder, they realized that getting down into the valley is difficult. Alternates of getting down into the valley along the boulder were explored.  There were couple of places where the explorers could get into the valley but walking along the valley seemed difficult. At the top of the boulder (D2BL1), there seemed to be a distant path that will lead us out towards the spin mill at Thummalapalem.  Now the plan is to take the team to D2BL1 and then explore the alternatives.  Basu, Sridhar and Ravi returned back to the team and explained the further course of action.  The team need to walk along this boulder, everyone struggled to climb this boulder as it was very steep and the with the back packs it was a balancing act.  Rajiv took an alternate path round the rock but got struck in the shrubs growing in the rock cravasse.  Kumar tried to climb the rock but slipped, he also took the path in which Rajiv went.  Basu gave his backpack to Ravi and walked along the rock and joined the team at a distance.  Now the team started moving towards D2BL1 (Gyan Session 2)

As the team reached D2BL1, the spin mills of Thummalapalem were visible towards the East and the path (H3P1) is also traveling in the same direction.  From here, we had three alternatives.  First option is to get down into the valley along the boulder and then make path through the valley.  The second was to find a path from the end of the boulder and get down the hill.  The third option was to climb up towards the next hill and and get down towards the H3P1.  Ravi and Shiv started exploring the second option and found too many thorns in the beginning.  After clearing the thorns, they found couple of boulders and after crossing them, they could not find any path, but only shrubs and the complete floor is covered with dry leaves.  They returned and shared the experience.  Now, Basu and Ravi went to explore the path along the first option.  In the mean time, Sridhar, Rajiv and Shiv started exploring second path further.  As they started cutting the creepers and moving down, they realized that the path is difficult to navigate.  After exploring for nearly 30 minutes they found themselves at the foothill, but still a valley to cross.  In the mean time, Ravi tried the third option and got lost in the thick bushes.  He retreated back and his earlier experience with Basu that the first option is not possible made every body fingers crossed for the feedback to be brought back by Sridhar, Rajiv and Shiv.  As they brought back the good news, everybody was relaxed.

As the team started moving along the second option, barely 25 meters into the path, the complete team was lost!   Sridhar, Rajiv and Shiv started discussing about the path to be taken.  It is only then that they realized the path in which they went down is different from the one they came up and now they are in a different route!  As the team had a sense of direction, they started exploring a new path and were walking along the hill without any gradient.  This path was moving in the direction of South.  After walking for nearly 30 minutes, they found a huge boulder which gave another vantage point and from there a small path was visible much to the delight of everybody.  From here they found smoke at a distance indicating that some body was there and a good point of reference.  So, the team started walking towards the smoke which is in the direction of the Spinning mills.

The team, slowly started walking along the path and were a bit confident that the path will lead them out.  The only doubt they had was about the crossroads.  As they briskly walked along this path, they found couple of wood cutters who came to collect firewood.  With the help of the wood cutters, Sridhar was able to get the direction in which they need to travel.  But the wood cutters were not very helpful.  With the available information, the team moved quickly knowing that the destination to catch the bus to Guntur is another 3 Km away.  Once we are in the valley where the wood cutters are found, we came to know that this is a commonly visited path and we will not have any difficulty in reaching the destination.   As we walked for a while found couple of bicycles on the road side.  This put us the confidence that the tyre marks will help us reach the village.  We took a break after walking nearly 2KM and then refreshed ourselves with Oranges and rationed water from Sridhar.  As we are about to reach the village a voice was heard requesting for water.  As we desparately needed water, we went to the fields and the farmers (Ranga Rao Gowda with his co-farmers) are more than willing to offer us what little they had.  We took water and also helped them with the chocos, biscuits we had.  The villagers were surprised that there exists a route between Kondaveedu and Thummalapalem.  As we reached the busstand, there was a small canteen to help us with food.  All of us at once requested for Butter milk and drank to the thirst.  We took the bus to Guntur which dropped us at 14:00 hrs.

As we decided earlier, we measured the weights of each of us and to the surprise most of us lost good amounts.  Ravi 6.5, Sridhar 2.5, Kumar 2.5, Rajiv 1.5, Shiv 0.5 and Basu 0.0 (thanks mainly to the 7 glasses of water and 5 packets of butter milk he had).

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14-Oct-2006
Sridhar, Basu, Venki and myself thought of having an adventurous trek this weekend. We hit upon Google Earth and found a small hill range near Phirangipuram and decided to trek this small hill. Since we did not had any information about the place we were bit apprehensive about it. Ater a small discussion we thought this would be adventurous. The only information we had was from Google Earth – Aerial view of the hill range  and Sridhar had a bit of information about the places nearby the hill range.The only thing we had abundance of raw enthusiasm to do something different for the weekend along with the Google earth Map of the Area.

Pic 1.
As the Delta Fast Passenger train slowly started from Secunderabad we again revisited our plan of going about crossing the Kondaveedu hill range. After some chit-chat all of us went to sleep. I was woken up by Basu at around 4:45 AM when we were about to reach Guntur.From railway Station we moved on to Bus Stand.Having a quick breakfast we boarded the bus to Phirangipuram. After 45 minutes of sleeping in the bus we alighted at  Phirangipuram. The Starting point of the Trek was from Kondaveedu Village which was at the base of the hill.We started around 7:15 by following a walkable path and after 45 minutes of climb we reached near the fort ruins and took a break. There the path Ended.

Pic 2.
We broke up in to 2 teams with myself and Venky taking the shorter but challenging route and Sridhar-Basu taking the longer and the easy one. After some crawling between rocks and Venky getting hurt and some more searching for a path, we finally were able to hear Sridhar and Basu shouting for us. After taking some rest we continued our trekk, trying to find a path with some help from the cattle dung lying around.

Pic 3
After some more getting lost and walking around aimlessly we took some rest and had our lunch.We had biscuits, chips and some fruits. And  we had only a little of water left with us.After lunch we again started to move and approximating the direction of the Highway which was seen earlier by one of us. All the time we had broken ourselves in to teams while searching for a path to the Highway which could be seen very faar from us.

Pic4
Everywhere we tried to stick to the path of the now-dried water stream. This would our best bet for reaching downhill and this would be the nearest path to reach the base of the hill.As we took turns and tried to follow the dry  stream, we could hear some voices of Shepherds. That gave us a huge relief. After contacting the shepherd on the direction of the descent and the village, we luckily reached the base of the hill. By this time Sun was already burning at its highest and our water was over. Seeing a pond nearby was a relief but it turned in to disappoinment when we realised the water in the pond was useless for us to wash ourselves.

Pic5

After some time taking rest near the pond we started towards the Gopanapally village main road through the Eucalyptus plantation. As we reached the village, we quenched our thirst from the boring well and took an Auto to Boyapallem. Reaching Boyapallem all of us had coconut water and boarded the bus to Guntur.

Pic 6

Realising we had lot of time at our end, we went to ‘Pogaru’ – a Telugu flick, thinking of sleeping in the A/C movie hall. Instead I got engrossed in the movie and just did not sleep through the movie. As we  had dinner and boarded the bus to Hyderebad, we were wondering how this trekk was accomplished.

Pic 7
After our trek, we tried to map the path which we had taken and we were astonished to find the path which was originally decided and the path which we took was entirely different. Thats what happens when anyone does trekking based on Google earth without a GPS system!!!!!

Starting Poinnt- Kondaveedu Village, Phirangipuram
Destination-  Gopanapally/Boyapallem Village
Photos -

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