Sharing a few write-ups with the group -
[Arun Shekar]
Nagari Nagari nagari!!! The untouched valley of nagari was explored by the brave trekkers of CTC. Nagari Ex2 was the mission to explore the 3 valleys in the interior of the hills. After assembling at the Olluru road, we started out to the exploration of this new entry which goes straight to the steep south Eastern Valley.
Soon after the trail ended, it was nightmare for our shoes. It was the dry stream, Full of stones and thorns. After all these treks with Peter, there are 3 things ESSENTIAL for joining Peter’s trek:
1. Do not love your shoe.
2. Do not Love your clothes.
3. Do not depend on anyone for anything.
The dry stream never seemed to end and before a few hours of exercise, we decided to have a group pic.
Gasping for the breath and water, we moved up and up the stream. The tough ones concentrating on the path and the others with just one question, where is WATER!!
Finally after some time we reached the hut and eventually the stream. All of us were relieved to see the H2O and the Trek had officially started.
Now we do what CTC people are known to do the best – Follow the Stream! Some good pools along the way and everyone was alive again. Not knowing what was ahead, we reached the point which will seem to be a dead end for any good climber.
Some guys tried to go from the left but got stuck. Nagari is ruthless when it comes to the thorns. If it says there is no way you have to obey and go back. So after numerous attempts by the pro climbers, we were forced to go back around the right side where we had to circumvent the whole valley. After reaching the top of the valley came the photo point and the jumpy jumpy people were delighted.
Now we were in a dilemma. Either we go back to the valley, which will have water but we might get stuck too. Or we take the side of the mountain thorny route which will take us to the 900m proposed altitude.
We chose the latter as that would lead us to the planned campsite faster. We reached a local peak which gave us amazing views of the prohibited areas of Andhra (Venkateshwara, Tirupati and Venkatagiri). From this view point, we could see the complete interior of Nagari range and the valleys of Ex1.
Now wait a minute, am I talking about the whole group? Oops, some people are missing! Yes, a small group extended their sleep enjoying the views and got separated from the group. As proposed, we moved on ahead to the second valley as it was getting dark and Peter and Vipin went as a search party. Later we got to hear from them that a group got lost again even after being rescued ;-)Just as it got dark, we reached the camp site which was a heaven out of nowhere.
Soup and soupy noodles was abundant and was served to everyone till they said enough – no more! The fuel for the body was filled and we rested. Later in the morning we found that the camp site was a dead end as well. Hence we went up the hill and circumvented a series of falls and pools.
After the circumvent, we reached back to the stream where we encountered our first sliding pool. I was one of the lucky person to slide in that pool.
By lunch time on the second day, the trail showed up and signd of village were nearing. Some nice Jeep trails were found and a small group of five people had to unfortunately split to exit the easy way skipping the third valley. Our group which was ahead made quick CTC signs for them with the stoned to guide them out. But our challenge had just begun.
We took some wrong turns to find the northern valley but finally reached the entry which was again a dry stream full of rocks! A quick Thepla lunch was served and we went along the stream hoping to run into water like yesterday. But today, the valley of Nagiri showed no mercy on us. A continuous 6 hours. The northern valley, which was a nice cut in the terrain map didn’t have a single drop of water!
The fact that I couldn’t find any photos for this part shows the intensity!! The only luck on our favor was the drips of water coming out of a hole in the rock. A few of us had 2-3 mouthfull and carried on. We had to slightly divert our valley which lead to the village faster. Then was the first Scare. We had a 50-60m vertical climg on top and a huge boulder (almost 1m in length and breadth!) started rolling from the top. It came down so fast and hit Sundar on the legs. Everything happened so fast, that no one had any time to react. But Sundar had the luck of heavens and he was pretty normal even after the fall. Somehow we recovered from this shock and carried on the thorny climb. People almost gave up hope when we heard the yell – “oooooopppppp” It was Peter and he found the trail. The trail was crystal clear and took us to the nearby village within 2 hours. We took the final group photo with the Nagari standing ruthless in background telling us – If you wanna come again be prepared for more!!
The villagers were amazed by the quantity of water we drank! Added to the heaven was the bonda shop on the road. We eventually found a bus to Srikalahasti where kathir did the 2nd 360 summersault in a nagiri exploration after vipin. It’s like a habit these days! Finally we had a rocky ride in 5 Autos which took us back to our cars. The dinner and fun at the CTC dhaba was a memorable experience too!
Arun
[Vasanth Kumar]
It began like it usually does, bang in the middle of the night. After a couple of tea breaks and some 3 hours worth of driving, we reached our base camp. Pack the essentials and off we go to scale Nagari’s highest peak. With freshness and energy abounding, we covered a considerable distance before breakfast. And then began the real deal… Steep slopes, dry stream boulders, centipedes, millipedes, thousands of them, ponds, waterfalls and a dead end. To climb a steep high slope and encounter a big stone wall is, well, frustrating to say the least.
Down we come, through the same slope and find a detour. What a climb it was. And was it worth it? Completely. To stand on that peak and to look the distance we had come was pure awesomeness. After a short break began the descent, pretty much eventless until a sub group gets lost. We send a messenger back to find them and we get on our way. Darkness falls shortly and we encounter a waterfall in our way. In other words, camp! I never soup and maggi could taste that good. It takes one full day of good hard trekking to appreciate food! And we finally see the other sub group that got lost, in parts. They come one by one, from the moment we started cooking to the moment most of us were deep asleep.
Day two starts with regroup, stories from the group that took the road not to be travelled and the smell of some amazing rava pongal. We were still in the middle of nowhere with no sight of human civilization, even through binoculars. Start climbing again. One good accent and one really long descent later, we find water! WATER! There is a small change of plans here. We had to drop off some of our members who weren’t in a capacity to scale another peak. And it all repeats again, boulders, dry streams, upstream, downstream, accent, descent, peak, breathtaking views and more.
Call it luck or eventuality, the two groups somehow find themselves on the same bus on the way back! The rout caused by us at Kalahasti bus stand is one to be seen, not heard. A bunch of 30 really thirsty trekkers attacking anything that had water in it! Boy, that is when I felt truly alive, again. A bumpy auto ride in a solitary dark road later, base camp again! After some much necessary rehydration later, we start the journey again. This summary is incomplete without a mention to that awesome road side dinner. By the end of it, both our hearts and stomachs were content.
A good 48 hours away from the home, in the wilderness, doing crazy things is necessary at times to recharge ourselves for the rigours of monotonous lives. Cheers to a good trek and CTC!
[Bharanidharan R]
It began like it usually does, bang in the
middle of the night. After a couple of tea breaks and some 3 hours worth of
driving, we reached our base camp. Pack the essentials and off we go to scale
Nagari’s highest peak. With freshness and energy abounding, we covered a
considerable distance before breakfast.
And then began the real deal… Steep slopes, dry stream boulders,
centipedes, millipedes, thousands of them, ponds, waterfalls and a dead end. To
climb a steep high slope and encounter a big stone wall is, well, frustrating
to say the least.
Down we come,
through the same slope and find a detour. What a climb it was. And was it worth
it? Completely. To stand on that peak and to look the distance we had come was
pure awesomeness. After a short break began the descent, pretty much eventless
until a sub group gets lost. We send a messenger back to find them and we get
on our way. Darkness falls shortly and we encounter a waterfall in our way. In
other words, camp! I never soup and maggi could taste that good. It takes one
full day of good hard trekking to appreciate food! And we finally see the other
sub group that got lost, in parts. They come one by one, from the moment we
started cooking to the moment most of us were deep asleep.
Day two starts with
regroup, stories from the group that took the road not to be travelled and the
smell of some amazing rava pongal. We were still in the middle of nowhere with
no sight of human civilization, even through binoculars. Start climbing again.
One good accent and one really long descent later, we find water! WATER! There
is a small change of plans here. We had to drop off some of our members who
weren’t in a capacity to scale another peak. And it all repeats again,
boulders, dry streams, upstream, downstream, accent, descent, peak,
breathtaking views and more.
Call it luck or
eventuality, the two groups somehow find themselves on the same bus on the way
back! The rout caused by us at Kalahasti
bus stand is one to be seen, not heard. A bunch of 30 really thirsty trekkers
attacking anything that had water in it! Boy, that is when I felt truly alive,
again. A bumpy auto ride in a solitary dark road later, base camp again! After
some much necessary rehydration later, we start the journey again. This summary
is incomplete without a mention to that awesome road side dinner. By the end of
it, both our hearts and stomachs were content.
A good 48 hours
away from the home, in the wilderness, doing crazy things is necessary at times
to recharge ourselves for the rigours of monotonous lives. Cheers to a good
trek and CTC!
--
Peter Van Geit
Dare to create your own path rather than follow existing trails
http://www.google.com/profiles/peter.vangeit
