A lightning fast trek in Nagala

I have been to Nagala only once so when I saw a trek invite with the plan of visiting all the three peaks within 24 hours, I signed up straight away. Only after I got shortlisted, I realized this is was an express trek. I made a call to the organizer and made sure I was not unfit..I have been training for a half marathon, so, I believed that it would take me to the peaks without many problems.

    The day finally arrived and I made a quick dash to Koyambedu as soon as I returned from my college.  To my surprise, the rest of the team was late so I just sat in the bus stop thinking about the next day. Finally, I met Nitin and soon Prem anna arrived.  We stopped at a petrol bunk but got delayed there by at least twenty minutes as the pump was not working. Then after some periodic regroupings, we made it to the base of the hills. We had a quick and funny dinner and went to sleep. I still remember Shyam anna speaking nonstop in his mobile for a long time and how Magesh anna and Prem anna kept teasing him..At around 2: 30AM, I heard something like an emergency siren but soon realized that it was Prem anna’s alarm :D

We all ate two bananas each and proceeded quickly along the trail. It was full of thorns and pretty steep so we were all breathing hard. I had the luxury of taking extra rests as I was pretty much near the lead so whenever we stopped to wait for the others, I took a quick break also. Soon, we made it to a flat ground like structure where Prem anna decided to stop for some time. Nitin, Vara, Magesh anna and I were along with him and we lay there for some time seeing the crystals clear skies. Soon, the rest of the team except Shyam anna arrived and we came to know that Shyam anna had forgotten something so he had gone to take it. A lot of jokes followed and we all laughed like hell.  The trek resumed and I somehow managed to keep it at the front. We then reached a small water point which I later learnt was the origin of a stream in Nagala where we asked the slow comers to wait and made the final assault on the peak. We ran most of the time and then reached a peak.

Magesh anna screamed, “Machi!!! Peak vandhirchu!!”. Prem anna gave a bulb to our joy by saying “Machi, peak innum 5 mile ponum da”. So, we kept trekking (aka running) and soon reached the peak ridge. The peak too was reached very soon and we took a brief rest till the rest of the team arrived. As soon as they came, we took some photographs and left the peak. Again, running followed and we reached the water point and had our breakfast. Prem anna asked two of the slow trekkers to dropout and told them not to feel bad as they had already completed a 2 day difficult trek in around three and a half hours. Now, we resumed the trek towards the first pool in the western trail and here too we kept running. The descent was pretty steep in places and it tested all of us. The first pool arrived and everyone took a small dip in it. I took a few snaps of them and chose to sit there silently instead. The trek resumed and somewhere close to the second pool, both Magesh anna and I were experiencing cramps.

We stopped and had some electrol and soon resumed our trek. We crossed the second pool and then somewhere near the third pool, I had another cramp. I stopped for some time and waited for Prem anna to arrive. I went to him and said, “Anna, I think I have to dropout….my cramps are getting more severe….I may slow you guys if I proceed with the team…”. Prem anna was highly encouraging and said something like, “Adhellam onnum avadhu thambi, just have some oranges and electrol and proceed”.  So, I decided to proceed. It all seemed ok when all of a sudden, I had another very severe cramp. I knew that that was it. I was now behind Prem anna so I called him and he was like “ennachu da?” I said him that I had another cramp and I had to quit …I told him that I had an orange, bread packet and tang in my bag to which Prem anna replied “Neeye vachiru da…just proceed along the trail to the parking lot and meet other CTCians”. So, there I was, still energetic but having given up because of those cramps. After a rest of some 5 minutes, I proceeded back to the second pool enroute which I met Nitin and Vara..I asked them the way to go out and they too asked me to proceed along the stream and that it would take me to a dam. I reached the second pool where I had some electrol and had a rest for some forty five minutes. I thought that I had done a blunder by dropping out but somehow managed to cheer me up as it was the only thing I could do at that point of time. I had been walking in the front with the lead trekkers since early morning and I myself felt pretty bad when I had to stop and walk with Prem anna who was sweeping when I dropped out.

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain-I said to myself. I then thought…maybe had I proceeded with Nitin and Vara anna after sometime I could have still made it to the other two peaks..But then again I thought, what if I had another round of cramps? What if I slowed down the entire team just for the sake of me being a part of the record making team..Wouldn’t I be painted as a selfish guy who put the entire team at stake just for the sake of creating records? Being a regular trekker(I do a lot of treks outside CTC) I knew that trekking was a team game and going against the team was the least characteristic of a good trekker.I then remembered a quote by Ed Viesturs, a living legend..”Summiting is optional, returning home is mandatory”…I didn’t even know whether this was applicable to my situation. Not wanting to think more than this, I took a quick nap. Then, I proceeded along the trail and just after the first pool, I saw six drop outs coming. I realized that they were tired so we proceeded again to the second pool where I gave them the Tang which I had in my bag. We stayed there for another 30 minutes and finally they decided to get in the pool. I stayed outside the water taking photographs of them. After sometime, I too felt the desire to get in so I jumped in the water and gave a few poses and got out within two minutes. We made a lot of phone calls and then sent a message to Arun Prabahar anna(Prem anna had told me that Arun anna was coming to Nagala west that day) but there was no reply. So, we decided to proceed on our own. We made it out of the forest and then had some food from a team of social trekkers (if you are reading this, THANKS A LOT GUYS J ).

We then walked to the main road and caught a bus to Uthukottai. From there we took another bus and after some funny explanations to the bus conductor as to where we were headed and after the help of an old man who was really friendly, we made it safely to the parking lot.(strangely, only I knew the name of the village where the car was parked in the entire group of drop outs). We waited and waited and finally a bus arrived. Again, some funny explanations followed and here too a man helped us to find the correct place. We made a long walk and made it to the cars. We were now heading towards home….That night, when I was lying in my bed, I had all those thoughts again..Had I done a mistake by dropping out? My mind had only one answer-THE MOUNTAINS ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE THERE READY TO BE CLIMBED…AND I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK!

And congrats to the five rock solid  trekkers who made it till the end….KUDOS! J