Nocturnal Nagala

Every time I think of trekking, my mind conjures up images of a group of motivated souls, backpacks, water bottles and broad daylight. Never did it occur to me that trekking could also happen at night amidst darkness and the loving kiss of moonlight.

Nocturnal Nagala was a revelation of kinds to me. It was an all-encompassing experience – a night trek, steep/challenging terrain and incessant rains through the night. Nocturnal Nagala enlightened me on my own potential and stamina. I drove close to 250 kms – prior to starting our trek and post our trekking expedition.

I did not plan to take my car initially; however, upon request to bring my car, the only condition I made was to stop for tea at Uthukottai on the way to Nagala (what to do?! Most of us are addicted to something in life!).

We started from Chennai CMBT bus stop at 11.00 p.m. in four cars. As usual, I was right behind the lead car, barely able to restrain myself from overtaking the mighty ‘Ritz’. I noticed that I had company with respect to the seeming ‘restraint’, as there was a Scorpio, the driver of which I’m sure was used to driving a plane (maybe), certainly not a car!!! It was a thoroughly enjoyable ride to Nagalapuram with loud music and louder chatting all the way.

We reached Nagala at 1.30 a.m. and immediately got down to distributing food – apples, mango bites, Glucon D, chapathi packets and other goodies. We set out at 2.00 a.m. The first sight that greeted us was that of a snake. It was just coming out of a puddle of water and heading for cover in the nearby bush! Five minutes into the whole thing and it was getting enjoyable already. The familiar smell of dampness, plants and insects greeted us. Guru and his lead man (Mani) had the GPS to guide us on the trail. We spotted a couple of bull frogs, though initially we mistook them to be a piece of rock. Such a fat ass it was - slimy and disgusting; yet alluring and fascinating. Night life at Nagala held us all enraptured as we steadily progressed into the mountain range along our planned trail. It was tiring and strenuous with the narrow focus of our torches guiding our way. The sound of the wind in the trees around us and water in the stream somewhere nearby kept us all going. The silence of the moonless night was amazing. We had crossed the first pool, supposedly the second as well and were heading towards the third.

As we were taking stock of our position we found that we were at the steepest possible incline ever. There was hardly any flat surface enough to fit our seats. Our precarious balance was reflected in the way we were hanging on to tree branches and sticking to boulders for dear life. It was then that the thought of a lizard fascinated me – how conveniently it could stick onto surfaces, against gravity?!

Stimulated by the nocturnal sounds of the forest, we suddenly realized we had lost our trail somewhere between the second and the third pool! Oh  never mind, said the entire group, the enjoyment mirrored on their glowing faces – such were the spirits, a commendable team effort! So what if we had lost the trail, we hadn’t lost our minds/soul! We trekked continuously for close to 7 hours and finally arrived at the fourth pool.

I’ve already been to the first, second and the third pools during my other treks with CTC. Despite which, every time I set eyes on them, love happens all over again – the beauty of nature consistently overwhelms me! However, nothing could have prepared me for the glorious sight of the fourth pool. I was completely bowled over. The waterfall came from great height and its force almost unbearable. I became silent for quite some time as I was drinking in the scenic magnificence (only nature has the power to get me dumbfounded and I’m sure all my co-trekkers will nod vigorously in assent). Just when I think nothing is as beautiful as what I have witnessed, it is again nature that beats its own benchmark. The force of the waterfall was intimidating, but I was sitting right in front of it and mentally coaxing myself for a dip in the pool. Though I’m not a great swimmer (due to lack of adequate practice), I love water! That is something that motivates me to get into every pool that comes my way. I dragged Mani along with me and drew some comfort from his presence (I’m not sure of the vice-versa bit, though!). The chillness of the water made me go numb all over as I strode purposefully towards the waterfall. There were two smaller ones on the way to the largest waterfall. I believe in slow and steady – leading to astounding accomplishments. I set foot under each one, conquering it and at the same time being humbled by the warmth it bestowed on me. The largest one was so forceful that it almost threw me into the small pool ahead, just by the might of its speed. Well, I refused to let it intimidate me – I stayed under its steady and strong flow for a few minutes filling water in the vessel and bottles for making tea. I then, went back to join rest of the crowd taking rest and stretching their already overworked muscles.

The next 2 hours were spent in trying to start fire for making tea. We then found out that none of us had the tea (dust) packet with us. However, we had with us Nestle milk powder and sugar. So the immediate thought that popped in Mani’s head was to make hot milk. Something hot was so enticing that I promptly seconded his thoughts. So we set out to do the same. The milk was damn tasty, I think it had more to do with my effort than the taste of stream water used (winky)!

We resumed our trek at 12.00 noon. As we went past the fourth pool to reach the source of its waterfall, the trail was immensely challenging, with steep incline coupled with loose rocks everywhere. It was a wonder that all of us managed the climb without major issues. Prior to reaching the source of the fourth pool’s waterfall, we were taken to a breathtaking viewpoint. We could see the source of the waterfall from a distance and were surrounded by rocks and greenery. Marvellous sight! We took snaps of the gorgeous scenery and I managed to climb onto the last boulder/rock beyond which was magnificent void – air and space! Subsequently, we trekked to the source of the fourth pool’s waterfall. It was a small pool by itself. I joined Mani, Arun & Co in exploring the nearby area and was gifted with the discovery of two more pools with small waterfalls. Climbed onto its source and sat on it, enjoying the force of the stream trying to push me down its length and into the pools. Few others joined us at these pools later. And all thanks to the lead team comprising Guru & Mani and the sweeping team comprising Arun & Shankar. They were amazingly patient, helpful, encouraging and invincible at all times!

We trekked back to the third pool by 7.00 p.m., where we decided to camp for the night. Again, camp fire was started and hot upma was served for dinner. Our ravenous hunger was responsible for the upma disappearing within  minutes of being served. Totally dead beat and exhausted, we set our sleeping mats and got ready for bed. At around 11.00 p.m. most of us had retired to bed. Arun was just explaining to me about his previous trekking experience wherein it had rained and due to the size of the group and the lack of adequate tarpaulin sheets, he had to sleep under the sky with just his cap protecting his face from the rains. The thought of that chilled me to my bones. I was fervently hoping that it wouldn’t rain that night. As soon as this thought crossed my head I heard Arun say that it is cloudy and he smells rain. My heart just sank at the thought, but I cheered myself up by remaining positive. Just as the reassuring thought coursed through me, I felt droplets of rain water on my hands and face. Damn it, I thought! I heard myself call out to Arun as he was lying down somewhere close by. Four of us including Arun went speeding towards people with extra tarpaulin sheet. Grabbed and yanked the extra sheet off them. Most of us used the tarpaulin sheet to cover ourselves, with our sleeping mats beneath us. I’ve only had soft bed sheet/blanket covering me, never a plastic sheet. It was initially suffocating, but I coaxed myself saying I could breathe and that’s all that mattered. Ten minutes later, I woke up with a weird wet feeling on my neck and back and to my utter dismay I realized it was rain water and that my entire sleeping mat was almost drenched. Hmmmm…..what to do? It then hit me that the intensity of rain was not letting anything remain dry. It felt like ages since it started raining and so I looked at my watch. God, it was only 12.30 a.m. When was the night going to come to an end? It struck me that it was going to be a very long night! To my relief  I realized I had company in staying awake, as movement around me caught my attention. Every half hour I heard Shankar call out for the time and I meticulously kept track of it for the entire team (lol)! Through this mess, Nithya started wheezing just when Guru and Mani came to her rescue. As the minutes rolled by, things got better and the experience was more palatable! I realized then that most things in life are a matter of habit or a matter of time! The entire group came awake at 5.45 a.m. The eagerness to start trekking back was blatantly visible with our body language! It occurred to us that since it had rained through the night, the trail down would be more challenging and slippery. But by now, the previous day’s experience had prepared us to face any kind of trail – challenging or otherwise!

As soon as the group reassembled, with each of us sharing our experiences of wetness and cold with the other, the night that previously seemed unbearable turned out to be a pleasant memory. As predicted, our speed was decent and we managed to reach the second pool within 40 minutes. We halted at the second pool – this is where I had my quota of fish pedicure! We were rummaging through the left overs of our food supplies and shared whatever was left of it – groundnut bars, chapathi packets with pickle, biscuits, chocolates and even oranges. We started by 8.45 a.m. from second pool and bumped into another CTC group that had ‘photography’ as its trekking mission for the weekend. We exchanged pleasantries and captured couple of group photos and continued our merry way to the parking lot by 10.30 a.m. We started by around 11.15 a.m., reaching Chennai by 2.45 p.m.

A very memorable, marvelous, magical, wonderful, splendid and revealing trekking expedition indeed! Thanks to Guru/Mani/Arun/Shankar (CTC) for all the support. I’m so glad to be part of this awesome club!!!