8/9/2019 The Wilderness - Chennai Times

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Last year, in December, we went on a trek to theVenkateswara Wildlife Reserve Forest located inTirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh. We called itMission Dead For Sure, owing to the sheer nature ofthe trip. It was a ten-day-long trip through dense

forests, parched woods, river beds and narrow gorges atopmountains. We were a group of around 20 trekkers, of whichonly six of us stayed throughout the trip while the remainingquit and joined us a little later. Cut off from the clamour of theoutside world, the forest provided the perfect milieu for us torejuvenate and explore. We had fun making our own food,strolling and camping in the woods. We trekked along the grassymountain tops, descended into the valley through side streamsand were treated to a breathtaking view of the landscape fromatop the mountains.

We started the trek by proceeding through the side streamsand then reaching a valley where we camped out for the rest ofthe day. We then discovered a large pool with sliding falls andcaves close to it. We followed the trail and trekked 500 metresupstream and went through a deep valley until we reached thebottom of the first falls. This place was a complete visual treat

with two parallel, vertical falls, the Talakona Water Falls. Wewere stuck several times during the trek. Every time we decidedto climb up again and trek further up and descend into the valleyusing a side stream, we got stuck near vert ical drops. One day, wefollowed a water stream that got us into an isolated valleysurrounded by bamboo forest. As we walked further, we sawourselves standing face-to-face with a black bear! We froze anddid not know what to do next. The bear also stood still for sometime and then vanished into the woods. We quickly waded ourway out of the jungle to the bottom of the valley and reached a

nice campsite with flat rocks along the stream surrounded bywide, open grass lands. We swam in the cave pools and gorges.We found a beautiful campsite that was enveloped by rocks alongthe streams and dry firewood. We built a huge campfire andenjoyed a sumptuous dinner around it. It was one of those tripswhere the more you lo se your way, the more you want to explore.Climbing the rocks and roots was tiresome. But whether it waswalking over river boulders, following side streams or gettinglost in the wild, the entire experience was just out of the world.

THRILLS INCM O N D A Y , A P R I L 1 2 , 2 0 1 0

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TOP OF THE

THE WILDERNESSSteep mountains, deep valleys, lush green forests and a

panoramic view... The founder of the Chennai Trekking

Club shares with us one of his most unforgettable

expeditions...

Like trekking? An explorer bynature? Get adrenalinerushes dreaming of

adventure and excitement in thegreat outdoors? Fawes NatureClub (FAWES: F-Fire, A-Air, W-Water, E-Earth, S-Space) might

just be your cup of tea. Founded

by Dayalakshmi and her husbandViswanathan, popularly known asDaya and Ganesh, this club coversa wide gamut of activities, fromweekend outings to nearbypristine spots right up to summercamps in the Himalayas. Thedirector couple are mountaineerstrained at the Nehru Institute ofMountaineering, the IndianInstitute of Skiing andMountaineering and theHimalayan MountaineeringInstitute.

Ask Daya how it all began,and this versatile woman

(she doesBharatnatyam

and

Kalaripayattu too) says thecompany came about thanks totheir continuous urge forexploration. With a modusoperandi of small intimate groupsof friends, they began withwildlife outings over weekends toYelagiri and Yercaud, National

Parks like Venkateswara,Bandipur, Mudumalai and theKalakkad Mundanthurai TigerReserve.

Their early trips includedornithology and observationalastronomy camps, not to mentionrock climbing. Today, withactivities spanning everythingfrom high-altitude trekking toskiing, Fawes is a haunt ofdaredevil ry. Daya is quick todispel any concerns about safety,"We do pre-monsoon and post-monsoon treks in the Himalayas.All our contacts in the north forthe Himalayan treks are Trainedmountaineers and not just touroperators, so our camps are verysafe. We have also done

expeditions in the

Himalayas in Uttarakhand andHimachal Pradesh." With Ganeshspecialising in architectural andadvertising photography, many ahappy, thrilling moment has beencaptured in the process.

With the couple having trekkedwidely in the Himalayas, Fawesoffers a chance for small groups to

join them for summer camps, withnumbers hovering around a dozenper batch. One option this May is thefortnight-long Goecha-la trek, withthe following itinerary: Darjeeling -Yuksom - Siachen - Phedang -Dzongri - Thansing - Lamune -Goecha-la - Koktsurung - Tshoka -Yuksom - New Jalpaiguri, costingaround Rs15,000. And while it isn'tquite certain yet, there might be anascent to Nanda Devi planned too.

Each of their treks this yearhas its own charms. Goecha-la,at 4,940m, is in the SikkimHimalayas and gives a viewof the K2 peak, the only8,000m peak in India. Thetrek features a denseforest cover in the

Kanchendzonga National Park,followed by high-altitude meadowsand utterly rocky terrain. Kuari Passtakes one through oak, birch andconiferous forests. This 4,265m passoffers a vision sweeping a fantasticarc from the gorges of Trishul in theeast to the peaks of Kedarnath in thewest. Since Lord Curzon's 1905expedition, the route mapped inthis trek is known as Curzon'strail.

Theres more we couldsay, but wouldnt yourather find out onyour own?

World"Such a feeling'scoming over me" -

there's no feelingquite like romancingthe mountains, and a

local club has beendoing it with panache

every summer, follow-ing the mystical lure.

D i rec t ion PETER VAN GE I T

Scr ip t RADHI KA RAMASWAMY

Locat ion VENKATESWARA WILDLIFE RESERVE

S t il l s NAVEEN SHUNMUGANATHAN

D i rec t ion S I DDHARTH SAREEN

Thri l ls DAYA AND GANESH

Locat i on THE H I MALAYAS

Shankari

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