Just came back from the one day trek to paravathamalai with CTC. and yes I am back in one piece !!!
Thirteen trekking enthusiasts decided to take on the 3000 feet peak of paravathamalai. It was a different experience this time around as all thirteen ppl went in a tempo traveler and had to travel 5 hrs to reach or destination. Radha the rat who climbs all the rocks and pebbles was organising the show.
The day before the trek it was raining cats and dogs. I was seriously worried about how the trek is going to turn out under heavy rain. On top of this Radha scrared me more about the gadaparai rock climbing which was supposed to be 90 degree steep climb and just imagining the slipery rocks in the rain sent the shivers though me. well at that point there was no turning back and cursing someone I woke up at 3:00 in the morning to start my journey.
We started around 4:40 from Guindy. Had our breakfast on the way and even managed to watch a movie in the van. When we reached kadaladi it was 9:45 and everyone stated the climb with there backpacks carrying 3 to 4 liters of water and a raincoat :-)
Everyone was expecting rain on that day which fortunately decided to stay away till the evening. we carried bread for lunch and lots of water.
There was clear trail which everyone could easily follow. We had to just follow the white arrows marked in stones. The climb to the top was the most difficult and strenuous. And the steep climb just before reaching the temple was really scary to some people especially to me and it was also the highlight of our trek. We were in no hurry today and took our of time to enjoy the view on the way and there were plenty of photo shoots. The scenic view of the place was just amazing and can not be explained in words.
There was clear trail which everyone could easily follow. We had to just follow the white arrows marked in stones. The climb to the top was the most difficult and strenuous. And the steep climb just before reaching the temple was really scary to some people especially to me and it was also the highlight of our trek. We were in no hurry today and took our of time to enjoy the view on the way and there were plenty of photo shoots. The scenic view of the place was just amazing and can not be explained in words.
But even more amazing was how we eneded up shooting pictures of our shoes with the mountains in the background. Thanks to SriNidhi our official photographer, We were able to take a lot of pictures.
After a long and hard 4 hrs climb we reached the temple at around 2:00 where we encountered some monkey problems. One of our bread packs and many of our water bottles were stolen be a group of monkeys who gave us company till our visit there.
We started our decent around 16:30 by climbing down the gadaparai rocks first. It was pretty scarry and I was trying all the tricks in the book to keep myself from getting scared. you dont feel anything while climbing up but when you climb down is when you realize how steep the rocks are.
On our way down we found some shops where we took a break to have some lime soda. After that we took one more short break for water on the way before reaching ground zero.
Everyone reached safely back to ground by 18:45 and the downhill was pretty easy. We reached back to Chennai around 24:00.
Only regret being, this time there were no scars to take back home :-)
Only regret being, this time there were no scars to take back home :-)
