One Day Fast Trek to Tadiandamol
After my recent escapade to Great Lakes trek in Kashmir the desire to do a 1-2 day trek was back. Coupled with a string of holidays Oct was the perfect month for a leisurely runaway trek.
In comes a mail from Channabasappa about a 1-day trek to Tadiandamol in the Kodagu district. I didn’t blink an eye before registering myself. The thing is all the popular treks with BTC fills up even before you have completed reading the event mail. And to my luck I was shortlisted with other 11 fellow enthusiasts.
We squared up at the Shantala Silk near Majestic, the usual meeting point for all BTC treks. Its going to be 12 amigos on this fast ride. Channa and Arun are the ones running this show. A quick round of introduction and off we go.
When you are in amidst a bunch of unknown faces interactions doesn’t shoots off immediately. But BTC has found a way to deal with this shyness. We played games while in motion, and even before we stepped out of Bengaluru we got comfortable with each other (and of course now remember the names). Its a long ride to Kodagu. Time to turn off the light, and Good night!
Rise and Shine, Folks! It’s time to hike…
We reached Virajpet at around 4am. With drowsy eyes we went to the paid toilet in the bus stand to attend to our morning chores. Once all afresh we set out to the point where the trek starts. By dawn we had reached our start point. Here we are on a chilly morning, ready to climb a mountain when half of the world is still completing their dreams.
I found it a little harsh to believe that Tadiandamol can be completed in a day. BTC itself used to do it in 2 days. But Arun reassured that we will be on top by 9-10am flat.
The green coverage all around was well accepted by our lungs. It was great to back amidst lush green foliage. The trail was well laid out and not much to worry about. Since we started out early we had plenty of time to go at our own pace and still come back on time.
Midway through the trek and trees gave way to bushes, shrubs, and grass. And it was getting hot now with the blazing sun on our back. Tadiandamol is normally a monsoon trek. Forget rains, it was all sticky and humid now. The worst part was that I didn’t have any form of eatables in my backpack. I thought of collecting so in Virajpet but nothing was open in the wee hours. Luckily enough my fellow hikers had ample.
All hungry we sat on a hillock to munch on whatever everyone had got. Fruits, paranthas, biscuits, chips, munchies all popped out one after the other from everyone’s bag (except mine i.e.). Felt much better now.
Time to get back on the trail. The 2nd half of the journey traverses through a dense jungle. Nothing much to worry, just to be careful from the protruding roots.
Quickly out of the jungle and the trail again opens up to a grassy meadows. The top was visible now.
After some tiring steps we made it! We are on top of Tadiandamol. Hoorray!!! It was windy, and clouds engulfed the whole mountain. Threw our backpacks and relaxed there gazing at the surrounding and the never ending stretch of mountains.
We just sat there doing nothing, immersed in the play of clouds and the mountains. That was an incredible feeling just absorbing the moment.
Time to head back. Not before we click to our hearts content. As we start descending we see heaps of people making their way up. Good that we started early as it was getting crowded now.
This descend was going to sap all the energy we had. We were running short of water. Midway through I heard a gushing river. Curious enough I decided to see if we can go near. And yes, there was a stream flowing nearby. We took off our stinky shoes and put our feet inside the chilled water, apart from filling our bottles and splashing some on our face.
Calls to be back on the track were quickly made, and back on our return trail. This descend was a leg breaking one now. Our knees were literally in jitters. Worse, the tempo traveller was parked much farther from its initial point. With lush green coffee plantations we continued our downhill ride in search of the elusive van. We were tired, we were HUNGRY, and our knees agonizing.
Finally, the vehicle was spotted and without further adieu we hopped in. Next destination was some great food.
We feasted on some nice hot rice+fish curry+chicken and vegetarian items. It never felt this better. We departed from Virajpet late afternoon so as to reach Bengaluru by evening. It was a great Sunday spent with 11 other like minded folks. Until then…
Written By : Hrishikesh Baruah
Original Blog : Hrishikesh's Blog Page
Organized By : Arun Kumar & Channabasappa Nad
Date of event : October 23, 2016
Place : Western Ghats
Pictures : BTC FB Page
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