Trek at Chembra Peak

Riding my cycle this Sunday morning (6am ) I was enjoying the cool air and green freshness of grass in IJIPURA(one of the GREEN places in Bangalore ).It had rained the night before and the air was filled with scent of wet mud and sun hide beneath the horizon.It was a perfect start to the day..but some thing was weighing me down ..ahh!! I know my ego was bruised .......
I wondered what went wrong !!!I had a great start to my journey.

On our way to Sultan Batheri , our bus had halted near Bandipur Forest Reserve ( there is a supreme court ruling not allowing night traffic in Bandipur from 9pm to 6am)
we had reached Bandipur by 3.30 am and had to wait till 6.00 am before we could proceed towards Waynad .At 5.30 am my sleep broke to the noises of monkeys and peacocks.
It was still dark outside ...i decided to get down from the bus ( for obvious reasons ) .Feeling the fresh cool air in my lungs I found myself in total calmness.I looked up into the sky and was amazed.Billions and billions of stars were shinning ever so brightly ,i felt as though i could pluck some of them .It felt as if the roof of a house had be embedded with billions of diamonds .i could even see the fail trail of the andromeda galaxy ( i really couldnt belive it but its true)
For once i wondered of the possibility of sneaking into the forest ans settling down there ;-) ...

Me , badri and Vineeth(Badri's Bro) had decided to scale one of the most exciting but straineous trekking peaks "CHEMBRA Peak " in Waynad,


As always we were again late to start for the trek and started our trek at 11.45 am with the sun warming up the terrain.The ideal time is 8.00 AM(at max) and this trek usually takes 4- 6 hrs both sides combined.I must confess the trekker inside us had a very big EGO .
"4-6 hrs ? damn easy piece of cake ...." I thought


We took a ride to the starting point of the trek ,after getting the permission for the trek although the officer advised that 11.45 am is not a good time to trek.We were constrained by the time limit of 6am-2pm.

VOLA!!!! We began our trek.We also had a guide with us( it is compulsory ) and while we were in shoes and sweat bands he was just wearing slippers ;-() !!




The initial part of the trek was quiet smooth but after we reached the watch tower at the bottom of the peak,



the route started becoming steep.Huffing and puffing we kept going on our ascent and kept taking 2 min breaks.It was tiring but our EGO egged us on "...hey its just a piece of cake
u did Yelagiri ...u are a expert trekker(hehehe) ... u can do this one tooo ....." yee yee!!! The guide was climbing as though he was climbing small stairs ..we were not able to keep up with him both in pace and distance .... but the scenic beauty of the hill surrounded by Tea Estate and shade from the trees gave us enough spirit to keep going ...


The guide was moving too fast for us and in trying to catchup we were pushing our self faster there by loosing precious energy reserves.One thing i learnt from this trip was in such strenuous
treks "slow and steady" is the best option ... but ours ego was at stake
" slow? ..... for this peak? ...no ....never .....its easy ..it cant be tough ... we are a trek experts (...what a crap ;-) )!!! ......"
Gulping in more air ..our lungs started burning in pain ...thighs aching and screaming for a break .


And then ,as a first causality vineeth became very very tired and decided to take a longer break.To start with we decided that Vineeth will stay put at a shady place where we took a small break and he would join us again when we return back from peak ...we gave him some water and food reserves ....and continued our ascend ,with one member less ( ;-) ).

Most of the climb was steep and we were frequently taking 2 min breaks ...but again the guide was climbing up fast and we again tried to keep pace with him ( instead we could have told him to slow down ...this was a big mistake )On the way we inquired about a perinneal lake that
was supposed to be near the peak and were told that we would come across some where in the middle ...) middle ...? We haven't even covered half of the distance.

As we kept ascending the scenic beauty surrounding us gave much needed coolness to our eyes .... the mountain was covered with beautiful blanket of green and pinkish and velvet blanket of
shrubs and grass ... the clouds looked a bit closer and with their shadows running on the peaks it seemed like the mountains were dancing with the clouds .


The greenery and the altitude altogether took us to a different world ....away from chaos to calmness ....."THIS IS LIFE .." I said to my self ...
But oucch !!! i felt pinch in my legs .... we have been trekking for an hour now and with each quick step we were becoming more and more exhausted ....
And then the second causality ;-) badri decided to take a longer break ... with the sun beating behind and we ascending at faster pace we inadvertently were wasting our energy and getting exhausted in the process of keeping up with the pace of the guide ...

I left some more food and water with badri and headed for the summit assault ;-) (although i must say i had my doubts about that ..)

After a brief climb the trek eased out


Howww!! we had reached the lake.It was a beautiful heart shaped lake.



For some strange reason the guide thought of returning back ....
WHAT !!!why return back after coming so far ....
he showed me the peak and ..it defiantly didn't look pleasant ... we had three more peaks to scale before we could reach the final peak .... What the heck ...lets do it i said .... frowning he said "OKK SAAARR " .After taking a few bites from candy bar and washing my dry throat with water I set for the ascend again .The first of the peaks was near the pond ... but the ascend was steeper than before.After climbing a few rocky paths i took a few min break ....I wanted to be immerse into the beauty of the place .....the breeze brought with it smell of grass and fresh air .... I thought I would be more than happy to settle on this mountain ..so calm .. so surreal so very natural ....

I took another look at the peak ... the peak was covered with clouds and it was as if it was enticing me to go 4 it .... being on the top of mountain among clouds would be a EXILLARATING experince ... i thought......a few deep breaths and we again began towards the peak .As we reached closer to the first peak i again took a break much to the irritation of the guide .

I took 4-5 such breaks and could see the guide getting irritated and impatient ... after one such breaks the guide started cribbing .."let go back ...we have to be back by 2 pm ....the officer will scold me ...blah blaah .."
After giving a thought i didn't wanted to spoil my mood getting into argument with the guide( I should have ...2nd mistake )I that moment of tiredness and exhaustion i did the mistake of agreeing to go back ....(if only i had known how bad my ego would get hurt ;-) )

After a few snaps and rest we trekked our way back ..we reached the lake again and i had a small BATHING session (of course with clothes on ) and started back ...as we started we saw Badri and vineet climbing and nearing us ....they seemed to be more energetic now ,guess the break had re-energized them ...we went back to the lake again ....and again upon enquiring about going for the top .. the guide starting cribbing again" 2'o clock saar ...."

We decide to skip the peak and trek back ... with clouds still hovering over the peak my heart was screaming at me to go 4 it while my brain was preparing me for descend .....
With a very heavy heart and a bruised ego we headed back ....
While descending all three of us had our shares of slipping and falling but it was fun ..for we would slip on lush grasses and it would be like slipping on a sofa we would be rebounded by the dense grass and shrubs ....

Reaching the bottom and waiting for the auto to take us back ...i felt gloom descend upon me ...."why didn't i go for it" ....the sight of the clouds laden peak kept coming in front of me ...no matter what argument i tried to give .. i couldnt convince myslef ....This was one of the most beautiful and most challengin treeks i have ever been but not scaling the peak was like a flop show..

Taking a morning bus from Kalpetta to Bangalore ...looking outside the window ..with cool air crashing into my face i promised myself to go for the peak again ...within next 3 months ...I would defiantly have to increase my capacity and work more on my fitness.....


I cant but help reiterating the poem
"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more."
— Lord Byron

For pics click below
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Waynad

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HOW TO REACH
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There are several buses running from Bangalore to Kalpetta/Sultan Bateri .For Chempara peak one has to reach "Kalpetta". From kalpetta one has to reach the VSS office at chembra towers at meppadi.There the fee for trekking is Rs 500 for upto 10 persons .So even if u are single or a group of 10 you pay the same Rs 500.Make sure to keep the permission receipt throughout.
From here the trekk starting point is 5 kms so it is advisable to take an auto or vehicle till that place.The office as well as the start point is inside a Tea estate so we have concreate road till the base of the mountain.One would have to pay some thing to the guide at the end of the trek(Rs 50 would be good enough) Usually one can haggle with guides and explore more and stay al bit longer at the top .(Anyways rules are only for those who want to follow them ;-) )
No cigaretts or alcohols are allowed ...although i did find some cigarette stubs ....
Those interestd in camping can enquire about it in the office.When we enquired about it different people were giving us different answers ...like one said its not allowed while our trek guide said it is allowed beside the lake .... so its ur shot whom to follow ;-)
For coming back to Bangalore one needs to go to the KSRTC garage (there are two bus stands in Sultan Bathery )