No more running away - The Elusive Meesapulimala trek!!
Meesapulimala – the highest peak outside Himalayan range that can be climbed with permission from forest department – had eluded me and my friends long enough. Two to three trips to the locality earlier had ended up without summiting Meesapulimala. This time, my friends and I were determined.
Siva and Rohit decided to go on a heritage trip to Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi. On that day, Sid and I were writing our end-semester final exam. After finishing off the exam fast, I waited a wee bit for a bus to take me to CMBT. When I finally got there, Sid was waiting there for some 40 minutes. I entered the bus depot and got two bottles of Amma water cans. It was 2.15pm on 13/6/14/. After I came, we asked around and immediately decided to take a Madurai bus. It was around 2.20pm when we got into a Nagercoil bus that went via Madurai. The bus took off at 2.40pm and I was grinning all over with a sense of adventure that was to come.
Pre-trek packing :D
We chatted, Sid and I, me generally trashing my college. A nice round of 12 chappathis and 12 idlies in between was our lunch and dinner (4pm and 8.30 pm) ^_^. We got down at Madurai Maatudhavani bus stop at 12 o clock midnight. We got into a local bus to Aarapalayam stop which we reached by 12.20am. We got into a Cumbum bus that would take us to Theni at 2am. In between we had a series of calls from Siva and Rohit who were waiting at Theni bus stop. They boarded a bus to Munaar that took off early. We got to Theni at 2.16am and got into a KSRTC bus to Munaar. Some light trolling went on between me and Sid, on a man wearing a sweater. Sid sure had to eat his words when the bus got near Munaar and the cold morning winds started to hit our bones. It was around 5.30 am when we got down at Munaar. Siva gave us some directions that I couldn’t follow and finally as we were following the bus we saw this guy in grey hoody- a bit short - and clutching to a phone. Instant recognition – Siva! :D We laughed at each other and went off to a nearby bus stop and got ready for the walk to Kerala Forest Development Office which was at a flower garden a kilometre away. We made it there in less than an hour with laughter and trolling and fun. We got to KDFC office and found it locked. We took out cams and started waiting – for more than 30 minutes before we got Siva to call KDFC District Manager. The gates opened 5 minutes later. Siva went ahead to get the permits which cost us 500 each, while Rohit, Sid and I took out cams and asked if we could look around.
KDFC Garden - Flower Snaps ^^
LVOS Gang ;)
Our guide,Muthu, came an hour or so later. After introductions,we discussed our plans with him. And an hour later, the jeep arrived. Rohit and I thought we’ll stay in the back rows and after an hour’s ride in high speeds and dizzying heads, we reached a canteen inside the estate where the base was located. We ate our breakfast there and I got a lemon for safety’s sake. We then got to the maximum possible point till which the jeep could go to. After that, it was hike/trek time! We decided to load one bag and keep rest in the jeep. We got 6 water bottles, 20 snickers and glucose and our first aid kit inside the big bag and decided to carry it in turns. We started the climb. It was 10.10 am on 14/6/2014. We reached Rhodo valley very soon, treated in the way to nice views of a stream flowing by, some colourful mushrooms, the rare Rhododhendron, elephant dung and pesky leeches. From the Rhodo valley, our destination loomed in sight ominously. As we proceeded, the landscape kept changing, from grasslands, to confers and pines and eucalyptus trees, making me wonder aloud if this was some kind of crazy endurance mission :D We got to the final stretch. It loomed up, 70 degrees ahead. It was 12 in the afternoon.
We made a dash to the peak, eager to see it, to set foot on it to satisfy many failed attempts/nonattempts :P . After all, delay is a disappointment, not defeat! We took only snickers,threw our bag nearby and got ready to summit. Siva and Rohit rushed ahead while Sid and I took our time. I ran for a while before sitting down. Well, running at 2620 metres above sea level leaves you famished! I then crawled my way, ran on fours and then on my two feet and set foot finally on Meesapulimala, 2647 metres/8685 feet, the highest peak outside Himalayas that can be scaled. The peak marked the boundary between TN and kerala and a lone flower stood at the center of the peak. It was around 12.10 pm when we summited.We got to some photography, snickers eating , taking in the view etc., In 20 minutes we got ready for the climb down.
In the cloud of darkness, there's a ray of sunshine :) Lone flower at the summit
We did it with rejuvenated energy and got ourselves to leeches again. After taking those pesky leeches off, we got down in haste, with our guide taking us through some shortcuts that we loved and would’ve taken. We finally reached the jeep at 2 pm, making the total time taken to summit and get back – 4 hours, which was reported one of the fastest times ever. Our smiles vanished a bit when Siva opened his shoe to see lot of blood, thanks to a leech getting him in his veins. We quickly cleaned the spot and bandaged it before getting into the jeep. We cancelled our trip to Kodai to go to Rat-tail falls as our guide mentioned that the water above would be too high. We didn’t wish to run the risk of flash floods.
Leech -__- :D
We reached top Station from the estate soon enough. We did a slow climb-down and reached Central station by 5, me and Rohit chatting along nicely while Siva and Sid did comic photo shoots :P :P At Central, the crazy me wanted to catch the bus and started running. Siva and Sid and Rohit tried to stop me, in vain and they began to keep up. I slowed at times and ran like crazy. Both times ive trekked down to kurangini, we’ve made it on time only by running! I got there at 5.40 and the others weren’t far behind. Thirstily we got some drinks at the local shop, chatted with some locals there before boarding the bus to theni-old bus stand. I was super zombified during the trip, sleeping completely dreamlessly. We got to Theni old bus stand then made it to the new bus stand in another bus from where we got on to a Madurai bus. When we got down at Madurai, I was staring like crazy at others, who stared back at me in the same way! Aliens of a kind. Siva took us to the nearby jiggirthanda shop and was frustrated when we stared at him waiting for one of us to order :D and we downed some tasty jiggirthanda. We got to Maatudhavani and boarded a bus to Chennai-backseats – at 10.30pm. I slept on! At Tambaram,(7 and half hours later) Sid and I got down bidding goodbye to Siva and Rohit and we grinned at each other sheepishly drenched in the memories of jumps above clouds, the conifers,leeches and grass-stretches of the elusive Meesapulimala, that had eluded us for too long.
