Wildernews, September newsletter

Inception of CTCFrom the Founder

Women ForumAishwarya

Four Decades of InspirationNagin

What makes a good photographer better?Karthik Rajagopal

Why Do ‘I’ Trek?Durai Murugan

Cover PhotoMurali Kanth

CTC’s

WILDERNEWSIssue 1 Sep - Oct 2012

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Issue 1 Sep - Oct 2012 Issue 1 Sep - Oct 2012

Contents

Issue 1 Sep - Oct 2012

From the Founder

Inception of the Club Peter Van GeitI still remember vividly how I used to love getting dirty during my childhood days with my neighbour friends in the big garden of my parents in Belgium. I used to build wooden houses high up in the trees. I used to dig tunnels under the ground. We frequently played soccer in the nearby fields. My parents periodically took me on 20km walks through the countryside. I simply LOVED the outdoors, the fresh air, the scent of nature, feeling mentally and physically refreshed after an intense workout.

Fast forwarding nearly fifteen years while becoming a gold medallist in maths, completing my masters in computer science and working for a few years, I was finally reunited with nature again. Riding solo on my bullet through the Western Ghats in Kerala and riding high altitude passes in Ladakh absorbing the astonishing virgin beauty of the Indian subcontinent. Within 2 years I clocked down 50K km on the odometer riding non-stop across Southern and Northern states.

Social Trek to Nagala West Photo: Hari Kumar

Inception - From the Founder Peter

Incredible Venkateswara Peter

CTC Women Forum – A Hop, Step and Jump Aishwarya

What makes a Good Photographer Better Karthik

A Novice rider Vijay

Editorial Board

Why do ‘I’ Trek - The Genesis Durai

Victory at Chembra Peak Bagging Competetion

How I came into Trekking and Mountaineering Nagin

Quiz

Event Calender

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Forwarding another decade somewhere around the end of 97 the mountains started calling again. Feeling locked up in the ever noisier, hotter, crowded concrete metro, I started

From the Founder

Palani Exploration / 2 Photo: Durai

Venkasteswara DOA /3 gorge Photo: Peter

longing to be reunited again with untouched nature. Very soon the fear of venturing into the unknown was overcome by mastering topographic maps and GPS navigation. And soon the world became my own - I could venture out to any new mountain range or virgin jungle and many unseen discoveries were awaiting.

I just needed a companion on my journey, and in Feb 08 I set up a website called the Chennai Trekking Club to find other like minded souls who wanted to venture out. It turned out to be the right time, the right place, the right circumstances and a few years later we had connected with 17.000+ souls and built one of the largest and most active outdoor communities in the South. Based on pure passion (non-profit), true volunteering spirit, and active environmental and social awareness, the group allowed many to rediscover themselves and reconnect with the untouched beauty of mother Earth.

Tresure Hunt / 2

Palani Exploration /2



Why Do ‘I’ Trek? – The Genesis

Exploring an answer for his passion to the mountains and to the peaks.. Durai MuruganWhen I can pedal the world, when I can trot on the streets, when I can wade through seas and rivers, when I can take a brisk walk in the park, when there are myriad ways amongst fitness freaks to keep fit, a very interesting question that struck me two years back, when I chose to step out on my first trek, was “why do ‘I’ trek?”

Two years ago, in October 2010, when I was a novice trekker, I completed the Nagari Combo which had five different stages meant for different levels of trekkers. Although successful completion of the trek gave me the happiness of accomplishing a Herculean feat, I was still not able to answer convincingly my question, “why do ‘I’ trek?”

I then had the good fortune of trekking the unexplored trails in Venkateswara forest, walking along streams in Nagalapuram, and bouldering in Western Ghats, after which I realized, serious trekking was not facile.

Stream Crossing at Palani hills Photo: Durai

Nagalapuram Gorge Photo: Durai



The question “why do ‘I’ trek?” kept and still keeps haunting me when I recollect the memories of clinging on to that boulder during the 1st Palani Exploratory trek, of being

Why do ‘I’ trek?” – The genesis

Stream Crossing at Palani hills Photo: Durai

almost washed away while traversing a ferocious river at Kabinhole forest during ‘monsoon survival mission’, and especially when I am woken up by weird dreams of hanging from cliffs and sleeping amidst vipers.

Gradually, the question “why do ‘I’ trek?” got a little less difficult to answer, when my skin was torn while negotiating with the bushes in the Venkateswara forest, when my heart was thumping and was on the verge of exploding during the marathons, when my knee was weeping in pain during the survival missions, when I was counting wasp bites on my body after exploring Eastern Ghats, when my blood was sucked by leeches in Palani hills, when I had sleepless nights on wet and slippery terrain in the Kabinhole forest, when the venomous vipers were waiting to kiss me, and when the attractive pools were ready to engulf me. My mind was echoing this question throughout - Is trekking really worth all these risks?

Is trekking an obsession? Will “the Encounters” answer this question? I am reminded of what Greg Child, an Australian-born rock climber once said, “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” Keep guessing and hold on till it rolls out!

Durai Muruganhttp://duraimurugan.com/

Palani Hills



CTC WOMEN’S FORUM – A Hop, Step and Jump

Train, defend, attack, trek, care, bond - the other side of

Chennai girls Aishwariya ManivananJUST A HOP - Following the launch of The Chennai Trekking Club’s - Women’s Forum in April 2012, CTC has witnessed a number of new events through the Women’s Forum that has helped introduce a substantial number of women into CTC and its activities. The forum kicked off with a Ladies Trek organized by Jisha Jayakumar. Following this, nine events including a number of first time events such as Krav Maga – Self Defense Workshop, Mother’s Day Trek, Zumba Workshop, etc., were conducted successfully over a period of four months (April – July 2012). With over 285 members in the Facebook Group, the Forum is seeing a number enthusiastic members and new organizers eager to pitch in to keep the events and spirits running sky high.

THE STEP UP - An encouraging number thus far; 168 participants, through 9 events, over a 4-month period has marked the first leg of the Women’s Forum’s maiden year. The Mother’s Day Trek and the Family Trek organized by Punitha/Sinu and Malar/Sanjana Chellababu respectively were clear hits with the participants, who ranged over a wide age group. The treks saw nervous and excited mothers accompanied by eager and equally thrilled


children sharing memorable moments and bonding with the magnificent outdoors as backdrop. The Mother’s Day Trek created a novel way of spending a special day when compared to the mundane eateries, malls, and cinema halls. This brought the CTC Women’s Forum into public view with articles and interviews being published in a number of popular local newspapers and magazines such as The Hindu, Women’s Exclusive, Page3, etc.

CTC WOMEN’S FORUM – A Hop, Step and Jump

Zumba workshop

Zumba workshop

The Self Defense Workshops and the Zumba Workshops were received with such overwhelming response that the number of sessions had to be increased threefold to accommodate the maximum number of participants possible. With 90 percent of participants being first timers, these workshops have proved to be effective stepping stones for women to get initiated into the activities of Chennai Trekking Club.

CTC has crossed the realms of a regular trekking club by initiating activities covering a wide range of topics related to physical activity and social reform. The Women’s Forum will now

employ these workshops to bring about a positive change to the reservations and concerns of women with respect to fitness and adventure.

THE GIANT LEAP – The primary drive of the CTC Women’s Forum was to encourage more women to actively involve themselves in regular fitness and outdoor activity. The events conducted over the last few months have seen participants develop a newfound

enthusiasm, courage, and confidence to take the giant leap into the outdoors. We have also witnessed the birth of new and enterprising organizers like Sunita Dugar, Nivya and Sasirekha, who have successfully organized events with the help and passionate support of the senior members of CTC. With a number of interesting events lined up such as Fitness Workshops by Chennai’s Top Fitness Consultants, Cycling events, Social Activities, etc., the CTC Women’s Forum sure has a long and adventurous course of flight to come..Do visit our online blog women.chennaitrekkers.org for updates and info.. Spread the word and urge more women to step out of their heels and jump into the wild!!



How I came into Trekking and Mountaineering

Inspiring Through Four Decades of Outdoors

NaginIt was very fortunate for me that my father enrolled me in the scout movement when I was 11 years old. He and his brother both were scouts since they were boys, probably since 1935, and he thought it would do me good.

And boy, did it! A whole new world of outdoors and connected activities opened up before me - hiking, camping, swimming, orienteering, pioneering - you name it scouting had it all. It taught me all the skills for treks and camps.

Scouting was started by Sir Baden Powell of England in 1920, with the idea to keep boys busy with activities close to their hearts and not while away their time. You should look up his book ‘Scouting for Boys’ - the bible for all scouts. And did you know that the hero of ‘Man vs Wild’ Bear Grylls is a scout - He wears his badge proudly in every episode.

Another inspiration for my outdoor love was the study of the Red Indian tribes in America

Ladakhi Peak at 5,345 mts

Glacier walking at Uthrakand



Unearthing the Pristine Glory of the Eastern Ghats

Peter Van GeitSomewhere around the end of 2008 CTC discovered one of South’s most precious jewels - Venkateswara National Reserved Forest - a virgin forest spreading out 75km long from Tirupathi to Rajampet and 20km wide between Kodur and Talakona. This 1500sq km large mountain range is part of the Eastern Ghats and is enclosed between the Deccan Plateau (400m altitude) on the West and the coastal plains (200m) on the East and is untouched with no villages inside it. Venkateswara, easily identified by its signature reddish mosaic rock formations, has a varying altitude between 800 to 1100m and slopes uniformly down from West to East. The entire range is drained by three major streams which are deeply cut hundreds of meters into the surrounding rock formations.

During the 2009 to 2010 time-frame CTC organized several treks to this range resulting in amazing discoveries of natural beauty hidden deep inside. In recent times it has become more difficult to obtain permission to enter. A couple of breathtaking natural creations have been explicitly named by the people who first explored them. One of these is the Angel Falls, a beautiful 50m high free falling waterfall enclosed within a nearly 360 enclosed valley surrounded by dense tropical vegetation. Another well-known landmark is the Cave Pool, an amazing gorge eroded by streams over hundreds of thousands of years resulting

How I came into Trekking and Mountaineering Incredible Venkateswara

(& also other tribes). It was so fascinating to transport oneself into their midst and learn all their great outdoor crafts, camping, canoeing, hunting, fighting, and most important their love and respect for the great outdoors.

Looking out for more serious stuff in adventure, I joined the first mountaineering club in Tamilnadu - Giri Vihari Mandal in 1980. That was the step towards the Basic Course and the Advance Mountaineering Course, in 1982 & 1983 at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering(NIM),

Uttarkashi. Our club went on several mountaineering expeditions in the Himalayas and also high altitude treks. Our aim was one trek a month in the south(Eastern and Western ghats) and one Himalayan expedition every year. Our favourite places were Nagala and Tada.

In 2010 I joined CTC, very skeptically, because I was used to trekking in small groups only. But after the 1st trek with Peter to Venkatagiri Fort, I hung on for further adventures. Peter’s treks are something I had never experienced before. Unexplored trails, fast paced, no obstacle too big to stop the team, adventure packed, and a challenge to every fit trekker. It has inspired many - including me- to be fitter to take part in tougher treks.

Red rock formations at Venkateswara Photo: MuthuIce wall climbing at Advanced mountaineering course



in a two level enclosed cave in which the water falls from the ceiling and which drains in one of the largest pools in Venkateswara enclosed on all sides by hundreds meters of vertical rock walls.

Located nearby is the Ice Falls, the highest ever falls discovered in CTC - a stunning 250m single vertical drop into a narrow 300m wide valley. It derives its name from the chilling temperature of the water in the huge pool in which it falls down. Further North is the DOA3 gorge, the largest gorge ever discovered by CTC - 100m deep into the surrounding mountains, 400m long, and just 5-10m wide, fully submerged by water. It requires a significant effort by any good swimmer to reach the end of the gorge where a splendid waterfall drops down from 80m above. Yet another beauty unseen elsewhere is the V6 pool, a large, 8-shaped, smoothly curved, crystal clear greenish pool in which a two stage fall drops down.

Equally mysterious is an ancient jeep track which runs across the entire length and breadth of the range. The track is first seen on near-century old US and Soviet army topomaps and many sections have been discovered during subsequent treks. The 100+km long ghat road network is dotted with numerous ancient forest bungalows which are now ruins overgrown by the forest and eroded over the years.

How CTC Won the First 3 Spots in a Unique South Indian Challenge

Walking tall in the arena of trekking, CTC with no element of surprise bags the first three spots in country’s first ever peak bagging competition organised by Indiahikes.in. at Chembra peak, Wayanad, Kerala.

A normal nomad takes 5 hours to trek this peak, but our CTC boys have etched history when the team comprising of Ravi Kiran, Sridhar, and Senthil

finished the ascent and descent in a fascinating time of 1 hour 50 minutes and clinching the first position. “The trail to the peak was foggy and most portion of the trail was not visible, but we as a team started moving at equal pace understanding our fitness levels. On the descent I could not stop my adrenaline rush realising that we are about to win the race, I slipped in the grasslands, slithered in the wet terrain, and the joy of completion was bigger than the Chembra peak”, proudly rejoices Senthil.

When it comes to trekking, CTCians seem to dominate the trail depriving the remotest hope for other 15 participating teams. Indeed, it was a very close finish for the other 2 teams that represented CTC; the team comprising of Arun Sekhar, Vipin Lal and Vishal completed at 1 hour 54 minutes, and the other team comprising Prem Kumar, Arun Prabakar and Masanamuthu finished at 1 hour 55 minutes. “We reached the peak and were hunting for the judge who had left the base 2 hrs before the competition could start but on looking at us the judge was taken by amaze when he realised that we guys made to the peak even before he could reach” gladly recollects Arun Sekhar from his memory.

Our three teams will now participate in the South Zone finals of the Peak Bagging competition. Will our teams bring the titles of the South Zone Bagging competition and make us feel proud. Let us keep our fingers crossed and pray for their victory.

Victory at Chembra peak Bagging CompetetionIncredible Venkateswara

Sun rays pentrating into Bamboo forests of Venkateswara Photo: Bhagath



Depth of Feeling vs. Depth of Field?

Karthik Rajagopal“Wow!!! What a great camera! Machhaa periya lensu (huge lens buddy).”

Above are the first few comments I get from people when they see my equipment. It is like calling someone a wonderful trekker because they have an impressive pair of shoes. I embarked on my photography journey the day I stopped to appreciate a dry croton leaf which had fallen down on the tarmac. Soon my love for nature and beauty lured me into learning the art of photography. In the beginning, before I learned about aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, things were simple. I saw something that excited me and clicked a picture. Of course, a lot of times the picture was a far cry from what I saw in reality and was almost never technically perfect, but it was a record of something that was close to my heart.

As I started taking interest in photography, I started getting serious and my attitude

What makes a best Photographer…

Wonders of Venkateswara



towards photography changed. I looked at it more as “light engineering” than art. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and depth of field ruled my mind. Then it became worse when I started comparing lenses with MTF charts (Modulation Transfer Function). It reached a point when I would not shoot something I like simply because the lighting contrast was high. This resulted in technically perfect photographs sans any feeling or emotion.

One day, as a “serious” photographer, I sat pondering on why I took up photography as a serious hobby, when in fact I was mostly concentrating on details like setting the right aperture value, getting the correct exposure, ISO, MTF, Zone System etc. Enlightenment came when I made an observation on the number of likes and comments that my photographs received on Facebook. My technically perfect pictures did not get as many hits as the mobile phone photographs posted by my friends on FB. Those pictures that were appreciated were not always the technically perfect pictures. Then, I understood that a perfect picture is not one that is razor sharp, perfectly exposed, and technically correct. It is one that brings a smile or a tear on our face, pulls up a long forgotten emotion from our memory lane, helps us relate to something, or simply moves our soul.

A technically perfect picture that does not create an emotional response is a failure. There I understood Peter Adam’s words of wisdom, “Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.”

Now I happily raise my camera at high noon to shoot my fellow trekkers playing in a mountain stream or boost the ISO to 3200 to capture my friends in a dimly lit restaurant. While my technical understanding does help, my detachment with the sciences helps me shoot better photographs.

What makes a best Photographer…

Rangaswami peak at Kodanadu

How well do you know CTC’s home?

1. How many perennial streams are draining the Nagalapuram range?

2. What’s the highest point of Nagala?

3. What’s the location of the highest falls in Nagala and its approx height?

4. What is the total perimeter of the Nagalapuram mountain range? 50 or 75 or 100km

5. Which 2 major streams drain the plains West of Nagala into Pulicat lake?

6. Which Nagala waterfall is located North 13deg 31min 33sec and East 79deg 48min 16 sec

7. Where does the Nagala East stream (near TP Kotta village) originate from?

8. Which peak is located 4.9km along a bearing of 350 degrees from the Southern peak?

Send in your answers latest by 20th Sept, 2012 to [email protected]

Top 3 entries will be recognized in the next issue



A Novice Rider

Rediscovering the lovefor pedalling

Vijay RajIt was the time when I was searching a way to enjoy my weekend rather spending my time in movies or hanging out in the city. Trekking was one such thing which suited my interest, but I still wanted another alternative and got stuck with cycling

Cycling is one fascinating sport and I felt like I got new legs, which are stronger and faster. Cycling made me to feel the beauty of the “Madras pattinam “in the dark, on lonely roads. The city looks stunning in lonely nights especially the beach roads in early morning hours.My first ride was from Anna Nagar to Red hills, after a decade riding cycle was tedious and hurting; it took more than 3 hours to complete the loop of 40 kms! That made me to think; should I cycle anymore. Why should I take the pain and so on?

Being not sure about the answer, I continued riding.The entire Riderz series of cycling events, gave a different experience on every trip, met

Sunset at Shevaroy hills Photo: Balaji Mohan

new friends, learnt new techniques, and a gave whole bunch of memories of my early cycling.Yercaud cycling was heavenly, enjoyed the pain uphill and had fun riding downhill, witnessed some extreme and funny stunts and passing through the bamboo valleys was amazing. Every hairpin bend was quite horrible and risky, still enjoyed the downhill ride a little more than 50 kmph speed.

My first biking challenge was at the foot of Nandhi hills, the trail was combo of various types of terrain sand, rock, loose mud, and village roads, which were tactically built. Though the

A Novice Rider

Cycling at Nagari hills

ride was tough. I enjoyed the challenge.

Always, night rides and dirt trails are more fun. The recent night ride was one of my best rides though it was just 40 kms, but enjoyed riding along village roads and camping at a village temple, fixing punctures was just an awesome experience.

Endurance 100 km ride, Brevet 200 km ride with 13.30hours target, and off-road trails always compensated the pain with equal amount of fun and of course Brevet compensated with an international medal from an Audix club.

The answer to my question “should I cycle anymore?, why should I take the pain and so on?” I am clueless about why I cycle so much, but for sure I am enjoying it.



Event Calender - September & October

Emperors Munnar trek and jungle jeep safari Arun Prabakar

Trek to Nagala Central Peak Nachiketa/ Raj Jacob

Death for Sure/6 - Western Ghats Prem Kumar

Palani Exploratory Trek (PX/7) Peter & Sankar

Freshers trek to Munnar Arun Prabakar

Nagala West to East Rakesh Rajan

Palani Hills 5 day trek Prem Kumar

Trek to Venkatagiri Rakesh Rajan

Nagala South East Jayanthan

Trek to Venkatagiri Venkat

Nagala East to West Venkat

September & October - Treks

Kalvarayan Hills 50 kms Masanamuthu

Trial Running - 5km, 10km, Half Marathon Peter & Jayanthan

Bi-monthly swimming camp Prem Kumar

Olympic Jungle Triathlon Peter & Jayanthan

Nagalapuram 300 kms Arun Sekhar

Shevaroy Hills 50 kms Peter van Geit

On road cycling in Chennai 50 kms Vijay Raj

On road & night rides 50 kms Thilak Raj

Off roading 50 kms around Chennai Peter Van Geit

On road & Off road around Chennai Venkat

Cycling

Running

Swimming

Triathlon

Live with your bike - GOA & Western Ghats Arun Prabhakar

Biking

Novice Triathlon Sinu


Social Trek & Visits Thilak Raj

Anbu illam kids - Social Trek Rakesh Chandrasekar

Social Events

www.chennaitrekkers.org Page 26

Issue 1 Sep - Oct 2012

Beach Cleanup Peter & Jayanthan

Snake Walk Peter & Nobal

Weekly Tree plantation Sridhar

Trekking Boot Camp Peter

Enviornment

Learning


For feedbackShare your photographs taken during CTC events

Willing to contribute an article?

contact: [email protected]

site: www.chennaitrekkers.org

http://www.facebook.com/groups/chennaitrekkingclub/

Editor’sDurai MuruganPeter Van GeitDenver Harris

DesignSurya ([email protected])

For Advertisement’sRakesh Chandrasekar ([email protected])

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