In the middle of nowhere!

Bangalore

Don't know if it was my training in disaster management or just sheer common sense, that I had started looking for a safe place to camp by 3.30pm. Even after an hour we trekked according to the information we had and the direction we reconfirmed with Velutha, there was an uneasy feeling about the trek route. It was obvious that not many had trekked this path in recent days.

Decreased light, hovering rain clouds and trumpets of wild elephants from all possible places (later we realised it was the echo because of the huge boulders) didn't give me confidence at all to trek any further. Being the leader of the group, Thomas didn't show much panic, but it was kind of obvious that he was lost when we reached the huge boulders that should ideally lead us to the Soochipara waterfalls.

"where to go?"

It started drizzling and slippery rocks were the last thing we needed at that time. The moment I saw fear in Thomas's face, I decided to take charge of the situation. While climbing from one boulder to another I had noticed couple of places that we could convert as safe shelter.

I wasn't looking at a shelter for the night, but more than that, I just wanted to ensure that we were on a height unreachable to elephants and be on a safe plain where there was no chance of a flash flood hitting us in the middle of the night!

© GP 2007