Trekking the Chokramudi peak; A wild experience in Munnar.

Looking back at the majestic Chokramudi peak, shining from the recent rain

College days were coming to an end. There were just a couple of final semester exams left to go. But, we had a week’s gap prior to the last exam. I'd been bit by the travel bug a short time before that and saw a perfect window for a getaway. The Chokramudi peak in Munnar was constantly in my mind, ever since my friends trekked it in that year. And I didn't need a long time to plan it. I quickly found a like-minded maniac

in Chandu who agreed to go with me. We packed a small pack and set off for a Chokramudi, Dhanushkodi trip. And as one of my first such travels, my excitement knew no bounds!

The trail

On the evening of the exams, we jumped on a train from Trivandrum and reached Aluva the following morning. We caught the early morning bus to Munnar and reached there at around 10 am. After stuffing our bags with snacks, fruits, and water, we quickly boarded
a bus headed for Madurai. The gorgeous green sprawl of tea plantations welcomed
us as soon as we reached the outskirts of Munnar town. Listening to the blaring Tamil songs from the 90's and getting rocked in all directions, we ended our bumpy ride at the Ghat road
bus stop. It was a painfully hot noon, with the sun burning directly over our heads. After a short walk along the narrow Ghat Road, and passing by an abandoned mansion, we reached the entrance to Chokramudi peak.
We had no idea what we were getting into, and that made it very exciting.
The first half-hour went by easily, as the trail was well paved. Then, the path ended, and giant rockfaces started revealing themselves, one after the other. Each had numbers painted in white letters indicating their order. You could see only two numbers at a time;
the rest would show up behind the next large rock face. Constant rain meant slippery rocks and dangerous steps for us two walkers. This was where we had to be extra careful.

Taking a breather while enjoying the views all around

The first peak climaxed at the thirteenth rock face, we reached the

Kurishumala; the holy cross. As much as it was relieving, it was evident that we'd come only halfway. Another gigantic mountain spread out n front of us, wide and tall. It was the mighty Chokra revealing herself.

'Kurishumala' or the hill of the holy cross. It was the first of the two mountains we had to climb

The forest in the middle

From there, the trail was flat for sometime before it deep dived into a forest patch.
At first sight, we were scared. The place looked pretty wild. But our friends' instructions were clear:
the forest was the only way through. And we walked into it hesitantly,
with hearts in our mouths.

The patch of forest before the ascend to the second peak

Trying to find our way through fallen trees in the forest.

It was terrifying, being my first experience inside any forest. The sounds of the insects felt mysterious for it was my first time.We could clearly feel the overwhelming aura of the forest. We realized there was a clear trail through the forest, though a narrow one. At some places, we had to crawl beneath the hanging plants and stems. Then we reached a clearing with a normal path. We continued on this

trail and I almost stepped on a snake which disappeared into the thick growth beside the trail.
After this, the trail got steep and we were forced to rest many times. As we sat down, we noticed something we weren't paying attention to. The view to our right was nothing short of breathtaking.

The final push before the summit.

We saw lush green tea hills for kilometers and kilometers, all the way till Munnar town. Vehicles looked like ants from that height, giving us a perspective on how far we were from the ground. It was fun watching the buses on the road, as they winded and twisted multiple times through the sea of green.

Then they disappeared through the ghat road.

The windy pinnacle.

We reached a hilltop which preceded the actual pinnacle. It was a breezy walk, when you're excited about reaching your destination, while being bombarded by an incredible experience each passing second. We did the final ridge real fast.

Taking in the views.

It wasbeautiful from the top, like any summit is expected to be. But what struck me most was the sheer diversity of views on different sides. On one side, tea plantations sprawled out endlessly till it faded in the distance beside high rocky mountains.
On the other, there were just layers and layers of mountains, stacked behind each other, like waves forming in the ocean. The sky was equally diverse. To the Munnar side, there were clear skies and dazzling blue skies that gave orgasm to the eyes. But to the other, there were giant legions of black clouds churning and swirling, as if cooking something mysterious.

The wind chill was tangible, as it cut into our skins beneath our hoodies and t-shirts. Wind made it difficult to stay long. But we sat
down for a long time, swallowing the cold every time the wind lashed out on our faces, and making mental images of the view all around us, still unsure how to process it.
However, the whole scene started changing fast. A system of clouds fast approached the pinnacle
from the dark side of the mountains. There were frighteningly dark stacks of clouds following it.

Surprise!!!

We got carried away in those moments of glory that we forgot to panic! It was only when big raindrops started hitting our faces that we realized it was already high time to leave. Soon the drizzle gave way to heavy pounding rain. We struggling to find our bearings as
fog joined the party. We hurriedly crossed the first hill and reached a small curve beside a deep drop. We found a makeshift shelter in a tiny gap in the rock face. We waited it out, and even mad a small fire in a desperate attempt to get warm. Unfortunately, the rain showed no signs
of receding, so we reluctantly started descending. Walking downhill
I saw nothing but the fog all around and we were but groping around trying to find a way. I knew we were in for some tough time and my heart started pounding hard.
It was confusing but exciting and scary at the same time. I was clueless about the direction because there was no sign of a down hill trail to be seen.

So we guessed a direction and tried it out. But a few steps
later I had my heart in my mouth as I literally stared into my own death! We were just a couple of steps away from a
major drop!! I knew that we were in serious trouble but I knew that I could make it out alive of we kept trying.
I put all my efforts into finding the way down. To my surprise,
Chandu suffered some kind of blackout and he was sitting starstruck on a rock in the middle of thick fog. I felt that nature was testing my mettle in every possible way.
I stayed cool and chided him to follow me somehow. And luckily, he followed.

The soaked up descent

We started our slow descent, taking one calculated step at a time, amidst pounding rain.
To make matters worse, lightning and thunder had also begun.
I could literally hear my heartbeat at this point in time as I was freaking out.

Mist formations ahead of us

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light close to me and a loud crack of thunder.
I thought I'd meet my end right there, and even thanked God for this life But, luckily, it escaped me by a few metres. It was already getting darker, and we had no option but to keep taking short steps. I looked up to see distorted bolts of lightning striking down either side of the mountains followed by thunder. It was raining heavily at this point, completely soaking even myunderpants. I watched in horror as nature’s fury unraveled in front of our eyes,

we were right next to the clouds. Finally to our relief, we reached the patch of forest that
offered some cover although temporarily. The forest was ever more spooky as it was
already dark and we hurried along to come out on the other side. The rain eased
a bit and we did realize that we had just escaped a major ordeal.

Walking down the slippery rocks

We looked back and bowed before the towering Chokramudi, now shining thanks to
rainwater. We then made our way down through the large slippery rocks, fully drenched and
feeling the full thrust of the cold. What a crazy crazy day it was.
I thanked God for giving us this experience and also for bringing us back in one piece!
We caught the next bus to Madurai and continued to Dhanushkodi...