As you can read in the title, I am going to share our experience of how a group 8 friends got lost while on a trek at the huge Naneghat peak and how we survived the problems faced throughout the whole journey.
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| NANEGHAT PEAK During Monsoons |
It was 5:00 am in the morning of the 68th Indian Republic Day on 26th January 2017 when we, a group of 8 friends who are also the members of a scouting group in Mumbai along with our two scout masters took off for our regular holiday trek to the Naneghat Peak which lies in the western ghat and is 165 km east of Mumbai. It was the first time that we were going for a trek on that peak and we had no idea about how long and how tough it was going to be, we just saw a few pictures of the peak on the internet and we got all excited about the trek unaware of what was waiting for us over there.
We had to split in two groups as there were two cars and left for the trek, on our way we had taken one halt to have our breakfast at a dhaba and after breakfast we started again at 8:30 am approx, as it was a holiday that day we saw a lot of groups on our way and at the Dhaba who were probably going for trek too but surprisingly there was not even a single person at the naneghat peak when we reached there because before coming we had heard from few people that it was a very famous and a common place for trekking. In January it was already 4 months since monsoon and what we saw over there was nothing like what we saw in the pictures. It was some thing like this;
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| NANEGHAT PEAK In Januaury The photo above was taken by us during the trek |
We started the trek at 10:00 am sharp and with full of energy and excitement, we walked on the path for a while and then there was a separation of roads ahead of us, one way was the original one which would lead us to the peak easily and the other one was the path created by the villagers who used to live there, so, we picked the other path as we had no idea about it and the it was looking a bit simpler than the original one, we walked for a while and then the path ended and it was just a dense forest in front of us, then our sir told us that we should follow the dried out stream of water path because the river steams originates from the peak so we went for it and after some time we got to a plain surface with not so many trees around took a halt over there to drink water and have some snacks. It was suppose to be just a 2-3 hours climb so we had bought our resources accordingly and till 1 am we finished most of our drinks and snacks.
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| THE PLACE WHERE WE TOOK THE HALT That's us in the picture |
As the time passed by we were more deeper into the forest and we reached quite a height and we had no track of our way back so the only way to get back was reaching the peak and returning from the original way, but, that was also not easy because w had no idea where we were heading. It was 3 pm and we were no where near our destination and it was already 2 hours since we finished all of our water and food, we were all thirsty and tired in slowly loosing hope that we will reach the peak so we made a call that we should start finding our way back down instead of getting to the top because it seemed hopeless going any further as we had no idea where it would lead us, so, we started getting back down before it gets too dark. We walked down for 2 hours straight non-stop and we reached the the ground but we were still unsure of where the highway was from where we could get some help. It was almost 6 pm and it was getting dark and we were all drained not even having the energy to speak coz our throat were dried out but we had no other option but to move forward.
After walking for a while we heard someone walking towards us so we shouted as loud as we could for help, it was a man, a local villager who was going into the forest for we don't know what purpose but all we cared about that time was finding our way back so we did not cared about where and for what he was going into the forest and we just asked the way back and he showed us a direction. We were so relived and started moving in that direction, as we were all tired we came up with a strategy that we should divide into two groups and one group will move forward and the other group will wait over there and rest for a while and after covering some distance the first group will take a halt until the other group reaches them and continuing the cycle, this strategy worked for some time and then guess what, we got separated after a while which was the worst thing that could happen at that moment. We kept shouting for few minutes so that we could them to hear us and we could find them but it was of no use because neither they could hear nor we could hear them, luckily, both the masters were in different groups so that bought us some confidence that both the groups are safe and will get out any how.
With no mobile network, no GPS, no compass and no torches, we were stuck in the forest and it was already quite dark with thirst and tiredness adding to our lists of problems. We didn't knew anything about the other group but we knew that they were capable enough to survive this, so, we did not think about them at that moment and continued forward but after some time when looked around us, it was just dense forest and there was no sign of the highway anywhere near. We almost lost hope of getting out of there because it 6 hours since we last drank a drop of water and there was continuous walking, we had no energy left in us, we even started planning to make a fire and stay the night over there but suddenly one of my friend shouted "WATER!!" and we, without thinking anything ran towards him and what we saw was a small pond kind of thing with fresh water in it. It was just like finding a Oasis in the desert, we were so happy, we washed our faces and there were few small fishes in it so we filtered the water trough our handkerchiefs and filled up all our water bottles, drank some water and gained some energy back and started walking, and what a co-incidence it was that we heard a car honking continuously. We got cheered up and ran towards the sound and we found the highway and the car which was honking was none other than our other other group which got out early and were honking through out the way to find us.
We came out of the forest somewhere on the highway and the our bot the scout masters went back to get their cars and until then we waited for them over there, it was such a great feeling to be reunited with our friends and getting out of the forest that we cant even express that feeling, we had tears of joy in our eyes. then after some time both the cars came and then we went to the nearest Dhaba and bought 10-12 bottles of cold water and drank like we have never seen water in our live before, it felt like heaven. Then we left and had dinner and said our goodbyes to our friends and went home back safely and with the best thrilling experiences and memories of our lives which will be cherished throughout.
Its the end of the story and hoped u liked it, this was without a doubt the best thrilling experience of my life which actually showed me what i am capable of and my strength.
Just an advice that whenever you are in any kind of situation like this, the first thing you should keep in mind is never giving up, if you give up its over.
Soon I will post the part two of the naneghat trek in which we completed the the trek when we went there for the second time in monsoons and will give review about it
That's all from this post, I will keep posting more of our travel experiences and will review some really good places to go for trekking and camping so stay tuned and make sure to follow me and if you have any kinds of questions drop it in the comment box below. #Adventureislife
PEACE
nice one
ReplyDeleteThanx bro :)
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