Vinayak Hegde

Swaroop and I had been planning for a trek in mid-February after the Sharavathy valley trek. We looked up a list at Trekwiki (It’ a great resource if you enjoy trekking) and choose Thadiyandamol over Red Hills. We just pinged a few friends and got a good response for the trek. We rented tents and booked tickets and were all set to go. We met each other and took the bus from Mysore bus stand. We did not get much sleep and got down in pitch darkness at 5.00am at Napoklu. We started walking from Napoklu towards Kakkabe which is a small town at the bottom of the trail. Walking in the mist as the sun rose was an amazing experience. We walked about 15 KM from Napoklu to Kakkabe.

Kakkabe is a non-descript town with a main road and a few houses around a small bridge over a stream. This was one of the last places where we could stock up on food (which we did). The first third of the climb was on a shady tar road with trees on both sides. The climb was generally gentle for this part. There are a few stream on this section where you can fill up on water. We rested at one of the streams for a while resting and washing our slightly sore feet. We resumed climbing till we hit a flat place where we could have a great 360-degree of the surrounding landscape. There was a stream nearby and we decided to camp nearby. Putting up the tents was a good team effort and it was great fun especially for those who were doing it for the first time. We had food and some rest at the stream sleeping on the grass and staring at the tree canopies above. After a hour’s sleep, we moved back to the open campsite and started climbing towards the peak. We had setup camp about two-thirds of the way up on the way to the peak. The trail from here on was divided into 3 parts – the first part was a gentle slope with tracks within dead grass. This led to a a trail within a thick evergreen forest where a single person could walk at a time. The third and the final part was steep and the route was slippery. Finally at the top of the peak we were awarded amazing views of the surrounding mountains and the vallley below. The clouds were moving in and obscuring the views creating a surreal experience. It was almost 5.00pm and the sun would start to set. We started the journey downhill.

We walked down the peak and the slope was slippery in places. I slipped and fell forward. To regain my balance I put my foot forward and gained momentum and I was almost running downhill. My left foot hit the rock and I fell on my right hand hitting my head on the rock. I felt a throbbing pain on my forehead and saw blood gushing down the right side of my face. My spectacles were broken and the right side of my face was bruised and had gone completely numb. I slept on the grass and realized that I cannot afford to lose consciousness. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to use my handkerchief as a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood so it could form a clot. I got up to see that Mohan fall in the
same fashion but thankfully he was unhurt. By now my t-shirt was almost completely soaked with blood so was the upper half of my jeans (I did not realize this back then). Since the light had started fading we decided to move downhill to the camp-site. As I got up I realized that my camera was broken into two pieces seprated into lens and body. I carried the pieces when I felt pain in my right wrist while picking them up. With the help of other trek mates we made it through the narrow pathway in the forest down to the camp site.

By now the light was fading fast. At the campsite everyone sprung into action and Vikram gave me first aid. Thankfully there was a clot and the bleeding had stopped. I rested in one of the tents while a couple of fellow trekkers ventured downhill to find transport to get me to the hospital. They found a Jeep owner who came came up the hill on a rocky road. These guys were spooked on seeing and we drove down the hilly trail on th 4×4 to Kakkabe and thereon to Virajpet.

There was no doctor at Virajpet but the nurse volunteered to bandage me. She recoiled in horror as she saw my open wound on my head. She managed to bandage me but refused any money from us even after persisting. She advised the driver to take me to Madikeri where I could get medical attention. The driver was driving like a madman on the narrow road from from Virajpet to Madikeri. We reached Madikeri and a Doctor examined me. I got my wrist X-rayed. While taking the X-ray I had intense pain in my elbow which was swollen so I got it X-rayed as a precautionary measure. After that got the CT scan done. It came clear (It clearly showed a brain so all doubters can now rest I was not so lucky with the X-rays. The orthopaedic surgeon told that I have a fracture in my right wrist and elbow. Another surgeon stitched my wound (totally 12 stitches) and gave me painkillers. We stayed overnight at the hospital.

In the morning, we went to the hotel room to freshen up. As I looked in the mirror I realised why everyone was so horrified. My hair was soaked in blood. My T-shirt was almost completely black from dried blood. We cut the t-shirt away as the plastered hand would create problems in removing it and got a new one. We then moved to Madikeri bus stand and thereon to Virajpet. We got into the bus and had a good time generally. The drama was not yet over as the bus broke down and our trekking gang was broken into two as we tried to get into another bus. Somehow we finally reached Varun’s place and spent the night there.

I am much better now. I got my stiches removed and the swelling on the face is gone. The head wound is slowly healing but the right arm is still in a plaster. It will be 4 weeks before I can remove it. The camera body seems okay but the 18-135mm Zoom-Nikkor lens (which took almost all the pictures on this blog is broken internally and beyond repair)