Being a mountaineer I always wanted my daughter to trek and want her to connect with the nature. After last year Parasnath Trek organised by Durgapur Club which is Jharkhand states highest peak, we decided to scale highest peak of Andhra Pradesh. Before introducing her to the mighty Himalayas I want to test her calibre and want to check whether she finds interest in the sport or it's just I am forcing my choice on her. During Pongal holidays we planned this trek.
Day 01: 17.01.24
After spending two days at her grandmother's village during Pongal, we reached Visakhapatnam on 17.01.24 and our train for Araku was at 06:45 hrs. Boarded Vista Dome train from Visakhapatnam and reached Araku around 11:44 hrs
Had our lunch in an eatery outside the Railway station.
At 13:15 boarded bus towards Paderu and reached Hukumpeta at 1430hrs. Praveen our local contact sent an auto for us. Auto took us to his shop where Praveen was waiting for us. He introduced Chiru our guide and he accompanied us for the trek. Chiru bought some rason for us and then around 1500hrs we left Hukumpeta to base Village Olubedda.
Around 1600hrs from base Village trek starts. The trail was gradually ascent through village and forest.
Around 1800hrs we reached base camp. It was almost dark. After keeping our luggage at basecamp we walked towards the viewpoint but clouds and fog made the sunset hardly visible. Wind was chilling so we decided to come down to the tents.
We arranged our sacks inside the tent. At 2000hrs our guide arranged a bonfire and we had our dinner in the warmth of that fire.
We slept early as in a few hours we had to start for a summit push.
Day 02: 18.01.24
Around 3:30 hrs I woke up and tried to awaken my wife and daughter. I came out of my tent and asked the guide about our summit push. He said it's too dark and we can start around 0500 hrs. With the speed you all have we can easily make it before sunrise.
He served some milk for us. Jisha (my daughter) was still sleepy. Somehow I managed to make her drink that milk served to us. Around 0530 hrs all three of us with guide left for summit push. As we were reaching towards the summit, beautiful colors of sunrise on the horizon started to appear on our right side. We clicked many pictures of sunrise and slowly moved towards the summit. The watch was ticking 0630hrs when we reached the summit. The GPS device showed 1680 metres.
Around one and half hours we spent there clicked many pictures and shot many videos for Instagram reels and all. Around 0815hrs we were back in basecamp.
They arranged some breakfast for us, we had it and started descending. While returning our guide Chiru brought us from another route, there were beautiful caves and very very beautiful rock faces perfect and ideal for rock climbing.
Around 1130 Hrs we were back in the base village. Our transport was already parked. When we reached there our guide informed us that there is a medical emergency so the patient and his parents would also come with us.
We all came to Hukumpeta, we were dropped at Praveen Shop owner of Hikoi Adventure. He is an Everestee with two successful summits from both sides of the mountain. A very kind guy a retired defense person trying to bring awareness among the youth of local villages. I was really amazed to know about him. It was a great experience. This was my daughter's second trek. She performed well.
Looking forward to more treks with her!
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