# Trekking Thirumaleguppi & Hirumareguppi in torrential rain **pic & story heavy**



## Raj_55555 (Jul 14, 2015)

After a failed plan to revisit Savandurga(I've posted pics earlier) last weekend due to people pulling out at the last moment, I decided to go on another one of my whimsical trips; looked up a random group on meetup and followed them for a two day trek to the Thirumaleguppi & the Hirumareguppi peaks. Admittedly, I didn't know much about the place or even which state it was in, but I had more fun on this trek than I've ever had, both because of the sense of solitude you get at the place and because of the super cool group I was with, dumb-charades were never this fun! Also this was the only trek where I had a lot of photographs of mine thanks to another fellow photo-trekker.

After an eight hours long bus ride and then another couple in a Jeep on muddy terrains, you reach this amazing place with lush green flora all around you. The trek route was very literally a slippery slope with all the mud, made even worse by the algae on the road, and the trees everywhere leaving us little room for a proper grip:

#1. Slippery slopes







#2. Tread lightly





Just about everyone, including me, had their share of falls and injuries, but it was all good as the leeches there were very welcoming, always reassuring us with their ever-close presence and periodically sucking a little blood out to help relieve any increase in Blood pressure!
Here's a fellow trekker shaking hands with Tom:

#3. Shaking hands with Tom






#4. Tom trying to trek along us!






#5. Tom, waving us goodbye.. 






The greatest part of the trek was the rain, coupled with the extreme wind it made our trek really difficult and extremely fun simultaneously! We trekked through the torrential rain that penetrated my heavy raincoat to dampen my camera gear, winds that made human pendulums out of us and shifting fogs all around us that made us lose sight of of our team all the time.

#5. In the wind & the rain






#6. In the wind & the rain (credits: Mani, my fellow photo-trekker)






It wasn't all fun though, I lost one of my lenses (The sigma 24-70 TPF edition, sorry ) and all my shots in one of the cards to the extreme weather while trying to take a long exposure of the waterfalls on Day 1. Surprisingly my trusty Point and shoot survived and was still going strong on day two. Oh, and somehow the waterfall pic that I was taking was written to the second card, I know I should have done better but it was very difficult to stand against the current and the rain didn't make it any easier, here it is:

#8. The waterfall






#9. Downstreams with my P&S






And the best was yet to come, once the rain died down the landscapes were almost from the set of the Jurassic world and I was starting to miss having my wide angle lens, but you have to use the tools that you have right:

#10. Welcome to Jurassic World:






#11. A panaroma of the magnificent beauty:






#12. Define Green!






#13. Paradise on Earth






#14. View on top of the Thirrumaleguppi Peak






I simply don't think that it's possible to have more fun than I had with this group:

#14. We shared experiences, age no bound:






stopped whenever we liked to look around and let the nature seep in, spotted a hive of mountain bees hanging from a cliff, heard the odd peacock singing from deep within the jungles, spotted a lot of unique birds and even photographed a few:

#15. Malabar Parakeet ( I was very lucky to have spotted him)






#16. Orange minivet






And thanks to my sneaky photo-trekker, had a few memorable photographs of mine as well:

#17. Among the elements






The Tranquility all along the journey was simply ineffable!


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## tirediron (Jul 14, 2015)

Great images and story Raj - #s 10 & 11 are stellar!


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## goooner (Jul 14, 2015)

Great shots and story Raj.


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## waday (Jul 14, 2015)

Great story and photos! Love these, Raj!


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## C. Brian Kerr (Jul 14, 2015)

Love 11 and 13. what a great trip you had.  great story, thanks for sharing Raj


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## baturn (Jul 14, 2015)

Great shots and narrative. Thanks for sharing something many of us will never see or experience for ourselves.


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## pjaye (Jul 14, 2015)

These are absolutely fantastic Raj. Just gorgeous. Although, you could have made a warning about the leeches <shudder> . So nice to see pics of you too! So sorry to hear about the lens. 

I'm extremely jealous of your adventures.


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## FITBMX (Jul 14, 2015)

Those are some really wonderful photos! It really sounds like a great time. Sorry about the lens, how did you lose it?


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## scooter2044 (Jul 14, 2015)

All I can say is wow!


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 14, 2015)

tirediron said:


> Great images and story Raj - #s 10 & 11 are stellar!


Thanks John, those two are my personal favs too! 


goooner said:


> Great shots and story Raj.


Thanks goooner! 


waday said:


> Great story and photos! Love these, Raj!


Thanks waday, much appreciated! 


C. Brian Kerr said:


> Love 11 and 13. what a great trip you had.  great story, thanks for sharing Raj


Thanks Brian, and yes it was an amazing trip. Thanks for your  support! 


baturn said:


> Great shots and narrative. Thanks for sharing something many of us will never see or experience for ourselves.


Thanks Brian, as I keep saying all you have to do is come here and I'll take care of your experiences! 


symplybarb said:


> These are absolutely fantastic Raj. Just gorgeous. Although, you could have made a warning about the leeches <shudder> . So nice to see pics of you too! So sorry to hear about the lens.
> I'm extremely jealous of your adventures.


Thanks Barb, but why the fear of leeches? Don't be a speciest, love all creatures equally! 
I've given the lens for repair, hopefully it'll be all right! 


FITBMX said:


> Those are some really wonderful photos! It really sounds like a great time. Sorry about the lens, how did you lose it?


Thanks buddy, it was pretty intense especially the trekking in the extreme weather. 
I didn't physically lose the lens, it just stopped working due to the heavy rain! 


scooter2044 said:


> All I can say is wow!


Thanks scooter, much appreciated!


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## FITBMX (Jul 14, 2015)

Raj_55555 said:


> Thanks buddy, it was pretty intense especially the trekking in the extreme weather.
> I didn't physically lose the lens, it just stopped working due to the heavy rain!



I was seeing you doing a lens change and dropping it off a cliff!  Does that lens have auto focus, or is it manual?


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 15, 2015)

FITBMX said:


> I was seeing you doing a lens change and dropping it off a cliff!  Does that lens have auto focus, or is it manual?


Trust me, I'd jump off the cliff before letting a lens fall off! 
Yeah, it has autofocus, but I was using manual as it was too dark for AF. In fact it's while taking the image #8 that it went off..


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## mmaria (Jul 15, 2015)

just stopped by to leave a


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 15, 2015)

mmaria said:


> just stopped by to leave a


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## limr (Jul 15, 2015)

scooter2044 said:


> All I can say is wow!



Oh man, you took my line!  

I swear, this is exactly what I was thinking. Just wow, Raj!


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## Msteelio91 (Jul 15, 2015)

Absolutely amazing!


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## DarkShadow (Jul 15, 2015)

Excellent Set Raj and your thoughtfulness of your story telling to go along with the shots has a significant impact.I really appreciate the time and thought you put into your art work,you really go the extra mile.Bravo.


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## pjaye (Jul 15, 2015)

Raj_55555 said:


> Thanks Barb, but why the fear of leeches? Don't be a speciest, love all creatures equally!
> I've given the lens for repair, hopefully it'll be all right!



Not EVER going to happen. Leeches, spiders and earwigs deserve to die.


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## JustJazzie (Jul 15, 2015)

Ahh, I saw some of this set on flicker. 11 is especially spectacular! Looks like quite an adventure.... You made my 70+ mosquito bites from our trip seem almost enjoyable compared to the leeches...


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 16, 2015)

limr said:


> scooter2044 said:
> 
> 
> > All I can say is wow!
> ...


 Thanks Leonore! 


Msteelio91 said:


> Absolutely amazing!


Thanks Matt! 


DarkShadow said:


> Excellent Set Raj and your thoughtfulness of your story telling to go along with the shots has a significant impact.I really appreciate the time and thought you put into your art work,you really go the extra mile.Bravo.


 Thanks Dave, praise all around, almost like it's my birthday! 



symplybarb said:


> Raj_55555 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Barb, but why the fear of leeches? Don't be a speciest, love all creatures equally!
> ...


Now I know what gift to get you for Christmas this year! 



JustJazzie said:


> Ahh, I saw some of this set on flicker. 11 is especially spectacular! Looks like quite an adventure.... You made my 70+ mosquito bites from our trip seem almost enjoyable compared to the leeches...


Thanks Jazzie,  yeah leech bites are especially bothersome because of the bad itch it leaves afterwards. You feel like scratching your skin off, other than that they are very docile creatures!


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## pjaye (Jul 16, 2015)

Raj_55555 said:


> Now I know what gift to get you for Christmas this year!



Here's the deal, you deliver that present personally, and I will kiss the damn leech! 

Btw, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 16, 2015)

symplybarb said:


> Here's the deal, you deliver that present personally, and I will kiss the damn leech!
> 
> Btw, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!


lol.. I was imagining how it would be, you kissing the leech! I'd surely bring one, when I visit! 
Thanks for the good wishes barb!


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## Jasii (Jul 17, 2015)

Lovely shots and the narrative made us feel like: " We were alongside." 
Those Pano's ROCK!!!
Jasii


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 17, 2015)

Jasii said:


> Lovely shots and the narrative made us feel like: " We were alongside."
> Those Pano's ROCK!!!
> Jasii


Thanks a lot Jassi ji..planning to go to nilgiris in Tamil Nadu mid august..


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## alv (Jul 17, 2015)

great shots 10-11, thanks for taking me along, had a good time,al


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 17, 2015)

alv said:


> great shots 10-11, thanks for taking me along, had a good time,al


My pleasure Al, and thanks!


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## JacaRanda (Jul 17, 2015)

Wowsers.  10,11,12,13,14.   I super appreciate what many have to do in order to get images like these.  KUDOS!


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 17, 2015)

JacaRanda said:


> Wowsers.  10,11,12,13,14.   I super appreciate what many have to do in order to get images like these.  KUDOS!


Thanks Jaca!


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## jsecordphoto (Jul 17, 2015)

So cool, looks like a really fun adventure! Love #11+12, but I'm a sucker for panos


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 18, 2015)

jsecordphoto said:


> So cool, looks like a really fun adventure! Love #11+12, but I'm a sucker for panos


Thanks, #11 is my personal fav of the lot, I've ordered a big print of it on canvas


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## snowbear (Jul 18, 2015)

Beautiful.


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## Gary A. (Jul 18, 2015)

Good stuff Raj. You love landscapes so much ... you should give serious thoughts to a MF camera. (You can transition to MF on the cheap with a MF film camera. Nothing wrong with increasing the burden on your hikes.)


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## Raj_55555 (Jul 20, 2015)

snowbear said:


> Beautiful.


Thanks snowbear! 


Gary A. said:


> Good stuff Raj. You love landscapes so much ... you should give serious thoughts to a MF camera. (You can transition to MF on the cheap with a MF film camera. Nothing wrong with increasing the burden on your hikes.)


Thanks Gary, I've never even considered lugging around an MF, it's actually a brilliant idea, one that will lead to a considerable R&D from me now! 
Although TBH, I know very little about films and how they work. Can the images be transferred from film to my computer with no loss of quality? I'll look into it, and thanks


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## Gary A. (Jul 20, 2015)

Raj_55555 said:


> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> > Beautiful.
> ...


Any transfer between different mediums, (analog to digital), will result in some change/loss of quality. Depending upon how you transfer and how good the transfer equipment is will determine the amount of loss/change that will occur. On the cheap, you can get a twin lens reflex for $100+- on Ebay. Or look around pawn shops, (dunno if they have pawn shops in India). A home development kit will run you another $100. In the beginning I'd find a good custom development shop and have them scan the negs. Good luck. (Feel free to ask me any questions ... or anybody else in the film forum.)


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## jkzo (Jul 20, 2015)

Jasii[/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot Jassi ji..planning to go to nilgiris in Tamil Nadu mid august.. [/QUOTE]

Cool......


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