It has been exactly 1 year since I said adios to the USA. Looking back I am happy to have met with some really brave folks (both guys and gals) who now trust me enough to come with me to these kinds of crazy places. I’ve started teaching rappelling in June 2016 under the banner of Bangalore Adventure School and within 6 months, I am really glad to have taught 65+ students the new sport of rappelling and canyoneering.
Out of that, at least 10 had come with me to some first attempts (discovery); canyons, caves etc. · Not everyone gets an invitation to come with us for explorations. Only those who completed Level 1, 2 etc. and those who demonstrate interest, skills etc. get invited for explorations. Did another first descent of a canyon in Wayanad, Kerala, India.
- Team: Gokul, Pravin Kumar and Salam.
- Support Team: A guide from the forest department and a tribal named Chandran .
And as usual thanks to Jayan Wayanad for making this possible by procuring the required permissions and logistics. On 9th December 2016, we successfully completed the first descent of a new canyon. The main attraction of the canyon was the slot section that had 3 waterfalls in series.
There were no boulders or trees in these sections but, luckily there were small cracks on the second and third rappel. We used those cracks for setting up “KNOT CHOCK” anchors. Hence the name “Knotty Canyon”. The trail started from Harrison’s Tea estate in Wayanad. After 1 mile from the trailhead, we reached the tribal chieftain’s hut. We went through his backyard, after another .7 miles, we got the first glimpse of the waterfall at a distance.
From this point, another 1 km through deep forest to reach the top of the cascade of waterfalls When we reached the top section of the canyon, to our surprise, we met this Adivasi (tribal) family. They live there in a cave under a huge rock. We had some chit chat with them, gave them some snacks that we carried. When we started we were not sure about the way out once we reach down the canyon. So, we were prepared to turn back anytime. But, Chandran told us there is another way around the mountain that will take us to the bottom of the canyon. Now, we were excited.
We asked Chandran and our forest guide to head to the bottom of the canyon and wait for us there and we shall meet again after 3 hours. Thus we started descending the canyon. The slot section was mind blowing.