Parsik – Rocking Around

After a long hiatus from trekking- a month, the Parsik range was teasing me from my window. Every time I sat on my sofa I could see the raw masculine ranges in front of me. So just couldn’t bear to stay away for long and so planned for a trek to Parsik-new route. In the early stages of planning had around 10 people, but as usual with Giri Shishya Hikers the number came down to – 7.
Early morning another Parsik ritual-waiting!!!!! Met Tej, Manali, Mayur, Akshay and Surya at the bus stop. Prasad was yet to come and he came a good hour late. So the trek began at 9am. We walked to the base of the Parsik hills and then cleared the hutment area.
Once we cleared that area the first challenge was to climb through a small patch which was full of loose soil. Tej and Prasad cleared the area without first. I followed them but my first step was recorded with the soil lump giving away! So carefully I climbed up. Akshay also tried but wasn’t successful so he came by another route. Now Manali and Surya were left to clear this area. Due to Manali’s shortcomings she wasn’t able to do it. So yet another route was found. With a bit of helping hand even she was standing with us. Now the route was through thick vegetation. We had to make way through dense tall grass. All the dried leaves were scratching our skins out. It was difficult to move around. We were doing the best to our levels. We were trying to make a proper route for rest of the team to follow. I and Prasad were at the beginning leveling the route. After climbing through this sort of terrain we reached a semi flat region. It was clear of the tall grass but still our ankles were in grass. After resting here for sometime and refreshing ourselves with a water break. Once done with it we moved towards the base of the pinnacle. The route was still grassy and more difficult as we were climbing on a ridge and the thick grass was hampering our ability to guess the edges of the ridge. I had did this route for a couple of times now so was pretty much used to it. In about next 20 minutes we were at the base of the patch that we were supposed to do. Half of the team was at the top and the other half below. This was the first time that we were climbing and recording on a video camera!
I had tried this patch earlier but had returned after doing halfway. This time I was determined to go all the way. So it was mayur, Akshay and Manali at the top of the rock patch and tej, surya and prasad at the base. Gave Tej and surya some instructions on how to record in a camera and I began the climb.
The patch could be divided into three regions. The first region was a proper big crack in the feature. Using it we could easily complete the first region. This was the part I had done earlier. It didn’t pose any problem at all. The second region was a bit tricky. There were quite a bit of grass growing it the small crevices in the feature. Due to it some of the good strong holds had been weakened. In here, there were two routes by which we could approach the third region. The route going by the right side had a few strong holds but we had to traverse to the left side eventually as there was a bit of overhang situation on the right side. So keeping the holds in mind I preferred going by the right side route. There were some undercuts and slobs in this route. After moving through them I reached the overhang. At this point I had to traverse to the left side. I was a bit nervous but was confident enough that I can do it-guts and glory all the way. So steadily I made my move. Making sure that every hold was strong and could take my complete body I slowly started shifting towards the left side. Once I was clear of the overhang using my shoulders I got on top of the rock forming the overhang. This was the end of second region. Out here there was considerable place for me to stand comfortably. I was just one step away from the summit. The problem over here was there was just a very small crack. There was hardly any other hold available. It was just like a plain wall. Over here I jammed my right feet somehow into this crack and jammed left hand in between two rocks overlapping each other. Using my right hand on a slob hold I pulled myself up and here I was! It was done.
I had dreamt of doing this rock patch for quite sometime. I had been here numerous times but this was an altogether different way and route. It was a different kind of high. It was like a “nasha”. I had to do it. The rush of adrenaline was incomparable to anything. For the last 15 minutes I was negotiating a route through rocks and I had finally succeded. I was on top among nature with my friends what else could a guy like me want to have! This was heaven. After spending sometime and looking back at what I had done felt amazing. Soon I was down doing the camera work for Tej, Prasad and Surya who also did the rock patch successfully. Once everyone was together it was celebration! We had some eatables and then retreated.
Thus came to an end one of the most endearing treks of my life.