Trek to Silent Valley

Date: Apr 6-7-8, 2007

Mission: Trek 23 kms to Sairandhri in Silent Valley national park from Mukkali in Palghat Dt. and trek to Poochapara peak inside the valley.

Prologue: Silent Valley national park is in Kerala with ~90 sq.km located in Nilgiri ranges and probably the one of the few places in India to find the densest rain forest which was by default present everywhere in the western ghats but perhaps 100 yrs ago. Getting permission to stay inside Silent Valley or even visit it is easier said than done. But L Raghuram had (high-level !) contacts through his uncle with CCF, Trivandrum and we got permission to trek inside Silent valley. Unlike my other treks, preparation for this was well-planned with train tickets booked 1.5 months back to avoid holiday rush. But still 6 of us (Me, Raghu, Gaurav, Karthik, Vamsi and Venugopal) had to share 4 berths due to long waiting lists. We caught the Kanyakumari express from Cantonment station at 10 pm on Apr 5th.

Day 1
The train reached Palghat at 7 am next day. After attending to our morning duties and breakfast in the station we caught a bus to Mannarkad which was ~35 kms from Palghat at 8.30 am. From Mannarkad we hired a jeep to our next destination, Mukkali (~20 kms) where we had to hire a guide and pay necessary fees at the forest dept office. Most of us including me experienced motion sickness during later half of this journey when the jeep ascended the ghat and Karthik even vommitted.

We arrived at the forest dept. office at Mukkali at 10 am only to be told that we can stay at Sairandhri (~23 kms from here) only for that night and had to return to Mukkali by next night. This was because DFO (Disctrict Forest Officer) was coming to stay there next day with his family ! We had planned to stay at Sairandhri that night, trek to Poochapara next day, halt again at Sairandhri and be back at Mukkali on Sunday ! Also no private vehicles would be allowed further and we had to walk 23 kms to Sairandhri but we were prepared for that even before we left Blore. They said the jeep track was under construction (We came to know later that the road was fine exclusively for DFO and they just wanted to discourage us !). Our guide Shiny who happened to be a forest guard at Neelikkal in Silent valley would be available only at 1 pm. After paying all the fees for entrance, camera, guide...at the forest office, we went to river Bhavani which flows just behind for TP till 1 pm.

Raghu was our mediator with his own version of Malayalam ! After buying provisions for that day's dinner, next days breakfast and lunch and having a hearty meal at the only hotel that serves veg food at Mukkali opposite forest dept. office we left to Sairandhri at 1.15 pm. In ~15 mins we left the jeep track, crossed a small dam and the climb began. The guide wanted to take us through short cuts. The hearty lunch had an immediate effect ! The hot sun and the absence of shades didn't make things easier. We passed the last human settlement and there would be nothing for the rest ~20 kms which consisted of Silent Valley buffer zone and was called Attapady forest reserve. The climb lasted ~1 hr and we reached the road again. But there was no sign of Venu who was way behind and Karthik who was with him. It was ~3 pm and we had 16-17 kms to cover before 6 pm. Finally our patience ran out. Raghu and Gaurav ran back and brought totally exhausted Venu who had all but given up this trek. After a few doses of glucose and getting assurance that there would no such climbs further he started again.

We took one more short cut that went through tea estates. After ~5 kms the sorroundings started to change. The forest cover was becoming denser and denser. With the help of the guide we spotted a giant malabar squirrel. We took a short cut again and this one went through really dense rain forest for a long time. We spotted a herd of endangered nilgiri langur. We rested near couple of streams and resurfaced again on the jeep track. We took some more short cuts managing through some really dense forest and were at Sairandhri dormitory at 6.30 pm. We just missed spotting a couple of deers as we approached Sairandhri. We heard them inside the thick jungle just 20 feet away. The jeep track ends at Sairandhri which is actually the entry point to Silent Valley and there are only walkable trails inside the valley.

We were the only privileged visitors inside the valley during that weekend. The dormitory was clean and the dinner cooked by the provisions we brought was good. We had to pack our bags by next day afternoon to accomodate DFO here. But Raghu had unfinished business and was keen on trekking to Poochapara peak which was another 2.5 hrs trek from here in the morning. It seems he had visited Silent Valley few years back but couldnt reach the Poochapara peak due to leeches. That night I had the best sleep as I didn't even hear loud noises just outside the dormitory which my friends heard and linked it to elephants !

Day 2
I went to the watch tower at 6.30 am and watched the beautiful sunrise. The highest peak of the valley, Sispara (~2300 mts) was also visible. Finally only Raghu and Gaurav decided to trek to Poochapara along with the guide. I thought that trekking to Poochapara, trek back to Sairandhri and then trek to Mukkali with a total distance of 35+ km on a single day was beyond my physical limits. I along with 3 others decided to enjoy a bath in Kunthipuza river which was ~10 mins downhill walk. This is the only river in South India without any human settlements on the bank for ~20 kms. We had fun in the river for ~2 hrs and while we were about the leave folks who had gone to Poochapara peak were back at the river. They had reached the peak in 2.15 mins and had come back in 1.30 mins and after I heard this I thought even I could have managed it ! I'm including Raghu's narrative here about his trek to Poochapara.

Well gg and I decided that we would go to poochapara peak (pp). The trek started with a nice descent and then crossing the kunti through a suspension bridge. This was followed by a steep ascent, which did take quite a bit of us. But once we finished this climb, we were greeted by the forests. The temperatures dropped. This path is the only path used by the forest guards throughout the year to trek to the poochapara base camp. So they have to carry all the supplies through this path. As we trekked we noticed lot of elephant dung, and both gg and I managed to step on fresh dung, which we mistook for a rock. By 9 we hit the spot where we decided to take the u turn 3 years back, and in 15 minutes we were at the base camp. We were offered black tea and guavas, along with water and lots of hospitality. The base camp is covered with elephant trench. We left the camp and headed for the pp. This climb was even more tiring than the climb near mukakli the previous day. We failed to keep pace with our guide.by 10:15 we hit the peak. The view from the peak was awesome. We could see vast stretches of rain forests, the anginda peak. The sighting of the watch tower was akin to seeking a needle in a haystack.

After spending some time being comfortably numb, we decided to return. This time we had to hack our way through the forest until we hit the trail. That was fun. There were sections where our guide was 10 feet from us and we could not see him. On the way back we saw lion tailed macaque. But by the time the camera came out, they had vanished. We could easily spot the black face covered with the white mane. The return was even faster and we hit the river by 12:15. A 30 minute dip in the river preceded the reunion with the rest of the gang.

After another hearty meal and photo sessions on the watch tower we left Sairandhri at 2.30 pm. We had an offer to go back to Mukkali in forest dept's jeep but we turned it down ! The return path for some distance was different than the one we came and included some ascent. There were more short cuts and we even visited a small waterfall. After ~30 mins we were on the jeep track. Now tired legs had to be dragged across the stone ridden jeep track for ~15-17 kms. Other than spotting a giant malabar squirrel and a deer for a fraction of second on the way it was boring. We reached Mukkali at 6.45 pm. Raghu and Gaurav were limping towards the end. We stayed at the forest dept dormitory at Mukkali that night, had dinner at the same hotel there and played cards.

Day 3

Next day we had time till afternoon to recover from ~45 km trek (~60 km for Raghu & Gaurav). We lazily got up, had Appam for breakfast at the same hotel, played cards and went to river Bhavani . Some kids were jumping from a rock to the river and our folks decided to emulate them. We had planned to visit Mallapuzha dam near Palghat on our way back but it went awry as everyone dozed after lunch. Before leaving Raghu had a lengthy conversation with a forest official.

We left from Mukkali at 4.30 pm, caught a bus to Mannarkad and another one to Palghat and were there by 6.30 pm. We had dinner at the best available veg hotel (according to Raghu !) in Palghat. We caught Cannanore-Yesvantpur express at 9.30 pm and we had reserved berths for the return journey. I should say that we did the trek in the worst possible season: peak of summer. Had we done it soon after monsoon it would have been a great trek.

Cost per person : Rs 1350

Trek in Wayanad

Date: Mar 17-18, 2007

Mission: Trek to Chembra Peak (~2100 mts), the highest peak in Wayanad.

Prologue: This trek was not decided till the evening of Mar 16, Friday for the simple reason that there were no seats in any bus going towards Wayanad. Somehow I became the organizer of this trek ! Finally 5 of us (Me, Suny, Karthik, Raghuram L and his friend Prakash) took the Tuticorin-Mysore express on Mar 17, Saturday at 7 am and were in Mysore by 10 am. After a good breakfast at Mysore we boarded a (Kerala)RTC bus going to Kozhikode from Mysore to Kalpetta at 11 am. This bus was coming from Bangalore ! Consequence of ill-planned trek: no seats were available till Sultan Bathery (~110 kms from Mysore). Going via Bandipur and Muthanga wildlife sancutary, we reached Kalpetta (140 kms from Mysore) at ~3 pm. Our centre of activity was Meppady ~10 kms from Kalpetta and we were there by 3.30 pm. Raghu had done some half-hearted attempt to trek to VellariMalla peak in Wayanad before but not to Chembra and knew the places.

Day 1
This was summer and our Chembra trek was scheduled next day early morning which was the only way we could hit the peak. After obtaining the forest dept. permission to trek to Chembra we found the one and only lodge in Meppady. The room was clean and had a TV set so that we could watch the ill fated India-Bangladesh WC match. With nothing worthwhile to do till night, we hired a taxi and went to Soochipura waterfalls expecting a small trickle of water. To my surprise there was quite an amount of water.

Day 2
Next day we got up early and after hearing the Men in Blue's surrender to Bangladesh and Pakistan's exit from WC we left the lodge at 6.30 am. We took auto(s) for ~7 kms to the Chembra estate which was the starting point. The sunrise looked great with mist and clouds on top of hills with tea estates. Me and Raghu came out of the auto and started clicking fotos in all directions. We started the uphill climb at 7.15 am from the watch tower. A local group of people soon overtook us. We reached the famous heart shaped lake at 8.15 am. Water was dirty and not potable. The Chembra peak looked inviting with clouds around the peak. Even at the lake we were above the clouds.

After a brief halt we started again. There were 3 mountains to be conquered before hitting Chembra. The scenery till the 2nd mountain was dry with grass destroyed by forest fires. Once we passed the 2nd mountain it became greener. We were also to witness a spectacle. The sun had almost come up and the clouds were moving up or evaporating right in front of us. One side of Chembra was completely covered by white clouds while on the other there was green dense forest. We met a group of Foreigners going down who said they had ascended Chembra from south but it was very steep. The climb near the peak was steep with loose stones and we had to crawl a bit. Prakash was getting tired and need some dose of motivation to reach the peak. We hit the peak at ~10 am. Here there was lot of greenery on all sides. The local people who had overtook us in the beginning had climbed down Chembra ahead and had started ascending another peak in front of us which was higher than Chembra ! They were shouting and I couldn't understand the intent of it. There was another peak beyond that one which we later came to know as VellariMalla (~2300 mts) but it didn't belong to Wayanad dt. Even the peak to the left of us was almost at the same height as Chembra. A solo trekker reached the peak after some time and he said he climbed the peak in 1 hr 30 mins (of course...he didn't have any backpack) ! We had bread slices and some oranges for breakfast and decided to climb down from south. We had to follow the forest fire line and it would lead to the heart shaped lake. A guide who reached the peak with his customers told us not to venture into forest where we could find bisons, leopards and not to mention cobras.

We started our descent at 11 am. We reached the forest fire line in just 5 mins. From here the trail turned left and it became steeper with slope of ~70 deg. But the tall grass assisted us from slipping and gave us a grip. Of course there was no possibility of sighting any wild animals with so many people (including us and the local group who were sitting in the forest) making hell lot of noises. The trail turned left again and now we were moving between the valley of Chembra and other peak almost same as the height of Chembra. The solo trekker soon overtook us. The path till the lake was good where we moved between tall grasses and had adequate shades. After a brief halt at the lake we started again and we reached near the watch tower at ~2 pm. The path from lake to the watch tower was dry and boring with hot sun beating us down. We met lot of people who were climbing and I was sure nobody would have hit the peak in this weather.

We managed to convince a jeep fellow (hired by someone else) to drop us to Meppady. We caught a bus to Kalpetta and were having a good Malayali vegetarian lunch there at 3 pm. All of us wanted to be in Blore by night (especially Raghu who said there was ChandraGrahan at 5 am next morning and he had to be at home by that time !) . We waited for more than 1 hr at Kalpetta for a bus to Mysore. Folks in our group were becoming restless thinking that I was supposed to manufacture a bus right there and take them to Blore. Finally (Kerala)RTC arrived at 4.45 pm and we were in Mysore to have dinner at 8.30 pm. A KSRTC bus brought us to Majestic by 12.45 am. This is very good trek especially if done soon after monsoon.

Cost per person : Rs 675