Trek to Kumaraparvatha

Date: Nov 17-18, 2007

Mission: Trek to Mallalli falls-Kumaraparvatha (1712 mts height)-Kukke Subramanya in 2 days

Prologue: Anybodies trekking profile is incomplete without setting feet on Kumaraparvatha. This trek is considered to be the most beautiful and equally tough one in the western ghats region. We decided to fix mid Nov to conquer KP so that we could halt in the open on the peak overnight without getting hit by rain and lightening, get to see lush green panoramic view and enjoy the chilly weather as well ! The initial group of 10 reduced to 7 (me, Suny, Karthik, Vamsi, Sandeep, Raghu L and his friend Mukesh) 3 days before the trek. Suny was excited all along since the desitnation had the name Parvatha tagged to it. We boarded the Rajahamsa bus to Somvarpet at 11 pm from KSRTC bus stand on Friday, Nov 16. Half of the bus was filled with people going to KP as there was an other group of 7 and a group of 3 apart from us. I had arranged for sleeping bags and mats rented from http://www.bmcindia.org/ for all of us. Raghu L was our unpaid guide as he had done KP trek from Somvarpet side couple of years back !

Day 1

The bus reached Somvarpet at ~5.30 am. Our breakfast finished we boarded the bus to Bidalli at 7.20 am. 1 hr of journey in the jam-packed bus brought us to Bidalli which is the starting point. After distributing sleeping bags and mats we started to Mallalli falls at 9 am. To go to KP/Mallalli falls one needs to take a deviation towards Mallikarjuna temple. There is almost a tar road road to the temple which is ~3.5 km from Bidalli. To go to Malalli falls we had to take a deviation to the right along this road just before the first house we get ~500 mts from the main road. We dropped our rucksacks at this house and set out towards falls which was ~ 3 km from here. En route we saw some people carrying pigs whose legs were tied to a pole and taken to slaughter. I thought it was a wild pig but later learnt it was not. Near the falls there was a temple where a small festival was going on and pigs were meant to be taken for slaughter there. We reached falls at ~10.15 am. The other group of 7 were already there. We had reached top of the waterfall and the scenery around was excellent. I didn't get into water bcoz of some personal reasons [:)] while the rest did.

We left the falls at 11 am and reached the house to collect our rucksack and started towards Mallikarjuna temple which was ~ 3.5 kms from here. The road was steep, we gained some altitude and reached the temple which was the end of the road at 1 pm. Not wanting to waste any time we didn't go inside temple and set towards KP immediately along a well marked trail to the right of the temple. We arrived at the forest check-post to get permission to trek and enter Pushpagiri wildlife sanctuary which costs 115 Rs/head. Our lunch break in the form of dry chapatis/teplis with chutney pudi from Nilgiris was beside the stream soon after forest check-post which was also the last source of water till next day morning. We left the stream at 2 pm and the trail now entered thick canopy of forest and became steeper. Even though it had rained 10 days back the trail was dry without any leeches. The trail was almost well marked and we reached the view point at 3.30 pm and needless to say the view was spectacular. We started again after a short break. Some fellows in our group who were known to sprint ahead while trekking were falling behind due the weight of rucksack ! At 4 pm we were at the base of a rock slope inclined at 60 deg and ~25 mts in height to be overcome. There were two more such slopes after this although they were shorter and easier. We took almost 1 hr to overcome these 3 slopes. It requires excellent rock climbing skills to climb these if it rains. Another 30 mins, we were on KP peak at the right time to catch magnificient sunset and our mission for day 1 was accomplished. We had trekked continously for ~8.5 hrs except for a 45 min break at the falls and view from the peak compensated any tiredness. We collected dry wood to cook maggie and set campfire. With the aid of petrol we got the fire going in no-time and maggie was ready by 7.30 pm. We settled for the night inside the sleeping bags and I guess the temperature at night must have been ~8-9 deg. I slept wearing 2 jackets and 2 pants and still felt cold. A 3 member group had trekked here for the 5th time and all in different season. Other groups including one who had hiked from Kukke had tents but I believe sleeping bags with mats are sufficient unless it rains. Had it rained we would have been in complete mess. I woke up sometime in the middle of night to see zillions of stars and some shooting stars.

Day 2
We were up early at 6 am on day 2 to watch sunrise. KP or Pushpagiri is a cluster of 3 peaks: KP itself, inaccessible Siddhaparvatha and Sheshaparvatha which lies on the way to Kukke. The morning sun rays unmasking Siddhaparvatha looked gorgeous. We had run out of water to cook avalakki/poha for breakfast. Me and Karthik set out to find water and we struggled to get 2 lts of water which was available in small trickle along the 70 deg slope on the way to Kukke which was 10 mins from the peak while the rest got busy to make breakfast. With breakfast finished we left the peak at 9.30 am towards Kukke which was ~14 kms from here. There was only one way to go along the 70 deg rock slope which was ~25 mts in height. Sit and slide. We took 15 mins to arrive at the base of this precarious slope and in another 15 mins we were on Sheshaparvatha where we got the best panoramic view during the whole of the trek. After taking few solo photos of everyone (mainly for matrimonial purposes !) we started again for our next stop at Girigadde Bhat's house for lunch. Forest check post near Bhat's house and Kukke was visible from here onwards and we stopped for a while near Mantapa to refill water. This stretch offered excellent views of Bisle, Pushpagiri and Sampaje range. Just before the forest dept. check post there was a view point with seats where we rested for a while. We showed the receipt at forest dept check post and arrived at Girigadde at 1.30 pm. The groups who had left before us from KP had informed the famous Mahalingeshwar Bhat about us when they arrived here and the lunch was ready.

After taking a much needed rest and having chit-chat with Mr.Bhat we left Girigadde at 3.30 pm. We took 2 hrs to cover 5 kms to Kukke through dense forest and most of us had to drag our legs as ~25 kms of hiking in the last 12 hrs had started screwing our back and legs. During this stretch we hoped a King cobra to appear right in front of us as we had missed sighting any wildlife along this trek while one of the group who had halted on KP a little far from us had sighted bisons in the night. We arrived at Kukke at 5.30 pm and realized that no lodges were willing to give us accommodation probably thinking about the amount of dirt/stink we were about to leave there ! We found one beside KSRTC bus-stand and refreshed ourselves. A visit to Subramanya temple and a simple but excellent dinner finished we boarded 10.20 pm Rajahamsa bus to Blore in which we had reserved tickets. Shiradi ghat being closed the bus travelled via horrible roads along Bisle ghat and arrived at Blore at 7.30 am. Had we travelled during day Bisle ghat would have been a treat to eyes as this stretch has the densest forest ranges in Karnataka along with Agumbe. A brief encounter with auto guys in Majestic made us suddenly realize that we had entered the world of civilization

Cost per person : Rs 950

Trek on Green Route

Date: Dec 9-10, 06

Mission: Walk 40+ kms on a rail track known as Green route between Kukke Subramanya and Donigal in 1.5 days.

Prologue: This trek had to be done before Blore-Mlore train commences. After postponing it few times we had 4 guys (Me, L Raghuram, Gins, Sandeep CE) ready to take the challenge. We decided to trek upwards from from Kukke to Donigal while most of the people do it from Donigal to Yedakumeri (17 kms). Last minute ticket booking meant we had to be content with a special express KSRTC bus at 10.15 pm from Majestic to Subramanya. Raghuram appeared at the KSRTC bus stand with a hand bag which had utencils, maggie which I thought was unnecessary. The bus driver showed little respect to the lives of passengers and bad roads between Sakleshpur and Gundya didn't make our lives easier either. The bumpy journey came to an end at 6 am when the bus reached Subramanya. We had breakfast at a hotel in Kukke. I also saw the majestic Kumara Parvatha behind the Subramanya temple and formed a plan to do it in near future. We hired an auto to the track intersection along the Gundya-Subramanya route. The auto fellow left us with a wierd look perhaps thinking us as some insane, jobless guys who had no other work to do in their lives other than walk on the tracks and reach Donigal while one could sit and go comfortably in a bus.

Day 1

Our trek started at 7.45 am. Green route has 4 stations between Subramanya and Sakleshpur: Shiribagilu, Arebetta, Yedakumeri and Donigal. These stations are meant only as crossings as hardly any human habitation is present around them. Our plan was to trek till Arebetta, halt there overnight, continue till Donigal next day, reach Sakaleshpur by evening and Bangalore by night. For the first 15-30 mins of the trek, the sorroundings consisted of plain lands with dry sparse jungles. Raghuram managed to get a leech bite here too. In 10-15 mins we passed the first tunnel which was numberd around 50. After this the scenary changed. Now we were walking with dense jungle on both sides with tall peaks visible in front. We met a railway employee who gave us info about distance to different stations. After this we changed our plan and decided to trek till Yedakumeri (26 km from starting point) on that day. A goods train running down passed us at ~9.30 am. We crossed some bridges where there were metal plates over the sleepers and begun to think that they were not as scary as described by others! We reached Shiribagilu station at 10.30 am. Here there was a tea-shop out of no-where apart from few workers.

After a brief halt we started again at 10.45 am. At 12 pm we were on the longest bridge (~500 m long). Here Raghuram dropped one of the two torches (mine!) we had, on the bridge which fell down and crashed to pieces. Some tunnels were long (300-500 mts) and it was pitch dark inside. There was also danger of us stepping on a snake. So it is a must to have a powerful torch while walking through these and now we had t o manage with the remaining one. It was getting hot now and walking on the rail track with jelly stones all over the place was becoming tiresome. We reached Arebetta station which was under construction at 2.15 pm. The scenary around the station was fantstic. Potable water was available here. We munched some bread slices and started again at 2.45 pm towards Yedakumeri which was 8 kms from here. We had to reach there before dark as walking on the bridges and elephants moving around was dangerous.

The longest tunnel (~1 km long) along this route was soon after Arebetta. There were some dried up elephant dungs which indicated elephant activity along the tracks. The strech between Arebetta and Yedakumeri is the most beautiful one. Most of the trekkers do the mistake of trekking from Donigal to Yedakumeri and missing this one. Did I say bridges were not scary ! We crossed a bridge without any plates which scared the shit out of us. There were 5 to 6 similar bridges between Arebetta and Yedakumeri. I felt that once we started on a bridge there was no guarantee that we'll reach the other end ! Gins and Raghuram slipped on one of these but fortunately nothing happened. The gap between the sleepers were wide enough for one person to go down and disappear. Added to that sleepers were slippery. People with vertigo problem should not do this trek at all. On the way we met two groups who had been kicked out of Yedakumeri station. It seems the station master (SM) was adamant on not letting anyone stay at the station ! It was ~5 pm and we decided to carry on till Yedakumeri as we didn't want to go back and cross those damn bridges again that too probably in the dark. I thought that facing SM was a better option than camping in the jungle but I was to be proved wrong. Just a km to the station an engine on trial run passed us. Some 0.5 km before Yedakumeri we crossed a bridge which had stream running below which had enough water flowing in it. We left the track and went into the stream. The water was cold and clean and it was fun. I got a leech bite here !

We reached Yedakumeri station at 6 pm. We guessed that SM can't throw us out at this time as we had nowhere to go. But as soon as we met the SM and his subordinate, they told us to get the hell out of the station and reminded us of snakes, leapords..which come in the night. They mentioned that if something happens to us due to wild animals they will be held responsible. He was right and we were wrong as trekking was banned by the Railway Protection Force, Sakleshpur on this sterch and we had to listen what he was saying. Finally after an hour the SM agreed thru his subordinate expecting a small sum of money from us. We got an open room in the station. We again had cold bread slices for dinner as we couldn't collect wood and lit the fire in the dark to cook maggie. The night sky was clear with innumerable stars and we saw some shooting stars. Donigal was 17 kms from here and we were tired of walking on the tracks. So we decided to cut short that part and instead trek to Blore-Mlore NH48 which was 1 hr trek from here via KempHole river. The bridge to cross KempHole had been removed by forest officials to prevent wood theft. I had walked 26 km on that day on rail track without any sleep the previous night and went to sleep immediately. People complained that I was snoring ! I was woken up at 12.15 am by Sandeep who had kept his mobile outside and was searching for it.

Day 2

When we woke up in the morning it was clear that Sandeep had lost his mobile. A quick enquiry gave us the fact that some railway workers had also shared our room in the night. All evidence pointed to them. However they totally disagreed when we put the evidence before them and the mobile was all lost. We cooked maggie for breakfast in the station. With damp woods and no kersoine we took 30 mins to start the fire ! We paid a small amount to SM & his subordinate for our stay. SMs subordinate who was hostile to us till now suddenly became a dear friend and gave us a pack of salt to prevent leech bites on the way to Kemphole. We left the station at 10 am.

The downward path towards KempHole was very steep untill a small stream. Here there were leeches all around. We had to take the path to the right after the stream in order to reach KempHole. The path from stream to KempHole had dense jungle around, was very damp with hundreds of leeches and fresh elephant dungs. Elephant activity was very evident and we were alert. At the stream everyone had applied dettol to their legs to prevent leech bites except Raghuram. When we reached KempHole, Raghuram who was wearing chappal had 15-20 leech bites on each leg and none on us even though there were 10-15 leeches inside everbody's shoes.

During evening when the dam water is released to the KempHole it is dangerous to cross. This river is known to have carried some trekkers along with it when they had tried to cross it during monsoon ! It was 11 am now and it was safe with maximum of waist deep water but the bed rocks would be very slippery. We crossed the river and had an unforgettable bath in the wilderness in cold and clean water. I guess wild elephants frequently take bath in this river but they were not there now to give us company. The NH48 is just after the river and we were on the road at 1 pm trying to get a lift to Sakleshpur. A lorry gave us a lift till Saklespur. We had lunch at KSRTC canteen. No seats were available in Blore buses. So we took a local KSRTC bus till Hassan, got into an express KSRTC bus to Blore from there. We were in Majestic by 9 pm. I should conclude that this one of the most beautiful stretch and any times better than Konkan railway or Lonavala-Kandala stretch.

Cost per person: Rs ~600 /-