Trek to Kumara Parvatha-Part 2

We reached Subramanya at 10:45 AM (our plan was to reach there at 8AM, lets keep that apart). The next important thing was to find the starting point of the trek. We enquired with the locals and found out that we need to walk towards Anugraha lodge. For all of you aspiring trekkers here's the route to the foothills of kumara parvatha.

Route map, Courtesy Sadanand & Puneeth ;)

All of us were pretty excited on reaching the location from where we were supposed to start the trek. Raj was completely prepared with his leech socks on and shirt tucked in. If not for the Nikon D5000 in his hand some one would surely mistake him for a bandit :D The other guys who were wearing shoes tucked their trousers into the socks. I and Kanthesh who were wearing sandals were at the mercy of the leeches :)

We started the first phase of our trek at about 11:15 AM. The route from foot of the hills to Bhattara mane is a wonderful one. Most part of it comprises of evergreen forests forming thick canopy.

The thick canopy

We had done a lot of homework before leaving for this trek and we were completely aware that the Kumara Parvatha forests play host to a large population of King Cobras. We were keeping our fingers crossed hoping that we will get to see at least one of these elegant beauties in our two day trek. We were also hoping to see the Great Indian Hornbill :) its a sad thing to say that both of these prayers of ours went unanswered. Nonetheless we saw some exotic beauties on our way. I would like to share some of those in here.

A dung beetle :)

This dead tree was riddled with holes carved by woodpeckers!!

The elevation was exhausting and after about 4 KMs of trek the forest slowly faded out and the Sun shone mercilessly upon us. The climb became slower as each minute passed. I feel a bit ashamed to say this but I was looking forward to reaching Bhattara mane as soon as possible. The shola forests were uneventful, or at least we were not able to pay much attention because of the exhaustion. It was like the Software Engineer's lifestyle was taking its toll on us :) One thing that is worth mentioning here is the energy level that Chaddi had been maintaining. When all others were happy enough to find a place to sit he was hoppig and skipping all around the place.

After about 2 more kilometers we reached Bhattara mane at 2:30 PM. It seemed like an oasis in the middle of a desert. Each one of us spent 10 minutes soothing ourselves in the cool stream of water. What followed was one of the tastiest lunches that I've had recently.

Cooling our heels @ Bhattara Mane...

We were informed that if we were planning to reach Kallu Mantapa by evening we need to cross the forest checkpoint before 4PM. So, rejuvenated by the relishing sambar, rice and majjige (butter milk) that Bhattaru offered us we packed our bags, refilled our water bottles and started towards the check point which is about 200 Mts from there.

One important thing I would like to mention here, if u are planning to go to Bhattara mane for lunch u need to inform them before hand. Here is the mobile number on which you can contact them.

Bhattara Mane Mobile Number: +919448647947

The second phase of the trek passes through shola forests and they not offer any sort of shade.

The second phase of the trek.

Its better to start this phase in the evening. Half the distance was flat land and we cruised it with ease. Then came the elevations again and a series of cramps. Manju and Raj had been carrying the tent in turns for the entire trek (and we are thankful for that) until then and it had taken its toll. Both Raj and Manju suffered severe cramps. It was already getting dark and we could see thick clouds lurking in the horizon. So five of us Sada, Abhi, Lokesh, Kantesh and I decided that we will go ahead and look for the best place to camp for the night.

Sunset in Kumara Parvatha.

We found a picture perfect camping site near the Kallu Mantapa with a small stream just beside it. Someone had also brought in firewood for us (we had collected a lot of twigs on the way too). As soon as everyone reached the location we pitched our tents and sat down to relax. The mist slowly covered the entire hill and the lovely lady of night took the whole world into her arms...

Safe and cozy for the rest of the night... :)

Trek to Kumara Parvatha-Part 1

Last year when I first heard about the fun that Chethu and his friends had at Kumara Parvatha, I knew for sure that I had to visit this place. I mailed all the guys as soon as I came back from B'lore but we had to dump our idea as it was not the best time to go there.

One fine afternoon in November when most of us had been to Hotel Khushi to have tea, I brought up this idea again and almost all of them gave a thumbs up :) so we shot a mail to the remaining guys as soon as we returned to office and I must say that the response was really overwhelming!!! The next important task was to arrange tents for camping. We searched the entire net for any details about tents on rent in and around Udupi but in vain. Sada and Raj visited each and every shop that could possibly give out tents for rent but that turned out to be a futile exercise too. It had been raining incessantly for three days now and the non availability of tents was proving to be a show stopper. I, Raj and Sada finally bought sleeping bags just to make sure that all of us will have something to keep ourselves warm in the "Kallu Mantapa". Atlast Manju like the heroes in those hindi movies saved the day by saying that he would get the tents while coming from Bangalore :) one problem solved, but the rains had'nt stopped yet.

It was the D day. We packed all our bags before leaving for office on the 19th. We had decided to catch the last bus to DharmasthaLa from Udupi @ 7:20 PM. By the time we left office it started raining again and all of us were drenched, but the state of excitement in which we all were nothing could dampen our spirits. So as fate would have it, nine of us, Anroop, Abhi, Chaddi, Kanthesh, Kiran, Puneeth, Raj, Sada and I boarded the bus. Manju and Lokesh were to join us in DharmasthaLa.

We had lots of fun in the bus and were in DharmasthaLa in no time ;) We checked into our rooms and forced our eyes shut. In the anticipation of the fun that we would have for the next two days sleep was nowhere to be seen!!! The next thing I remember hearing was Sada calling out my name. He's always been our designated alarm guy oh and not to forget our designated Finance Minister too :D more on that later. Manju and Lokesh arrived early. All of us got ready had our breakfast and boarded the bus to Kukke Subramanya.

Standing 1712 mts tall Kumara Parvatha is the second highest peak in Karnataka and is considered to be the most difficult of all treks here. There are two ways to reach the peak, one from Somavaarapete and the other from Subramanya. From the Subramanya side the elevation varies from 40 to 70 degrees and is physically challenging. The total distance from the foot of the hills to the peak is 13KMs approx. The entire trek can be divided into 3 phases.

Phase 1. From Kukke Subramanya temple to Bhattara Mane.

Phase 2. From Bhattara Mane to Kallu Mantapa.

Phase 3. From Kallu Mantapa to the Peak.

Our plan was to start the trek from Subramanya side on 20th and reach Kallu Mantapa by sunset. The next day ie; 21st we would trek to the peak and descend back to Subramanya.

The adventure begins!!!!