Kudremukh Peak- The destination itself tames to captivate for a Trek

2019 south-east monsoon had given good raining spell on time and in a regular interval in Western Ghats region that to alongside Maharashtra. The tenure of this monsoon season will be from June to September in south India. Usually, travellers, trekking enthuse and nature lovers prefer post-monsoon for their trips. The question strikes how the monsoon season feels and the blogger have the answer in his travelogue.

The trademark things what many people do to enjoy the monsoon will be a long ride in the car with Raja sir's heart-melting songs, trying to hear the pitter-patter sounds of rain with Cappuccino on your balcony and drenching yourself in rain. During monsoon season lot of trekking spots in south India will be closed by the forest department for maintaining the safety issues regarding flash flood, landslide and so on. But the fact, the destination like Kudremukh will give sarcastic answer over other trekking parts in South India.

The Kudremukh town is located at a distance of 40 and 28 km from karkalla and kalasa in Karnataka. The Kudremukh peak heights at an elevation of 1,894 m above sea level and lists in second highest peak after Mullayangiri peak in Karnataka.

After the few strong showers in the Kudremukh range in mid-June 2019, the forest department had opened the peak for trekking. This peak remains top in my bucket list. All these factors converge at a narrow point for a monsoon trek. I started to do the preparatory homework and travel itinerary for this monsoon magic trip. While surfing I found Rajappa Gowda's contact number (the man behind N number of trekkers expeditions to Kudremukh peak) who owns a Homestay in mullodi. Initially, the train journey was fixed but gowda sir's instruction changed the itinerary slightly by dropping train travel and moved on with the bus.

Route: Bangalore-kalasa (AIRAVAT 2246BNGHAO) –Balagal(12 km)- Mullodi(6 km)- Kudremukh peak(10 km) (Trek)

The blogger and his brother reached Kalasa at 6.50 am on 19.07.19, unfortunately, we had some delay in Ksrtc AIRAVAT, and planned time to reach kalasa is 5.30 am. We informed gowda sir about our arrival. He insisted us to take a bus which goes to Mangalore or Kudremukh and get down in balagal bus stop and he arranged jeep from balagal bus stop to his homestay.

We Boarded in private bus around 8.15 am, reached balagal at 8.45 am and met the jeep driver. Initial hand shaken and smile from the jeep driver greeted us. He took us to Forest office for the official formalities. The trekking charges are 425/- per head 500/- for guide charge and we paid 1350/- and obtained the official pass for the trek. Finally, jeep driver managed to drop us in Rajappa Gowda homestay at 9.30. Gowda sir welcomed us with full joy.

Our journey from Chennai started at 1.30 pm of yesterday and ends in Gowda's sir homestay around next day 9.30 am during this course of the journey we didn't feel the thing rest in our cup of tea. When we are in the mood to taste the flavours of rest Gowda's sir asked us to get ready within 15 mins. In the meantime, our tummies were filled with traditional malenadu breakfast and our packed lunch is also ready. Our trek had started after the arrival of the B.Com graduate nearby resident who acts as a part-time guide in Kudremukh peak trek.

Forest check (entry) point is very near to gowda sir's homestay. Officers will collect the passes obtained from the FD for verification with guide's acknowledgement. Every team will be assigned by a guide and without a guide; you will not be allowed to start your trek. The distance from the trek entry point to the peak is 10 km. You can view the entire trek path from the entry point to Kudremukh peak in Google maps. The path can be saved in GPS devices for the trek. The 3D view of the entire stretch can be seen in Google maps and you can analysis the topography of the stretch that to the gradient level in accent and decent. According to difficulty level based on steep, we can mention the stretch as 1) Trek forest office –lobhouse 2) lobhouse - ontimara 3) ontimara –Zig zag stretch 4) zig-zag stretch to Kudremukh peak

Kudremukh stretch

1. Trek forest office –lobhouse:

This is the initial stretch in the trek, after crossing trek starting point. Some parts of this stretch will come inside forest cover with no visibility for the sunlight and you will cross some brook. Things which you will be accompanied as visual aesthetics in this stretch are your shoes will be soaked by crystal clear water while crossing the brook, strewn roots of big trees on the pathway, admiring the colours of dried fallen leaves near your footpaths, searching for the mushrooms in the fallen tree near the water stream. After the half, an hour of trek you will see a lone tree which resembles the setup of some luxuries courtyard. From this point, the stretch will pass flat and you will walk on the verge of the valley. Underneath of the valley, you can hear the gushing sounds of the Somavati River. The entire stretch between the Forest office start point to lobhouse is easy which you can cover at 1 hrs.

2. Lobhouse –ontimara:

One who is at the beginning stage of trekking will love the previous stretch due to the beauty of Mother Nature. After a few minutes of walk from the lobhouse, the buzzing sounds in that vegetation will disappear. The first hurdle point of this stretch will be a steep climb and from this point, it won't be a hassle-free trek anymore. The Kudremukh peak will be visible on this stretch and it will be full of shola grasslands. One has to be very caution on his footsteps on the climb and the gradient will be more than 50 degrees. It was a hard climb and we reached ontimara and rested for a few minutes. Onitmara means a lone tree and a kanada word. From this viewpoint, a little portion of meadows in the national park will be visible.

ontimara

3. Ontimara – zig zag point:

After the rest in ontimara, we aimed to proceed further, on our start I asked our guide till how much time it will take to reach he responded till 2 hours more to go. On hearing this we got a little exhausted but he stated that proceeding stretches will have a flat surface. From ontimara and further, the entire meadows will see clearly on your way. This stretch is in middle of the trek and you will be half boiled with smelting sweats and that too if it rains you will lose your moral support. On that time just close your eyes and feel the breeze wind which hugs you and misty clouds which cherish your chicks will motivate you to go on. The difficulty level in this stretch is moderate.

4. Zig zag point to Kudremukh peak

This stretch has two steep accents and it will be quite difficult. These will test your toe and cough muscles, regular cardiac activities will boost your tempo to move fast. As compared to the gradient near ontimara these two will make your breathings fast. On our way, there was no visibility due to heavy mist and it was hard to find the nearby person on our trek. On our entry to zig-zag point fellow guide on his return insisted us to return due to heavy mist. The hidden agenda behind the guide's voice was the regulation of Kudremukh trek every group has to make their return way at 1.00 pm. No one is allowed to proceed after 1.00 pm to the peak because of a regular downpour would happen at the peak and makes the path more slippery this could consume more time on their decent in the trek. We requested our guide that we would scale fast and make our return back soon. He nodded yes and we moved fast but it is not easy as we thought. We reached the final flat surface in the trek and we planned to have the lunch near the final steep were water is available. After finishing our lunch we reached the apex point of the Kudremukh national park and mist didn't give us chances to take candid.

We started our descent on 2.00 pm on the steep descent in the zig-zag stretch I had slipped and fall couple of times and got the reward of mud traces on my T-shirts. The final twist and turn which had happened our return back was clear visibility of entire meadows in the park. Finally, we reached the homestay at 5.45 pm and concluded the trek with a lot of experience.

Tips on Kudremukh trek:

1.    Daily 50 passes will be issued by FD, proper planning is needed before venturing into the trek. Had heard a lot of stories from jeep driver that a lot of people returned empty hands for exceeding the count 50. Kindly contact with homestays in mullodi they will manage to get you unless you are staying. They also arrange a guide & packed lunch for the trek.

2.    Emerging and exposing of Kurinjal Peak as the twin brother of Kudremukh peak by the local community provides the solution for above. Kurinjal peak is also near and the entry pass is given in same FD office and it will be a guided trek. Entry ticket is also Rs. 425/- and usually consume 4 to 5 hrs for both sides.

3.    Train connectivity is very tough for this trek where you will waste solid one day in travel. The nearest railway station would be Mangalore and Birrur. Busses are played in the regular interval from Bangalore to Hornadu where you have to get down in kalasa by early morning. Volvo bus is also played by KSRTC, kindly check the official page for bus queries.

4.    Try to start the trek before 7.30 am so that you can reach them before 1.00 pm and you can return to base before or around 5.00 pm

5.    Water is available throughout the trek.

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