Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Kumara Parvatha trek

What's app conversation history:

Nikhil: Hey Raken, those pictures of Sikkim that you've posted on Instagram are brilliant.
Raken: Thanks yaar.. yeah it was a nice get away for a week.
Nikhil: It would be fun, if we could go on a trek sometime.
Raken: Yaar mein soch hi raha tha, iss weekend KP jao karke.. What do you say?
 
.....After two hours...

Nikhil: This weekend? I mean, don't we have to get prepared for it?
Raken: Yaar kuch nahi, all that's needed is to make up our mind, anything is possible.
Nikhil: Can you book the tickets to kuke subramanya & let me know? Let's get ourselves up in the mountain.
Raken: Hurray!!

So yeah, this is how it all started on an abrupt note to actually trek on the most toughest mountain in Karnataka.
Kumara Parvatha is located at an altitude of 1712 mts in the region between Coorg and Sullia district in Karnataka.
We started our trek at 8am in the morning, from kuke subramanya temple. Kuke in kannada means basket & the name Kuke subramanya implies that lord subramanya is sitting in the basket - basket here is a simile (a figure of speech) for the mountains that are surrounding the temple like a green basket all 360 degrees.

Oh this picture reminds me to add one more trek mate Rahul who had been enthusiastic about trek ever since I joined Synopsys, hence he got a chance to come along too.
 
"Trekking is all about adding one more step ahead" -Raken's statement had been resonating in my ears one hundred times & it gave the extra push for me to go ahead in spite several difficulties that we overcame.
 
Trekking is also about choosing the right people to go along. It's a self supporting trek - meaning, one has to carry his own baggage to reach the destination. The Speed of a trekking group depends on the slowest trekker. Luckily all three of us were very well aware of the challenge that we would come across & maintained a uniform speed of  2.0km/hr on the up hill & roughly about 2.6km/hr on a downhill.
 
 
There are two paths to reach the top:
1. A 1 day trek via Somwarpet (coorg district)  a 7 kms, easier route.
2. A 2 day trek via Kukke Subramanya(sullia district) which is a more difficult route (approx 13 kms).

 
But we managed to choose the second option & yet complete the trek in a SINGLE day. That's like a professional trekking (lil bragging)!!
 
Raken was in charge of carrying tent, Rahul was in charge of carrying water, refreshments & I was in charge of the medicines & food. There by, the load was equally divided (though the tent part was lil heavy & Raken managed to do it)
 
 
 
 
This is how the first part of jungle looks like - pretty raw, untouched except for the pathways which have formed by the trekkers who have walked along over the period of time.
 
The best part of this jungle is that, it is completely covered by the canopy of trees which makes the walk quite simpler as you are not directly exposed to the sun for it to drain out the energy & make to you gulp water after each step. Having said that, there are quite a lot of rocky structures also, which are seen on the way, making the trek difficult & straining your cuff muscles. Because of  its mushy & swampy kind of trail, you might see many leaches. Again it is weather specific. We were lucky to have a cloudy weather through out the trek, making me state that, October is the best time to trek in KP.
 
 
After about few kilometres, we finally could spot the much-talked about place & the only place for survival & rebooting yourself which is Bhattara-mane or simply Bhatt's house.
In the middle of no where you can spot this lonely house typically a south canara style of architecture & an arecanut plantation in the back yard. We had called Bhatt much in advance to inform him about our arrival so that he can keep our meals ready.
Meal is quite simple. Kusubulakki(fat red steamed rice) & Mangalooru-savatekai-huli (a typical mangalore curry) which almost tasted like a temple food for me. He is a very courteous person & charges very minimal for the food. Below is him with all of us.

 
 
 
 Oh! I forgot to mention, there is also a fish-spa in his backyard which we later discovered.. lol, it's fun how nature itself has so much for us to offer, yet we over look them at most of times.

 
After a quick nap, we started our next part of the same trek - to cross the forest officer's junction & to reach KP.
A few meters ahead we can spot a man-made sunset spot, where we can see the brilliant rays of sun getting displayed. A few more meters ahead is the forest officer's place where, each person who wishes to go ahead, has to take the permission by paying a nominal fee.
 
 
 
 
This is the over all map from the forest officer's place to our final destination. We started the next phase at 1pm & the debate that we had on our way up hill was to halt at Kallu mantapa  or to completely go till the hill top & then tent.
I was okay for both. Raken was strong on going to hill top & Rahul wanted to camp at kallu mantapa. After a long debate, Raken bribed Rahul to carry his bag so that he agrees to come till the hill top. A sudden sly smile on Rahul came from nowhere & we all made our mind to reach the top no matter what! :-)
 
The wild orchids, caesalpinia pulcherrima, the green bed of grass was something really spectacular & to look for. Though there are many talks about Panther & wild life existing in the vicinity of the jungle, we couldn't spot any by god's grace.
 
 
 
What you see in this picture above are the two peaks, but that is not what Kumara Parvatha is. The final peak is hidden behind the left peak. Its only visible when you get to the left peak, that you see above - Quite mystic.
 
 
We can also spot these streams on our way, luckily since the monsoon had just stopped few days back, we still were able to quench our thirst with the stream water.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The trails are so beautifully seen, that one could easily trace the route & connect the dots. After we planned not to stay back at the Kallu Mantapa (kallu which means stone in kannada & not kaalu which so many other pronounce it), we continued our journey crossing hills & valleys taking each step carefully, enjoying the nature, listing to what it had to say secretly to each one of us, waiting patiently to see what more it had to offer us & please.
 
We then managed to reach shesha parvatha, one more breath taking spot. The sudden feel of relief & an achievement had already started to show up on each one of our faces. This place really lit us up to an extent that we forgot all the pain it took us to reach there.
The wind was cold, it felt as if thousands of tiny needles were made to prick, yet that wasn't a painful at all.
We stood there, on top of the cliff, looking down with a feeling of joy & pride, a sense of freedom & an eternal bliss.

 
 
 
The rock itself was such an abstract entity. I was looking at a wild tiger's head engraved, while Rahul saw two parakeets embossed & Raken saw a man's face embedded. Who was right, was what we left the hills to decide & we walked again to reach our goal, before it got to dark.
 
The next one, was one of my favourite trail, which was the mystic forest (which we named after how it looked it). It was green all over, the several shades of green (parrot, dark, crimson, light, bottle, apple, Teal, so on & so forth). It looked so magnificent that each tall tree was coated with the fur of algae & ferns that it almost showed the wealth of a tree wearing a beautifully designed carpet. How much more can the nature get beautiful - stuck to our mind. There was a river flowing in the middle of this mystic forest which made it even more pleasant & soothing - especially the flow of water. Had I been asked to live there for eternity, I would have smiled & agreed on to it.
 
 
 
 
Bidding a farewell to the mystic forest, we walked ahead to see the MOST difficult & scariest part of our trek. It was a 90 degree elevated rock standing massively, challenging each one of us if they could by-pass it. If we have it within us that extra energy & the gut to face this final level of quest.

 
 
This slimy massive rock was one hell of it, trust me. After climbing this with great difficultly, we went through few cave kind of structures made out of the creepy wild plants with thorns protruding. All of this made me feel - did we actually have to do this? But yes, all my questions were answered once we reach the hill top. We cried out of joy. We hi-fi-ed, we hugged each other  out of solace.

So that is it? No! Actually there is much more.. I know you are kind of wanting this to end soon, I'll be quick in summarizing the last part in my own way :-) Have a lil patience to read this last part..

We were standing at an altitude of 1712mts above the sea level (which is 1/5th of Mount Everest - to exaggerate) & it was too windy, it was as if the wind is going to push us off from the place which belonged to the Gods. We tried a lot to setup our tent, wind won against us making us fail each time we opened the tent to setup. With a great difficulty in spite of starving & sleepy & painful legs & arms, we set the tent to a position where we could sleep safe that night. 

 


We rushed inside the tent, took out the food which was the most awaited thing to happen. The smell of Raw mango chutney & sookha chapathi had already filled the tent. Nothing more could have been better , not even a five-star hotel food would have been enjoyed as much as we relishes the taste of  chapathi & mango chutney. There was a pin drop silence & silence spoke a lot which the words wouldn't.
It was 7pm, the darkness had prevailed. We covered ourselves with the sleeping bag to protect from the chilly wind & without thinking about anything more, we dropped our head & went back to sleep. 

"tu cheese badi hai mast mast" woke all us up. Rahul had to choose this tone of all, for his early morning alarm. It was 5.55AM, we steeped out of the tent bare foot, shivering & realizing where we actually were. The morning had a different story for us to tell that day. It invited us to a spot where sun could be seen at its best. We stood there waiting for the Sun to show up. He seemed adamant that day, he made us wait a little more & then at 6.10AM he came up, showing himself in bits..

The variation of colours when the Sun rose, is something which any proficient photographer cannot capture. It takes these wide eyes to capture them & store it in the memory for a long time. The Sun looked really hungry that day. He gulped all the mist with both his hands & pushed off the clouds. This moment is something I can just not forget. Nothing could be more prettier than this.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 With a final good bye to the nature in Kumara Parvatha, we stared our journey back, to where we actually came from. 
 
 
 
 
Before leaving, it gave us a memento - a memento, to treasure it with us, which could always remind us of this wonderful experience.


Thank you,
Nikhil Bekal