Magnificient Brahmagiri!!!
As the post-monsoon season is coming to an end, so is the ideal time to trek.
I wanted to ascend another prominent peak within this year. Thanks to Bangalore trekking club, my wish did materialise. And, this was my first trek with BTC team!
Itinerary:
KSRTC bus from Bengaluru(Satellite Bus stand, Mysore road) to Gonikoppal
Distance: 230 KM
Local Bus from Gonikoppal to Srimangala :
Distance: 30 KM
We took trekking permission in Srimangala Forest Office
Our trek began from Irpu falls and our guide accompanied us from here.
Our initial plan was to reach Narimane Forest Guest house and trek to the peak the next day. But our guide insisted us to reach the peak on the first day itself. It was around 10:30 AM when we started our trek. Given that we had to reach the peak and get back to the guest house the same day, we pulled our socks up for a challenging trek ahead. Dense forest welcomed our journey. A trek would be incomplete without leeches!!:P. Yes, there were a hell lot of leeches waiting to suck our blood. None of us were prepared to fight the battle with them as we hadn't expected them at this time of the year!:P However, our guide was fully prepared for that!
Battling with Leeches!!!
Water Stream and hanging bridge on the way to irpu falls.
There was a beautiful picturesque water stream at about 4 kms from the irpu falls. We freshened and had mild food here before continuing our journey. Our guide who has 30 years of forest expertise, shared many of his interesting experiences of the forest through out the trek! After we reached the guest house at around 1:30 PM, we dumped all our heavy luggages and had lunch which we had packed and resumed our trekking at 2:30 PM.
Elephants paradise!
Brahmagiri is famous for Elephants. All along our path, we could spot huge Elephant footprints and their fresh poops!! Though we were eager to witness them in their natural habitat, a slight fear kept lingering our minds every now and then!
Inside Elephant Footprint!
We weren't disappointed! We spotted a couple of elephants grazing the shrubs and grasslands a little far away but good enough to get a decent view. It was indeed a delight for us.
First Glimpse of Brahmagiri Peak
Another interesting fact about Brahmagiri is that it shares border between Karnataka and Kerala! We were literally present in Karnataka and Kerala at the same time while trekking along the border :P The forest was still moist and grasslands were green and lush enough and it was pretty sunny too, which made our trekking experience a fulfilling one. The last stretch of about a half a km was the steepest and was very challenging. It was more than 70 deg steep and was very slippery. It did test our patience and physical strength! Time read 4:15 PM when we were at the peak. Needless to say, the views were breathtaking and made us forget the physical strain we all bore to make it to the top! We laid down and enjoyed the view completely.
View towards Narimane house
We trekked back to the guest house in about one and half an hour and reached at around 6:30 PM. We prepared Bisibele bath and had stomach full of it. We slept at 8:30PM only to be woken up at 8 AM the next day! We finished our morning chores and started trekking back to the Irpu falls at 8:30AM.. We reached by 10:30AM. We bathed in the beautiful Irpu falls which was thronged by many tourists. It was very refreshing to take bath under the huge force of Irpu falls.
Beautiful Irpu Falls
We caught a bus to Gonikoppal from Irpu falls at 4:00 PM and reached by 5PM. We spent enough time roaming around Gonikoppal to kill time as our bus to Bengaluru was at 11:00PM. We reached Bengaluru by early morning 4:30AM.
It was indeed a memorable trekking experience! Thanks to BTC. As always, looking out eagerly for the next trek..!!!
Written By : Naveen
Organized By : Abhishek
Date of event : 5th December, 2015
Place : Brahmagiri Trek
Pictures : BTC FB Picture
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