The Green Carpet - Kudremukh!
When we made our journey through the mountains I have always thought to myself, 'what would it be like to foray into them'.Thus began my quest for trekking. Though planned trips happen, unplanned are the ones I’ve not regretted as they turn out to be the best.This was one such trip!
A friend dropped out due to certain commitments and that’s when Jhanvi called me, she said ‘Do you want to go on a trek’, I was just a couple of hours away from the trip with packing undone, It was too tempting an offer to let go. I had to place a couple of calls post which I dumped my things in a bag and left for the day.
Running errands, the day was packed, I rushed towards metro. A life saviour, would n’t have agreed to go to majestic if not for metro. Even Kudremukh can be conquered but hands down not Bangalore traffic! We huddled up in front of hotel Mahaveer. First to meet was the bubly Revathi and friendly Sneha. Revathy could aptly fit into the role of a south Indian belle,a movie star. She was jumping around even before the trek began.As I munched on few pieces of Roti , like a lost friend from Yeh jawaani hai Deewani, Raisun made her entrance, with a brisk façade, spick and span she appeared to have the energy to climb the peak right away.
With bursts of laughter erupting from varied corners, the group split as the mini bus arrived.I was all set to sleep once I got into the bus. Raisun and I set our seat i.e we were trying to find that perfect angle to relatively stretch and take a nap. While all this was happening Arun din seem to have given up on his energy, clapping and laughing with a running commentary I think he secretively had a packet of Thalapakatti Biryani that was troubling him from going to sleep.
Having secured the second row, the half asleep me and the already asleep Raisun couldn’t slip away from ice breaking session, with blaring lights at our face, it was tough to escape. Probably the gen is nocturnal, sleeping early is abnormal.
It was time to pick up our last fellow trekker, Srinath. Around 1AM we closed in on our enthusiastic ice breaker session. Alas, I wasn’t sleepy anymore, my stomach started to churn. Luckily we broke for a bit.
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| Bumpy drive |
An abode amidst the mighty western ghats ,was any re-signers paradise.In the next few minutes we freshened up and left to Kurinjal peak.Upon entering I could recollect my trip to Hampta pass. We were welcomed by the flow of a river as we walked over the bridge.Revathy nick named 'Rocket Revathy' zoomed past leading the trail.
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| The crossover |
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| Kurinjal welcomes tailless Macaques from Bangalore |
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| The thick canopy like entrance was exciting, little did we know what was ahead of us |
The tree cover laid out a peaceful ascent for us, we had few steep steps but it was manageable.We were clothed by green mountains around. It was an amazing sense of accomplishment.
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| Kurinjal Peak |
Descent was a bit tricky but I could manage with help of Ravi and Arun. As we got back to the stay we debated on use of plastics , callousness of people towards nature.I was delighted to meet couple of like minded people when it came towards a sustainable environment.
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| When Jack decided to go in search of Rose beyond compulsion to stay |
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| The night closed in... |
There was bonfire with mild romantic songs, borrowed from our neighbors . The perks of being in most populous country when you share noise you get to share good music
And there was,
The moon, perfect end to a romantic trip, up in the hills inside a cozy house, of course very sensational but amigos we were on a trek!
And there was, us, well a few of us, we were one big frightened family. Stories of how certain number of people could n't complete Kudremukh trek kept pouring in, making us delusional about our decision. We slept early as the day after would be a true conquest.
Buckled up we were on schedule to begin our trek. Unlike the Kurinjal trek, Kudremukh had many points of dense covers with fresh streams at an arms reach. We kept up the momentum and set moving forward. At the trail were our trek leads motivating us.
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| Green Trail :) |
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| Rough terrains |
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| Enveloped by Mountain waves! |
A couple of us were pushing ourselves to move forward as it was certainly farther than we had covered the day earlier. There were moments when I felt like giving up but when I looked above,
The peak seemed almost close, it kept me going. By noon we had almost reached the peak. Yes, we made it! All of us. We dropped our belongings and sank back to bask in beauty and sense pulse of accomplishment running through us!
We started the descent what was driving most of us was the aching muscles a comfortable chair and a cup of tea! Of course the thought to get out of forests before
night crept in !
This was one of the treks whose memory will be treasured! Everyone of us seems to have a hidden struggle, a thirst to venture out and a true civic sense, to give something back to mother earth. Such encounters make us more aware and optimistic about a change we all wish to see, especially when like minds collaborate and take an oath. Beyond all that I became a believer of the idea that though our dreams and aspirations are different, we all meet on a common ground, the drive to change the world, by doing our bit, quite true to the saying, A change starts with you! What starts with one and ends being inspired by four is always a step towards a revolution. Let not the phrase green carpet be a household to Kudremukh but to rest of the city and perhaps our nation.
A big shout out to Arun for organizing the trek, and Sneha for captaining along!
And wait, before the closing remarks, one final story with respect to Jack!
I'm sorry bud we could n't find your Rose. And that sets us for our next trek! Hope to find her soon!
Written by : Supriya (Original Blog)
Organized by : Arun Kumar
Date of event : Dec 22nd & 23rd, 2018
Pictures : FB Page
Place : Kurinjal & Kudremukh
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