Trek to Kurinjal & Kudremukh in 2 days!!
“Trekking means a travelling experience with a
thrilling excitement.”
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Raisunnisa, Ramya, Jyothi, Srinath, Supriya & last but not least myself :P.
All of us assembled at Majestic Shantala Silks and in time we departed from
Majestic and started with introduction, and Arun instructed us that we can
enact or articulate a dialogue which corresponds with our name and the other
members have to guess. To my luck, I started with favorite dialogue of Kannada
Superstar and in no minute, one of them guessed correctly and I was relieved
and by 12 the introduction part was over. The introduction part was fun and we
were acquainted with each others. Later all of us slipped to sleep and looking
forward to tomorrows trekking.
Chickmaglur never disappoints anyone, the
weather, coffee estates, peoples and places always encourage to come once
again. We reached Balegal at 6.00 AM and then we took a ride to Home
Stay in Mullodi. We freshened and we had breakfast of rice pundi and sambhar
along with chatni.
Arun, the organizer briefed about the day’s plan and informed that we would be trekking to Kurinjal
Peak, and the distance will be 14 Kms to and fro. We then alighted tempo
traveller who took us to Kudremukh Town and later to the base of the peak. It
was 12- 15 kms from the town. Guide introduced himself as Kiran and he would be
our guide to Kurinjal peak. On enquiry about the name of Kurinjal Peak, he
informed that due to flourishing growth of Kurinjal Flower, the local call the
peak by name Kurnijal. Kiran start to lead the trek.
The initial trek path was well flattened and trodden
and we came across the bridge and some of us took pics. As we had started the
trek late, temperature was raising and our guide to avert the searing sun, took
a bypass through the forest whereby he said there would be minus of 1-2 Km. We
entered through the thicker forest vegetation and also could see a mushrooms
and other algae growing on the rotten fallen
trees. We did not suffer any major hiccups as the trek path through was
moderate. We started gaining altitude and came across a depilated house and few
among us started scary ghost stories. We could see the peak, which is of
boulders and rocks. The last part was moderate however; everyone finally
trekked and reached the peak. We took pictures and some of friends gave amazing
poses and it was wonderful. The peak had a mixture of boulders and rocks along
with thick vegetation.
It was time for
lunch and we oversaw and sat under tree for lunch and ate Puliyogare, which was packed
from the home stay. After few minutes of rest, we started to descend later.
This time we started to take the trail. The trail was very tough and descending
was tough for few of us. Looking back we were able to see the peak which was of
boulder. As sun was blazing, we understood why our guide had suggested and
taken the path through forest. By 2.30-3 PM we had descended and few of us had
splash in the stream flowing. As there was no network and our guide then
hitched a ride and informed the tempo traveler, who came to pick us. We reached
Balegal at 3-4PM and had snacks and then to Mullodi. We got freshened up and
our host gave us hot fried pakoda and ate to content. We then proceeded to
Somavathi water fall and were chatting. We reached home stay and to kill time we were
chatting and later had dinner and retired for the day as next day we had to
trek Kudremukh.
We started at 8AM after having breakfast and our
guide lead from the front. All were enthusiastic and after seeking permission
from the forest guard and were informed about the dos and don’ts. Keeping in mind of the same, we started our
trekking journey at 8.15. We commenced our trekking to Kudremukh Base and the
landscape was varying between forest, meadows and grasslands and passing through
the streams, however the stream was running dry or less with water. We reached
open spaces wherein board was affixed displaying information about the trek
distance and other information. The weather was moderate and for our luck, the
temperature was not soaring. Chiranth, 10 year old grandson of Krishne Gowda
was accompanying and trekking for the first time and it was surprise, that he
was not showing any fatigue or tiredness and finally reached Onti Mara (solitary Tree).
For few minutes we took rest and commenced our
trekking after having oranges. We
started to ascend the 1-2 km Steep. Looking back it gave us perfect landscape.
Forest, meadows and thick vegetation, grasslands made up a nice picture.
We reached the horse shaped spine and
continued our trekking to the tip of the peak. We passed through the stream and there was no
water and finally we reached the peak at 12.00PM.
We remained in the peak taking pictures and
also a little accomplishment for having trekked the KNP and started to descend and
had our lunch beside the stream and descended to the base point. The weather
conditions was varying and it was great to see the grasslands forest and meadows
in full serene. We passed through the forest, meadows, stream, and grasslands
again and reached the stay home at 4.30PM, 30 minutes delay.
Later it was time for packing bag and
freshened up. The Host served us with hot tea and pakoda. The host gave us sweet and informed that it
was his grandson birthday. We wished him and had a nice group picture with the
host, guide and family members. Arun suggested us visiting Annapooraneshwari
Temple and however due to heavy crowd and we abort the plan after seeing the
crowd. It was time for feedbacks, thanking
the organisers and also the friends. The
entire team were energetic and enthusiastic till the end of the journey even
after trekking for 32 Kms in two days. We reached Bengaluru around 5.00AM. It
was pleasant spending time with the midst of the nature and also with
enthusiastic friendly companions.
Written by : Ambrish Byrsandra
Organized by : Arun Kumar
Date of event : Dec 22nd & 23rd, 2018
Pictures : FB Page
Place : Kurinjal & Kudremukh
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