Last Wednesday, Zubin asked me if I am interested to go for hiking to Kumara Parvata (KP), a part of Western Ghats and I was told that this is the most difficult trek in Karnataka with a total to and fro distance of about 36 km. Despite of having no prior trekking experience, I agreed for the trip. Others in the team were Aveek, Arun, Ashok and Ajit (Four As!!!!). Amongst us, only Arun had prior trekking experience but he was also going to KP for the first time. So at the time of starting, we had no information about the trek details, other than the fact that it is known to be the most difficult trek in Karnataka. We found some blogs with details and though they provided us with some useful information, at the same time they also misled us. These blogs had compiled a list of items we should carry along with us but later we found that most of them were not needed at all on the trip and only added to our baggage. Based on these blogs, we decided which items we need to procure before embarking on the trip. Arun had booked the tents and travel tickets; Zubin and Aveek arranged for sleeping bags.
Finally, after two days of extensive preparation, on Friday (12th Jan) evening, we started for Kukke Subramanya (which is about 280 km from Bangalore), the place from where we had to start our trekking. The bus not being in a very good condition, gave us a very good warm up for the arduous journey we were to have later. We reached at Kukke Subramanya at 5:00 am and took 3 hrs of rest before starting our journey towards our first destination i.e. Narayan Bhatt’s house popularly known as Bhatta’s house. Here itself we had committed our first mistake. By the time we started, sun was already out in full, dissuading us not to make any attempt to reduce our distance from him and we like stubborn kids went ahead without paying any heeds to his threats. Initial part of the trek pass through thick wood cover and the slanting morning sunrays percolating through the trees was a superb feast for the eyes and the fresh air gave an extravagant treat to our CO2 rich and oxygen deficient brains. This forest cover lasts for around 4 km and we didn’t have any problems crossing that stretch but before reaching to Bhatta’s place, we needed to pass through grasslands. It was already 12:30 PM till we reached to Bhatta’s place. We had to take several breaks in between and had to consume lots of glucose and water to prevent dehydration. Just before bhatta’s place, you can find one tower standing and besides it you find a board saying “Please don’t tease wild animals” with a picture of tiger drawn on it and I am sure how happy every tired individual, who doesn’t even have a knife to cut grass, is going to feel after seeing this board. The time we reached at Bhatta’s place, it was already half past twelve and we were completely exhausted. We ordered for food and crashed wherever we could find the place. That place was crowded due to lot many people coming for the special pooja on Sakaranti, which was scheduled take place at KP on 14th January. After 45 mins we got food, which included boiled rice and radish sambhar and I can assure you that sambhar-rice never tasted that good to me throughout my life.
We started our journey at 2:00 PM and people told us that further journey is even more tiring as it is very steep and almost all of it is through grasslands. After taking adequate permissions etc through the forest department, we proceeded for what was to be the most difficult 6-8 kms of our life. The heat along with the exertion was killing us and we finished all the 12Lts of water, which we were carrying along with us before we reached the next source of water, which is about 3km from Bhatta’s place. Till this time, Aveek was dehydrated and was finding it very difficult to continue. We drank lot of water at that small source and washed our faces with cold water, which rejuvenated our spirits to conquer the peak. Our next destination was Mantop, a site where people Camp frequently if they find it difficult to reach the peak before the dusk. Till the time we reached Mantop, I also developed some sprain in my leg and was finding it very difficult to continue but lots of encouragement by other people kept me going. We decided that we will continue moving up till 5:30 and then will halt at a suitable place where we camp for the night. Till the time we found this suitable place, we had already traveled 2 kms from Mantop and were already at the peak of Shesha Parvata. The worst part about the whole trek is that it is very deceiving. All the time you will be moving up thinking that the highest peak you can see is your final destination, but it is never the case. All this time we were thinking that Shesha Parvata is our destination but when we reached there, we realized that KP is still 2km from this place. It was already evening six till we found a suitable place to halt. The place was very beautiful and we could see whole of Western Ghats from this place. We fixed our tents there and Ashok and Ajit went to collect woods. As the sun disappearing the temperature went down sharply (though not as cold as mentioned in the blogs I read). Initially we had to struggle a lot to lit the fire but finally using my Lohri experience I managed to lit the fire (surprisingly that day was Lohri and it became one of my most memorable Lohri I had so far, with bonfire at a height of 6000ft). Aveek and myself prepared, Maggie we were carrying with us and we really prepared some delicious half cooked Maggie. We sat for an hour around the bonfire, shared jokes and sang some songs and went on to sleep in the tents. Sleeping in the tents was a unique experience and when I got up it was the most pleasant morning one can expect, with fresh air filling our lungs with infinite energy and zeal. Throughout the night we never felt the need to use the blankets we were carrying and I was feeling very angry with the person who suggested this. Arun, Ashok and Ajit decided to go to peak early in the morning but we three decided to stay there on wait for them. We played cards (bluff) there with whole of Western Ghats witnessing our bluffing. When these people came back, we started back for the Kukke Subhramanya. The return journey was much peaceful though it put a lot of strain on our knees. We reached back at Kukke Subhramanya around 5:00 in the evening without much difficulty where special darshan were going on for Sakranti festival. We saw some wonderful Kathak performance by local troupe and then started back for Bangalore.
While crossing the forest on my return journey, Robert Frost’s following famous word kept echoing in my brain again and again:
Woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Following are the few tips about the trip:
Carry sufficient water
Keep the baggage weight to the minimum.
Don’t carry anything which is not required.
List of items one must carry:
Tents
Sleeping bags
Warm clothing (one jacket and thermal inner wear is enough, don’t carry blankets)
Normal clothing (One shorts, extra half sleeves t-shirt, extra shocks)
Camera (with extra batteries)
Ipods or music phones (music sounds fantastic in such beautiful locations)
Water (2lts per person)
Food items like Maggie, bread, jam etc.
One small cooking pan and spoon
Torch
Rope
Adhesive Tape
Needle and thread
100mL Petrol
Lighter and matchbox
One Knife
First aid (including antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and band-aid etc)
