[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Hey nice pictures. I've been to Kudremukh(actually just crossed it) recently and that place surely is very beautiful. How is the trek difficulty?

Thanks Kaushik. In terms of difficulty I'd rate it 5 out of 10. There are not much steep stretches. But, it is a very long and tiring walk and you will have to cross several streams and shola forests. But, this is the most beautiful trek I've been to.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

addy

nice writeup and nice photos

brings back good memories - my dad was on a Tea and Coffee plantation company near Kalasa around 12-13 years ago.

Another friend of mine owns a few tea and coffee plantations near Bhadra area.

I havent visited Kudremukh area for about 12 years or so - but it is a wild and beautiful place indeed.
Especially now that the KIOCL operations have considerably come down - the environment is getting a chance to regenerate itself.

one of the most amazing engineering marvels of the KIOCL (iron ore company) is the gravity led system of pipelines that they have laid from the mines, through the forests all the way to the Mangalore port!

Thank you sir. What you say is true. Apparently, mining operations have been stopped completely and all the buildings have ruined look on them. The Kudremukh township has become like a ghost town. But, I heard that the administrative offices of KIOCL are still running.

[subs]

boss

Good start to the trek... that snake looks so colourful, though I wouldnt have appreciated it if I was the one who nearly stepped on it.

The pics looks awesome man. Keep posting, I just wish I have the convenience to do this trek this year.

Subs

[shazikon]

Nice pics and introduction..work on the hydel power project had just started when I took this trek route to KM 2 yrs back. Walk from balgal to Mullodi is one of the worst treks I guess. It was very boring and we had to stop for numerous trucks on the way. Water fall near Mullodi is a place worth that small trek. some how i felt this stretch and the fact that you have to cross Mullodi village makes the trek from this directions very boring. Also KM peak is not very far from Mullodi which makes it look not very challenging.
Did you enquire about any other routes which are opened. I plan to do a trek to KM sometime in Oct-Nov.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by subs

boss

Good start to the trek... that snake looks so colourful, though I wouldnt have appreciated it if I was the one who nearly stepped on it.

The pics looks awesome man. Keep posting, I just wish I have the convenience to do this trek this year.

Subs

Thanks subs. Actually, this was first snake I had photographed in all my treks, so this was kind of special.

Originally Posted by shazikon

Nice pics and introduction..work on the hydel power project had just started when I took this trek route to KM 2 yrs back. Walk from balgal to Mullodi is one of the worst treks I guess. It was very boring and we had to stop for numerous trucks on the way. Water fall near Mullodi is a place worth that small trek. some how i felt this stretch and the fact that you have to cross Mullodi village makes the trek from this directions very boring. Also KM peak is not very far from Mullodi which makes it look not very challenging.
Did you enquire about any other routes which are opened. I plan to do a trek to KM sometime in Oct-Nov.

Thanks shazikon. The trek form Baalgal to Mullodi is boring because you will be walking on a road. I guess you chose a bad time to trek there. Luckily for us, the construction had stopped due to the monsoon and there were no trucks or vehicles. KM peak is around 11 kms from Mullodi. As I have said earlier, it is not a very tough trek, but you keep walking for a very long time and especially in monsoon, it is quite slippery.

I think there is one route from Navoor near Belthangady, but I heard that they have closed it for sometime. Apparently they have elephant trouble in those areas. That is a tough trek for sure.

[Indian Ranger]

Excellent Snaps Addy, Fantastic snaps and experience there. Kuduremukh is a place which is close to the heart and brings back lot of memories. thanks for sharing so much information and the current state. I am eagerly looking forward to your trekking experience here.

ratng 5* from my side.

Thanks

Manjunath

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

one query, are there any stay options in Kudremukh / Malleshwara ? Is a day trip to Kudremukh from CKM possible ? What will be the distance from HSN to Kudremukh & back ?

Apart from Bhagawati nature camp, you can also opt to stay in the KIOCL guest house. We booked the guest house from Bangalore a week before we left. They charge Rs.400 per night for an AC room which is spacious and have clean bathrooms.

[roamingrao]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I think there is one route from Navoor near Belthangady, but I heard that they have closed it for sometime. That is a tough trek for sure.

Addy, please correct me if iam wrong, Navoor trek route may be new. In Dec 1987 ( college days ), we walked from Mundaje to Kudremukh peak on the Didupe - Yaleneeru ghats - Mullodi - Lobo Mane route and we thought that was the only trek route to the peak from DK dist.

[abhinav.s]

Unable to edit my previous post and hence the back to back posts.. Apologies!

Addy, nice set of pics again. And rating the thread the well deserved 5* !!

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by Indian Ranger

Excellent Snaps Addy, Fantastic snaps and experience there. Kuduremukh is a place which is close to the heart and brings back lot of memories. thanks for sharing so much information and the current state. I am eagerly looking forward to your trekking experience here.

ratng 5* from my side.

Thanks

Manjunath

Thanks Manjunath. I hope I can live up to your expectations

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Apart from Bhagawati nature camp, you can also opt to stay in the KIOCL guest house. We booked the guest house from Bangalore a week before we left. They charge Rs.400 per night for an AC room which is spacious and have clean bathrooms.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Unable to edit my previous post and hence the back to back posts.. Apologies!

Addy, nice set of pics again. And rating the thread the well deserved 5* !!

Didn't know that Abhinav. Thanks again. There are a lot more to come.

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Addy, please correct me if iam wrong, Navoor trek route may be new. In Dec 1987 ( college days ), we walked from Mundaje to Kudremukh peak on the Didupe - Yaleneeru ghats - Mullodi - Lobo Mane route and we thought that was the only trek route to the peak from DK dist.

Actually, even I did not know about the Navoor route until someone mentioned about it. It seems that they have closed most of the routes now.

Check this link for some more routes. I just found it.
TREKKING

How many days trek did have to do to get from Didupe to the peak? Did you camp at Lobo Mane then? As of now, no camping is allowed within National Park limits.

We also a met a man near Mullodi who used to trek from Didupe to Mullodi and surrounding villages carrying coconuts every week. That was the first time I heard of this route.

[addyhemmige]

After walking for an hour and a half, we reached Mullodi and went to our guide Sathisha’s house. When we reached there, the guide said that it was too late to start and come back from the trek. We had to trek 22 kms in half a day which could be very tiring and would get dark. As per the forest office, we were not allowed to trek after dark and we had to return by the same day evening. Disappointed again, we were wondering what to do when the guide suggested an idea. He asked us to trek to an adjoining peak and return by evening. We could stay over at his house and start the trek to the main Kudremukh peak the next morning. This looked like a good idea. So we dumped our luggage at Satisha’s house and started on the trek. Just a few meters from his house, we had to cross a big stream. The water was flowing pretty fast and it was difficult to maintain balance amidst the slippery rocks.

The Stream


The guy on the left is our guide


The view from Mullodi. Baalgal is 1.5 kms from Samse (shown in the map). We could see Samse and also Kalasa from the top of this peak.


This was a short trek and we did not have any baggage with us except a water bottle. We moved on quickly and into the grasslands, crossing many shola forests. Our destination was a peak called Durgada Betta which was just opposite Kudremukh peak. This was a smaller peak but tough nonetheless. We could not complete the trek to the peak as it was already evening and light was fading. We climbed upto a point and started back down after taking rest for a few minutes. This time the guide took us on a more shorter and steeper route. We climbed down and went back to Mullodi after crossing the same stream.

View from the top























Waterfall on the other side of the valley
















A huge rock with an awesome view






This was such a humbling moment




The stream which we crossed earlier



Sunset in Mullodi



Cattle returning back to their sheds in Mullodi


Continued…..

[paragsachania]

Addy,

Cool stuff this is. Loved all of the pictures and the way you've explained them as well. Kuduremukha is certainly one place worth a visit for those who haven't done it so far. The Greens that you have captured have come out really well.

I still remember when KIOCL was functional and those huge trucks & earth moving equipments were a sight, especially when they did the digging and loading. The conveyor belt passing towards Mangalore was something that generated enthusiasm even while we were young and visited the place.

[kaushik_s]

Are these photos from your short trek? Wow, these themselves are looking so beautiful. Hope to go there sometime again in the future. BTW, that photograph of the nice road reminds me that we also have stopped there to click some pics. But it started raining super heavily that day, visibility become very bad and so couldn't click any good photograph , just something like this from inside the car. Would love to go there again sometime..

[varunps]

Awesome pics Addy,
Memories of my Childhood just passed by. I was born and brought up in Kudremukh. My father was working there in KIOCL.

Attaching a pic of Lakya dam. This is a view from Gangdikal peak. This peak is a 5KM trek from the Ganga moola point, which can be done in 5 hrs time.

Also some early morning pics of the valley next to Hanuman Gundi..
Some pics of the river next to the bridge you stopped by near the Dam. (we call it the second bridge)

Finally the pic of the house where we lived (The pink one).

There are lot of small treks in and around Nature camp, Kurinjal and Ganga Moola being the good ones. This is the right time to go there. Beware lots of leeches would accompany you :-)

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Addy,

Cool stuff this is. Loved all of the pictures and the way you've explained them as well. Kuduremukha is certainly one place worth a visit for those who haven't done it so far. The Greens that you have captured have come out really well.

I still remember when KIOCL was functional and those huge trucks & earth moving equipments were a sight, especially when they did the digging and loading. The conveyor belt passing towards Mangalore was something that generated enthusiasm even while we were young and visited the place.

Thanks Parag. Even I was amazed to hear that there was a conveyor belt from KIOCL to Mangalore Port

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Are these photos from your short trek? Wow, these themselves are looking so beautiful. Hope to go there sometime again in the future. BTW, that photograph of the nice road reminds me that we also have stopped there to click some pics. But it started raining super heavily that day, visibility become very bad and so couldn't click any good photograph , just something like this from inside the car. Would love to go there again sometime..
Attachment 428940

That was a nice pic kaushik. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by varunps

Awesome pics Addy,
Memories of my Childhood just passed by. I was born and brought up in Kudremukh. My father was working there in KIOCL.

Attaching a pic of Lakya dam. This is a view from Gangdikal peak. This peak is a 5KM trek from the Ganga moola point, which can be done in 5 hrs time.

Also some early morning pics of the valley next to Hanuman Gundi..
Some pics of the river next to the bridge you stopped by near the Dam. (we call it the second bridge)

Finally the pic of the house where we lived (The pink one).

There are lot of small treks in and around Nature camp, Kurinjal and Ganga Moola being the good ones. This is the right time to go there. Beware lots of leeches would accompany you :-)

Thanks Varun. Beautiful pictures there. Glad you shared them here. you are indeed lucky to have been brought up in that heavenly area. Next time, I will try to trek both Gangadikal and Kurinjal peaks.

[swiftnfurious]

@Addy, beautiful pics man ! I have been hearing about this place and wanted to visit; But never knew, its this beautiful!

By the way did you say that if we get permission from Bangalore for KIOCL, they will let you see the inside of the mining plant?

If so could you tell me where is the Bangalore office for KIOCL?

PS: 5 Star from my side too !

@kaushik - Thats a brilliant pic [Qualis in rains] ! SO beautiful!