[varunps]

Just got inspired to put the panoramic pic of the valley next to Hunuman Gundi

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

Or are there places in Kalasa, which one can use as base and go to these places and come back by the end of the day?

Even then it is fine. Kudremukh is about hardly 20-30 Km from Kalasa.

There was a homestay near Kalasa. I forgot the name. I'll post it once I remember

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

Fantastic write up and amazing pics. KM has been on the list for some time now, not sure when I'll get a chance to do that. I also have few good trekking experiences and narrations like these encourage me to write one of my own. The trek should have been tiring, guess you are being modest by rating it 5/10 on difficulty. I have been looking around to pick up a nice pair of trekking shoes, which are the ones that you are wearing? Any recommendations?

Thanks Raghunath. Well, difficulty depends on a persons ability. A trek which is difficult for me maybe a piece of cake for someone else. So, it is difficult to generalize the difficulty level. Regarding the trekking shoes, I use the hunter shoes available in the army store here in Bangalore. They are good for rough use, but the sole is very hard and you have to use a good soft insole. But it has very good grip.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

In one of my prev visit we stayed in a place called JainKhan Estate which is near to Hornadu. We kind of did a day trip from there to Horanadu (it was a Jeep trek and only 4WD Jeeps can go. The actual tarred road to Horanadu would be around 25-30km long but that Jeep trek made it only 5km) and then to Kalasa and to Kudremukh. We just went to the Lakya Dam and then came back. Couldn't see much of Kudremukh due to time constraint as we had to return before sunset because of that Jeep trek..

How far was this estate from Horanadu?

Originally Posted by srishiva

If I remember correctly, isn't there a church with some paintings still to be seen? Great photos.

Yep. There still more pictures to come.

Originally Posted by varunps

Just got inspired to put the panoramic pic of the valley next to Hunuman Gundi

Very good Varun. Thanks

[addyhemmige]

The climb begins……

Immediately after the 3rd Lobo mane, we had to cross a small forest and then came across a hill. Now this is where the climb started. Until now we were trekking on more or less a flat terrain. By flat terrain, I don’t mean flat lands but we were walking along the sides of the mountains with not much difference in gradient.

The 3rd Lobo Mane was just behind these trees


The route ahead



The view behind us. You can see the fields near Lobo Mane to the right.




As we went higher and higher, the mist would engulf us




Once we climbed the first hill, the terrain was very undulating. Up down Up down Up Down


A pile of stones on the way. A mile stone on the top of this pile showed distance to the peak as 4 kms (IIRC).


A Shield tail. I had earlier posted this picture on the snakes thread and had wrongly referred it as a Sand Boa.


The green carpets!!!








A mountain opposite to the peak


Sambar deer on an adjacent mountain. Zoomed as far as possible.


A waterfall on the way up



Couple of sambar deer just above the falls.


That is the peak



Once we climbed up the hill, it was a flat grassland all the way to the peak. The peak is covered in mist in this picture.


A little below the peak, there was a ruined church supposedly built by Father Lobo. This was surrounded by dense forests.



Inside of the church. You can see a man’s painting on the wall.




Outside wall of the church




Father Lobo’s portrait




The dense forest surrounding the church



Continued.....

[addyhemmige]

Back to the peak. Almost there now



This water formed a small waterfall which we could see from the opposite side.



So near, yet so far….


Finally reached the peak. A pile of stones and that stick signify that we have reached our destination.




My altimeter shows 1867 meters above sea level. I do not know the official height. But some research on the net showed that the peak was about 1894 mts.


View of the forest from the peak


Views from the peak






A herd of deer grazing on an adjacent peak. If you look closely, you can also see a Gaur in between the deer.


And this was one rare animal drinking water


The return journey was quite fast since it was downhill for most of the journey. We were actually supposed to return by 2.30-3 pm to Mullodi and have lunch at the homestay. But, while returning one of my friends was suffering from cramps and hence the going became very slow. By the time we reached the 3rd Lobo house, we were very hungry. Luckily we found a few orange trees near the Lobo house and the oranges there temporarily stopped our hunger.







The leech – synonymous with this trek. This is a small one actually. There were a lot more and lot bigger than this.


The only casualty of the trek – Just one leech bite. This proves that our anti-leech solution actually worked


We reached Mullodi at around 6pm, a full 3 hrs late. We were served food and we immediately packed our stuff and were ready to leave. By the time we had lunch, we had asked our host Satisha to ask for a jeep to take to Kalasa. It was 7 pm by the time the jeep came and we said goodbye after paying them. On the way, we picked up a man from Didupe. Didupe is a small village near Belthangadi. This man used to carry coconuts in a sack and trekked from Didupe to Mullodi every week to sell them. I am not exatly sure of the distance, but roamingrao has mentioned this trek route in his post. The jeep driver also narrated his ‘encounters’ with naxalites and kept us entertained all the way to Kalasa.

Saying goodbye to our hosts


We reached Kalasa at around 7.30-7.45 pm, immediately loaded our entire luggage into the car and headed for dinner. We finished dinner at around 9 pm and started the return journey to Bangalore. Except for a tea stop at Kottigehara, we did not stop anywhere and reached Bangalore in the wee hours of Monday morning. We were at the end of a wonderful trip to Kudremukh. I hope you guys enjoyed as much as I did. Thank you all for your encouragement and appreciation.

Coming up next; the second part of this travelogue – The trek to the top of Karnataka

[subs]

HI Maga

The pics looks great and you can just get lost in those pics. The church looks mesmerising, just imagining how it was when it was active in its prime. But ot build a church in such a difficult location must be one helluva effort. Any more info on the churck, what year it was built etc.,

You seem to have found so many snakes, were they on the trekiking path and how come none of you panicked? Snakes are pretty dangerous, i.e. if you find the right one!!

Subs

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by subs

HI Maga

The pics looks great and you can just get lost in those pics. The church looks mesmerising, just imagining how it was when it was active in its prime. But ot build a church in such a difficult location must be one helluva effort. Any more info on the churck, what year it was built etc.,

You seem to have found so many snakes, were they on the trekiking path and how come none of you panicked? Snakes are pretty dangerous, i.e. if you find the right one!!

Subs

Thanks again subs. The only thing I know about the church is that it was a priest named Simon Lobo who built that. I don't know when it was built though. My guess is that it could probably be built around early 1900s. Apparently, the people used horses to carry construction material to this place. Even I was dumbfounded when I saw the church at a location like this. Btw, the ruins of the church looked eerie

Even the most dangerous of snakes try to move away if they sense people coming. It is only by chance or luck that you find them (unless you go searching for them). There is nothing to panic about. Just be careful to maintain a safe distance from them and you will be fine.

Actually, this was the first trek in which I found snakes at such close range and I was very happy to see them and would have loved to see more of them

[Raghunath Singh]

[quote=addyhemmige;2084768]There was a homestay near Kalasa. I forgot the name. I'll post it once I remember

You are absolutely right, the trek difficulty depends on a person's ability. Can you please give me some details on the location of army store in Bangalore. Look forward to some more pics. Which camera do you use?

[Raghunath Singh]

The entire travelogue is so captivating. The pictures are just mind blowing. The pic with 2 Sambar deers peeping over the mountain top was amazing. I'm sure the feeling of being on top is something different. Great write up and keep rocking. I too was fortunate to sight a Russell's Viper during my trek in Mole Hole (Bandipur range) forest. It was resting below some creepers. 4 of us actually went past it without noticing, it was the last one who spotted this snake.

[optimystic01]

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

The entire travelogue is so captivating. The pictures are just mind blowing. The pic with 2 Sambar deers peeping over the mountain top was amazing. I'm sure the feeling of being on top is something different. Great write up and keep rocking. I too was fortunate to sight a Russell's Viper during my trek in Mole Hole (Bandipur range) forest. It was resting below some creepers. 4 of us actually went past it without noticing, it was the last one who spotted this snake.

hey Raghu.. this is amazing... I was reading my trek-mate (If there is such a thing ) Adi's blog... and stumbled upon ur pic of the Russel Viper...

guess what... I have seen the same thing when I did the Tiger census at Bandipur this year... here is the pic...

one of my cousins (part of this particular trek) went close to it... he stays at Mysore and is a wildlife enthusiast (but hates Trekking.... me and Adi know why...lol).

have to tel you - when he showed this pic to Krupakar (the famous Krupakar-senani Nat Geo award winning photographers), he was told my Krupakar that it is actually a Python and not a Russel Viper! If Krupakar is saying it, it has to be right !!!

I was actually thinking a Python would be much bigger in size.. wonders of nature!

rgds
Jeevesha



Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

[MohsinRoadster]

Amazing pics!!! the hills are so captivating... your thread has motivated me to do this trek.. Excellent stuff

[vrprabhu]

AH, excellent pictures - you are enticing me to visit the place!!

5* for your pictures and the narration!

[Raghunath Singh]

[quote=optimystic01;2086044]hey Raghu.. this is amazing... I was reading my trek-mate (If there is such a thing ) Adi's blog... and stumbled upon ur pic of the Russel Viper...

Guess what... I have seen the same thing when I did the Tiger census at Bandipur this year... here is the pic...

One of my cousins (part of this particular trek) went close to it... he stays at Mysore and is a wildlife enthusiast (but hates Trekking.... me and Adi know why...lol).

Have to tell you - when he showed this pic to Krupakar (the famous Krupakar-senani Nat Geo award winning photographers), he was told my Krupakar that it is actually a Python and not a Russel Viper! If Krupakar is saying it, it has to be right !!!

I was actually thinking a Python would be much bigger in size.. wonders of nature!

rgds
Jeevesha


@ Jeevesha: What an irony. The forest guard who accompanied us during the trek infact told me it was a Python, a young one though. On my return I compared the pic on net and other sites I found this matching to a Russell's Viper. Guess the forest guard was right! Well then this is officially my first Python sighting http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images...s/Cheering.gif

[ampere]

Very nice snaps indeed! The peak looks very captivating!
Hope to go there once at least.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

You are absolutely right, the trek difficulty depends on a person's ability. Can you please give me some details on the location of army store in Bangalore. Look forward to some more pics. Which camera do you use?

The army store is next to St Mary's Basilica in Shivajinagar. I use a regular Point and shoot camera W55 from Sony.

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

The entire travelogue is so captivating. The pictures are just mind blowing. The pic with 2 Sambar deers peeping over the mountain top was amazing. I'm sure the feeling of being on top is something different. Great write up and keep rocking. I too was fortunate to sight a Russell's Viper during my trek in Mole Hole (Bandipur range) forest. It was resting below some creepers. 4 of us actually went past it without noticing, it was the last one who spotted this snake.

Thanks. The credit for these photographs must go all the four of us. You are lucky to have stumbled upon the snake I guess. How did you go for the trek in Moolehole? Did you take part in the Tiger Census?

Originally Posted by optimystic01

guess what... I have seen the same thing when I did the Tiger census at Bandipur this year... here is the pic...

one of my cousins (part of this particular trek) went close to it... he stays at Mysore and is a wildlife enthusiast (but hates Trekking.... me and Adi know why...lol).

have to tel you - when he showed this pic to Krupakar (the famous Krupakar-senani Nat Geo award winning photographers), he was told my Krupakar that it is actually a Python and not a Russel Viper! If Krupakar is saying it, it has to be right !!!

I was actually thinking a Python would be much bigger in size.. wonders of nature!

rgds
Jeevesha

Originally Posted by Raghunath Singh

@ Jeevesha: What an irony. The forest guard who accompanied us during the trek infact told me it was a Python, a young one though. On my return I compared the pic on net and other sites I found this matching to a Russell's Viper. Guess the forest guard was right! Well then this is officially my first Python sighting http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images...s/Cheering.gif

Jeevesha, the photographs you and Raghunath have posted, both still look like Russels vipers to me. Will someone else confirm?

Originally Posted by MohsinRoadster

Amazing pics!!! the hills are so captivating... your thread has motivated me to do this trek.. Excellent stuff

Thanks Mohsin. I'm sure you won't regret it if you do the trek.

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

AH, excellent pictures - you are enticing me to visit the place!!

5* for your pictures and the narration!

Thanks vrprabhu. You have to visit atleast once. IIRC you do keep travelling thorugh Mangalore, right? You can visit it on the way.

Originally Posted by ampere

Very nice snaps indeed! The peak looks very captivating!
Hope to go there once at least.

You have to!! But, the only way is by trek.

[pramod]

Addy,
Now that people wanna visit and stay at Kudremukh, i got to post these snaps. We had stayed at Bhagavathi Nature camp inside Kudremukh reserve an year back in Nov 2009. We were a group of 13 people and stayed in a Dormitory which had 15 beds. Reminds me of General ward in Saint Johns hospital.. kidding . But thats the best way to have fun, in a place like this.

Accomodation details:
1. 2 bed room cottage - 2 nos
2. 15 bed dorm - 1 nos
3. Tents - may be 4 nos (the new tents were to arrive last winter, to replace the battered age old jamshedpur tents).
4. No food available. We need to get ration from Kudremukh or any other town and hand it over to them. And they would cook food for us.
But the weekend we were there, we had to compete with another group of 15 people from Karkala. So, the girls in our group ended up cooking curry and the official cook at the camp prepared chapathis. But it was so much fun doing a crude weekend like this.

Cautions:
1. Staying overnight here is not for family which is looking for a relaxed resort like feel. You would have to be wary of the numerous Indian Bisons around. There is no boundary to this camp. It extends into the forests.

There is a brilliant water stream running next to the camp. And its great fun taking bath in it. But none the less, you have 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets in the dormitory.

Cost is very very nominal. 110 Rs per head.

You could trek to the nearby Gangadikallu peak or Kurinjal peak (7 kms).

Location:
1. If u are driving from Samse to Kudremukh, you need to cross Kudremukh and continue further towards Karkala. On this stretch, say after 6 Kms, you could see the camp on the left side of the road. You wont miss it.

Activities:
1. Walk around the camp area. And trace Bisons. Pls dont get too near to them. They could charge. But we traced a group of 10 bisons, grazing at a distance. It was a hair rising experience.
2. Bathe in the stream
3. camp fire after dark
4. Drive on the Kudremukh highway for some wildlife sighting. How can you not do this
5. Early morning, wildlife sighting drive again.

So, you got to come here with your own vehicle.

Regards
Pramod