Kudremukha Trek
We were a group of three who wanted to enjoy the bliss of monsoon from the peaks of red soil capped mountains of the western ghats;Kudremukha , so the journey started with a sleeper bus which left B’lore and reached Kalasa by 5.30AM. A rain soaked road welcomed us. Our transport came roughly around 6.30 AM. Apparently only 50 people are allowed to trek the mountain, so we had to get the permit – 425 per person + guide charge 500 + photocopy of ID proof, which the home stay person guided us – then the journey began uphill. We suggest you guys to have a light dinner or clear your bowels, as half the journey is a roller-coaster ride. We quickly finished our morning routines, changed had a hearty breakfast and geared up for adventure. The homestay lady gave us a flavored rice as lunch.
What all Do you Need?
- Trek clothes – quick dry top, upto knee bottoms , raincoat /poncho
- Shoes –with a solid grip
- Long football socks
- Small Colin – helps to remove leach
- ORS sachets, glucovita capsules
- 500 -750 ml water bottle
- Volini /Idodex /Moov spray – incase or muscle spams
- Snickers /ChikKi/roasted nuts/spicy potato chips– energy boosters
- Trash bag – to put all the plastic
It’s a beautiful landscape, light drizzle, soft winds and a damp land. No NOISE just the harmony of nature. Since it has been raining the path is a little slippery which you can handle. We waded through numerous waterfalls – so fill you bottles there, check for leaches, pose for a pic – bushes, ridges, slopes and finally reached the peak.
Ah! The peak, we were in the clouds so it was an ocean of smoky milk around us. All of a sudden the wind and the rain started playing with us, to an extent that it we felt so hard to eat the lunch. It became so cold that all we wanted was to descend! It is during these times the fried things help us thank god we had potato and banana chips, wish we had got some spicy kodbale, nipattu, pakodas too. Descend started with a gravity and center of mass game because of gradient. It becomes even trickier if you have a backpack and add to it slippery rocks, paths and swamps. A solid 9 hours of complete body workout with a visual extravaganza
We got to our home stay, cleansed and left for Kalasa. Horanadu is near by, takes 20min in KSRTC. We had a date with Anu! – Goddess Annapoorneshwari, from there we left to B’lore with all our organs jubilating as they were intoxicated with an overdose of nature.
PS: My friend wrote this.
