Travel Log #2
Kudremukh Peak
Location: Chikkamagaluru
Altitude: 1892m
Surmounted on: 20th February Saturday 2021
The day I became an Orophile...
So, a plan to Shivangange Hills was wrecked and in turn replaced with a blessing in disguise, a trek to Kudremukh. A fortuitous call from my friend brought me the opportunity to trek this beautiful and scenic mountain. It was decided in a matter of seconds thanks to the well planned itinerary available provided by Bangalore Mountaineering Club (https://www.bmcadventures.com). BMC is a genuine and passionate Trek Organizer! It was really a call from Heaven for solo travelers like me to get to know about BMC.
With the trip booked, we started Friday night and reached the base camp, Bella Home Stay around 3:45 a.m. In a commodious room we had a quick nap before we started our adventurous and arduous trek to Kudremukh peak. After a satisfying breakfast, from the homestay we were taken to the mountain base around 8 a.m. in a Jeep.
I must appreciated the proprietors and authorities of Kudremukh National Park for they maintain the area well and scrutinize the trekkers baggages thoroughly for plastics before we are allowed to enter. Yes, plastics are banned inside National Park in order to protect and conserve biodiversity. And with much enthusiasm and exuberance we started the trek, the first three kilometers of which was easy. But it was just a teaser which hardly revealed what's about to come.
Firstly, I have never trekked before. I had travelled to Antara Gange Hill two years before but apart from that I have hardly trekked. Kudremukh is considered to be a "Moderate" difficulty level among trekkers. And I being a beginner felt it really difficult. There were lot of streams running across the trek path, quenching our thrust with chilled and tasty water. After making 5kms with a mundane number song, singing it to myself and in the process irritating my friend, my enthusiasm and energy faded away. So it did for most of the others. But not my perseverance. I did take some pit stops in the first few kms but after that I was persistent in making to the peak and never stopped anywhere until I reached the peak. In fact, I was the first one among the BMC group to reach the peak FIRST. Do you believe? I never even had that in mind or dreamed of it. I thought it would be a miracle to make it to the top. To surmount the peak FIRST, on my first Trek, that's an achievement,
Oh Yeah !!!
Eventually, we needed to get some rest and relaxation at the peak which we did and had our packed lunches provided by the Homestay. It was time to take my iPad out and click some snaps. And then I tried getting a nap which nature politely denied me. Among the giggling banters we had during the respite, we named a peak just opposite to Kudremukh as Aanemukh since it resembled an elephant silhouette; Kudremukh - Kudre means Horse, Mukh meaning face.
MY KUDREMUKH GALLERY
We started descending from the peak at 1:00 p.m. and I must say it was much more daring and challenging to get down than it was while ascending. I had to etch it in my mind that I need to take more precaution while descending from peak than on the way up. This was because, there were dangerously slipping mud surfaces wherein you could slide to an excruciating injury even if you were careless for a fraction of a second. Every step, the way you take counted, literally! And without missing, I did take a memorable dip in one of the streams and collected pebbles for souvenirs, the most memorable one of which was a stick that Nature had gifted me in the most natural form.
With blessings from the almighty and proper caution I finally arrived alive at the mountain base by 5:00pm and returned to the home stay. The only regret I had was that I was not able to see any form of wildlife during the trek. Anyways, I have long way to go because...
Kudremukh was just the FIRST of many trips to come, and I will definitely be getting back to see my Aanemukh soon.
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