Day 0 – Mayday
It was Friday and we still had not decided on where to go for the weekend. I generally prefer bike rides so I had been pressing to go to some place on our bikes. This time Amit had also returned from the US and he wanted an adventure. He was the one organizing this trip and was looking at different places we could spend our weekend at. Sometime in the afternoon, he saw a post on our Company Bulletin Board that some guys were planning a trek to Kumara Parvata over the weekend. Amit, immediately contacted them and soon we had a plan ready. Even, the cab was booked by the evening. We were to leave at night at around 10:00PM, reach the bottom of the hill, visit the famous temple there and start trekking at 8:00 AM.
I was not aware of what was happening as I had already committed that I would be ready to go anyplace anywhere they decide on. Anyways, I also thought that even if we are trekking it will not be more than 5 kms. It would be difficult but manageable as we all would be chatting around and time would pass just like that. I did not know that Kumara Parvata is the second highest peak after Dodapetta, Ooty in south India. I also did not know that it comprised of four-five hills of which the second last one is the highest and they planned to trek the whole range. That adds up to about 23 kms of trekking!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of my friends had already trekked one of the hills there during the monsoons and had showed me the leech marks on their legs. I was a bit disturbed at first but then it was no monsoon season and I figured that there would be no leeches.
As planned, the cab came to our place at about 10:00, and we all packed our bags and left for the hills. We were around 9 guys ready to hit the hills. The drive was nice; anyways, I did not feel anything as I was soon fast asleep which is normal for me on any trip in a cab.
Day 1 – The Torture Begins
We reached Subramanya in the morning at about 6:00 AM. Subramanya is situated at the foothills of western ghats in Dakshina Kannada district, famous for the Kukke Subramanya temple. The popular trail to the top of Kumaraparvatha, about 1800m tall, starts from here. There is a lake or river (I do not remember) near to temple where visitors took their morning bath before entering the temple. All of us ran towards the river to get a bath but only 2 actually got into the waters. The water was dirty and I couldn’t trek with the idea of trekking with dirt all over my body. Some people even ran for the Loo, but guess what???, man, I decided that I’m, gonna hold off till I get back to me sweet apartment. And thus the torture began!!!
After the guys visited the temple, we started on our trek. Some of the guys had already trekked before and knew where to find the trail that leads to the hill top. The idea of trekking for the first time in my life fired me up and we started on our journey. In my excitement, I was well ahead of the people and was like posing in all the photographs. Little did I know that this was just the start and by the time we completed the first hill, I would be half dead.
We climbed and climbed and climbed for hours to go. I dunno how much we climbed but we just kept on going. Our destination was 'Bhattara Mane' (Bhatt's house) where people stop over generally on this trek. It was situated on a plain after we covered the first hill. By the time we reached the place, I was really tired with all my joints aching like they would fall off any second. I cannot remember the trail; nothing on the way. But it was managable and I was glad that I came this far. It was nature all around, greenery and I just loved it. We reached 'Bhattara Mane' after some time. All the trekkers stop at this place for rest and food, and the Bhatt’s welcome them. One of many examples of the excellent hospitality which can only be found in the South Indian states. The food comprised of rice, sambar, butter milk and pickle. It was not of the quality I was used to in normal circumstances and I would never have had it if I was back home, but nevertheless it was extremely good since we were all very hungry and tired. I was so tired and hungry that I washed down three plates of rice!!! (BIG MISTAKE). We had to reach the third hill by night and hence only had about 1 hour of rest. The Bhatt’s place in made of mud and the feel of the cold mud against the legs was relaxing.
We soon started our trek again. I trekked for about half an hour only to realize that I have eaten much more than what was actually required. I couldn’t lift my legs; I was struggling to keep ahead with the rest of the gang. To add to me problems, the sun was high up in the sky and was draining away our energy. And there were no trees around; we saw a piece of land with trees but it was too far away. It didn’t make sense to waste energy to go there and then return after a few minutes. Now, the trek comprised of 5 minutes of trek and 20 minutes of rest.
I was glad that they had brought lots of oranges, chocolates and ready to eat packed food. On such treks if you do not carry this stuff, it is pretty obvious that you will dehydrate. I wanted to have an orange every 5 minutes but was only granted one every 2 hours or so. I understood later that, it is important that you save your resources for the later part of the journey. If we would have finished everything at the start itself, the rest of the journey would have been much more painful for each one of us.
Next we reach a place called the “Mantap”. The 'Mantap' was a pretty small shelter and with the mist and the risk of a possible downpour, it was a bit uneasy. It was built of stones. It was while trekking from up there that I saw three hills that we were to scale in front of me. I was done, finished. I thought that I would die here. I did not have the strength to take a single step. It was torture. I could only hear Paddy calling “Cmmon Justin, It’s just one more hill, we’ll camp on the next one”. It is in these situations that the human body really shows its resilience and power. Just listenening to Paddy, I completed the next two hills.
By the time we were on top of the third hill it was dark. We could not see anything; it was the first time I felt what blindness would be like. All we knew was that we were on top of the third hill with a forest on our left and a deep gorge on the right. Nevertheless, we put up our camps and got into our sleeping bags. I tried to sleep, but the cold and the pain in my body were not letting me to. Meanwhile, all the other guys were preparing a bonfire; for us to get heated up as well as cook up some food. I enjoyed the Tomato soup that was given to me and slowly blanked out. It was damn cold and we would wake up regularly throughout the night. The day was finally over.
Day 2 –I’m finally KP Certified
It was Friday and we still had not decided on where to go for the weekend. I generally prefer bike rides so I had been pressing to go to some place on our bikes. This time Amit had also returned from the US and he wanted an adventure. He was the one organizing this trip and was looking at different places we could spend our weekend at. Sometime in the afternoon, he saw a post on our Company Bulletin Board that some guys were planning a trek to Kumara Parvata over the weekend. Amit, immediately contacted them and soon we had a plan ready. Even, the cab was booked by the evening. We were to leave at night at around 10:00PM, reach the bottom of the hill, visit the famous temple there and start trekking at 8:00 AM.
I was not aware of what was happening as I had already committed that I would be ready to go anyplace anywhere they decide on. Anyways, I also thought that even if we are trekking it will not be more than 5 kms. It would be difficult but manageable as we all would be chatting around and time would pass just like that. I did not know that Kumara Parvata is the second highest peak after Dodapetta, Ooty in south India. I also did not know that it comprised of four-five hills of which the second last one is the highest and they planned to trek the whole range. That adds up to about 23 kms of trekking!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of my friends had already trekked one of the hills there during the monsoons and had showed me the leech marks on their legs. I was a bit disturbed at first but then it was no monsoon season and I figured that there would be no leeches.
As planned, the cab came to our place at about 10:00, and we all packed our bags and left for the hills. We were around 9 guys ready to hit the hills. The drive was nice; anyways, I did not feel anything as I was soon fast asleep which is normal for me on any trip in a cab.
Day 1 – The Torture Begins
We reached Subramanya in the morning at about 6:00 AM. Subramanya is situated at the foothills of western ghats in Dakshina Kannada district, famous for the Kukke Subramanya temple. The popular trail to the top of Kumaraparvatha, about 1800m tall, starts from here. There is a lake or river (I do not remember) near to temple where visitors took their morning bath before entering the temple. All of us ran towards the river to get a bath but only 2 actually got into the waters. The water was dirty and I couldn’t trek with the idea of trekking with dirt all over my body. Some people even ran for the Loo, but guess what???, man, I decided that I’m, gonna hold off till I get back to me sweet apartment. And thus the torture began!!!
After the guys visited the temple, we started on our trek. Some of the guys had already trekked before and knew where to find the trail that leads to the hill top. The idea of trekking for the first time in my life fired me up and we started on our journey. In my excitement, I was well ahead of the people and was like posing in all the photographs. Little did I know that this was just the start and by the time we completed the first hill, I would be half dead.
We climbed and climbed and climbed for hours to go. I dunno how much we climbed but we just kept on going. Our destination was 'Bhattara Mane' (Bhatt's house) where people stop over generally on this trek. It was situated on a plain after we covered the first hill. By the time we reached the place, I was really tired with all my joints aching like they would fall off any second. I cannot remember the trail; nothing on the way. But it was managable and I was glad that I came this far. It was nature all around, greenery and I just loved it. We reached 'Bhattara Mane' after some time. All the trekkers stop at this place for rest and food, and the Bhatt’s welcome them. One of many examples of the excellent hospitality which can only be found in the South Indian states. The food comprised of rice, sambar, butter milk and pickle. It was not of the quality I was used to in normal circumstances and I would never have had it if I was back home, but nevertheless it was extremely good since we were all very hungry and tired. I was so tired and hungry that I washed down three plates of rice!!! (BIG MISTAKE). We had to reach the third hill by night and hence only had about 1 hour of rest. The Bhatt’s place in made of mud and the feel of the cold mud against the legs was relaxing.
We soon started our trek again. I trekked for about half an hour only to realize that I have eaten much more than what was actually required. I couldn’t lift my legs; I was struggling to keep ahead with the rest of the gang. To add to me problems, the sun was high up in the sky and was draining away our energy. And there were no trees around; we saw a piece of land with trees but it was too far away. It didn’t make sense to waste energy to go there and then return after a few minutes. Now, the trek comprised of 5 minutes of trek and 20 minutes of rest.
I was glad that they had brought lots of oranges, chocolates and ready to eat packed food. On such treks if you do not carry this stuff, it is pretty obvious that you will dehydrate. I wanted to have an orange every 5 minutes but was only granted one every 2 hours or so. I understood later that, it is important that you save your resources for the later part of the journey. If we would have finished everything at the start itself, the rest of the journey would have been much more painful for each one of us.
Next we reach a place called the “Mantap”. The 'Mantap' was a pretty small shelter and with the mist and the risk of a possible downpour, it was a bit uneasy. It was built of stones. It was while trekking from up there that I saw three hills that we were to scale in front of me. I was done, finished. I thought that I would die here. I did not have the strength to take a single step. It was torture. I could only hear Paddy calling “Cmmon Justin, It’s just one more hill, we’ll camp on the next one”. It is in these situations that the human body really shows its resilience and power. Just listenening to Paddy, I completed the next two hills.
By the time we were on top of the third hill it was dark. We could not see anything; it was the first time I felt what blindness would be like. All we knew was that we were on top of the third hill with a forest on our left and a deep gorge on the right. Nevertheless, we put up our camps and got into our sleeping bags. I tried to sleep, but the cold and the pain in my body were not letting me to. Meanwhile, all the other guys were preparing a bonfire; for us to get heated up as well as cook up some food. I enjoyed the Tomato soup that was given to me and slowly blanked out. It was damn cold and we would wake up regularly throughout the night. The day was finally over.
Day 2 –I’m finally KP Certified
We woke up early in the morning. We could see a couple of other trekkers climbing towards us. That was a relief, I thought, at least people do trek this place. We quickly packed our backpacks and started descending down. We had to reach the Kumara Parvata by the afternoon so that we can reach the bottom by evening and return. I soon realized that I am not able to walk properly. My hip joint was paining badly. I wanted to stop; I wanted a chopper to come down, pick me up and take me back to civilization. But, I could never have given up. I thought, if I cannot do this, I definitely will not be able to face the challenges in life. Plus, I will be made fun of each and every time I look into the faces of these other guys. I had to carry on.
We trekked, and trekked as we climbed over near vertical stone hills, and finally by the afternoon were at the top of the awesome Kumara Parvata. There was a small temple kind of structure there. We took some snaps there, had a chat with the other guys. They confirmed that this is indeed the top of Kumaraparvatha. I just fell down there and slept under the sun for around 1 hour. Finally, I have done it. I am KP certified now. I am a real trekker now!
Returning was painful, very painful. I do not remember how we did it. I do not remember the trail we took. I just remember that there were lots of rocks and we were just carefully, slowly climbing down. We would fall down anywhere to rest. The terrain, mud, dirt, nothing was a problem then. Everything seemed so small. We reached our pick up point in the evening and the sight of our cab made us excited; we wanted to just run and get into it. But nobody had the energy to even get up and we just silently waited for it to come to us. Finally, I am going home!!!!
To give you an overview of the trek difficulty, the terrain is tough, the weather is mostly on the extremes, water is scarce and it is very difficult at any point to know where you are. So, it is quite an achievement to actually cover this mountain range.
At this point, I would like to thank Amit for this wonderful experience and for helping me out at the trip. He did carry my back pack for quite some time when I was totally worn out.
To view the photos of the trip, please click on the links below:
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