KUMARA PARVATHA TREK
Pushpagiri or Kumara Parvatha(KP in short) is believed to be a Trekker's Paradise. Standing at 1712 meters, this Gaint, taking almost everything even from an experienced trekker is said to be the toughest Trek in Karnataka. Kumara Parvatha has been one of the most longed places
I have wanted to visit. Finally it became a reality on 01 Jan 2013. So I
(Sunil) along with two others (Kiran and Manu) decided to take a shot at it on 31 Dec 2012. All of us were very much exited that we are about to trek KP.
KP can be accessed by 2 routes:
1.
Temple Route: Take a left from the temple and
follow the Tar road (1.2 km). There you will find a board that points the beginning of your Trek. From there on, you will have to keep
moving on the trail that is created by Thousands of trekkers where you will
reach Girigadde and then to the Peak.
2.
Somvarpet Route: Reach Somvarpet through Bus and
take a Bus to Beedalli. From there to Shantha Mallikarjuna Temple --> Beedalli RFO --> Peak.
We decided to Trek from Somvarpet Route and took our Bus to
Somvarpet on 31 Dec 2012. The Bus filled with people left Majestic at 22:10
hrs and we reached Bellur cross at about 00:30 hrs. The Bus stopped at MTR
(Manjunateshwara Tiffin Rooms) were we had Idly and Coffee. We reached
Somvarpet at 04:30 hrs on 01 Jan 2013.
 |
| At Somvarpet (Manu and Kiran) |
We had a light Tiffin as our Bus was scheduled to come at
07:00 hrs. At 07:00 hrs, a bus named “BhagyaLakshmi” reached Somvarpet and we
it left at 07:25 hrs. According to the Locals there, Beedalli is about 23 Kms
from Somvarpet. We took Tickets to beedalli (25 Rs per person) and got down
before Beedalli. This is because we wanted to see Mallalli falls. So we had to
Trek 3 Km from the main road to reach the falls. There one has to pay an entry
fee of Rs. 5 per person. Vehicles as Big as Tempo Travelers can also reach the
fall with little difficulty. The view of the falls was spectacular. One can
even go down to the fall but it would take some time (Chances can be taken if you’re
not going to trek KP).
 |
| Mallalli Falls |
We didn’t waste much time and hence we took a forest road to
the left of the Falls. Following the path we came across a small stream. After
crossing the stream was our first obstacle. We were stuck between 2 roads : one
to move straight and the other right. We took the Straight Path and kept moving
till we could find a few houses (Guess 4-5 houses). Just 100 mts from the Houses is a tar road (Take Right)
which takes you to Shantha Mallikarjuna Temple which was about 3.5 km from
there.
 |
| Shantha Mallikarjuna Temple |
 |
| Pongal |
The Temple is a very nice place as u get cold water and
sometimes Food as well. We got Pongal as prasada there. We filled our water
Bottles and left for the peak at 12:15 hrs and reached Beedalli RFO at 12:45
hrs (About 1 Km from the Temple).
 |
| Beedalli RFO |
At the RFO, one has to pay Rs. 200 to get an entry into the
Forest. The Peak is about 07 Km from the RFO. You will find a broken bridge at
the start of your trek near the RFO. There are Regular sign boards every 0.25
Km from the RFO (although you may feel that the distance on boards are wrong).
On the way to the peak you will find 2 steep mountains (around 2.5 km to the
Peak). The first one is smaller while the second one can make you cry ;-).
After you cross the second mountain, Peak is just about 10 min from there. (It
mentions as 2.0 km to the peak near the 2nd mountain but that is
wrong). Unfortunately our luggage was
way too large for us to cross the 2nd mountain and hence we decided
to move back (Thinking the remaining 2.0 Km will be of many such mountains) and
took a diversion to Girigadde (One can find 3 sign boards there: one to the
Peak, the 2nd to Girigadde and the 3rd to Beedalli RFO). Probably
the worst decision we took because of which we had to suffer later.
So we had to trek another 6.75 Km to reach Girigadde. Sooner
or later our Trek started to push ourselves to the limits. What was once a
pleasure Trek became one hell of a nightmare.
1.
Firstly there are no sign Boards from the
diversion. Hence finding your way out is very difficult. Nor will u find a unique
Trekkers path.(The only thing that helped us was the covers of chocolates,
debris of fruits, water bottles, etc) The routes are very confusing and hence
if u don’t want to risk yourself from being lost in the forest, ALWAYS TAKE A
GUIDE.
2.
The 6.75 km route is almost impossible to Trek
especially with your Backpacks filled. Since you would have Trekked more than
10 Km, you feel very exhausted pushing your body to the limits.
We then reached another Point (2 Routes: one to the Peak and
the other to Girigadde RFO). Since we didn’t know the Route (Trekking KP for
the first time), v decided to take the route that goes downwards. All of a
sudden, the Fog to over and we couldn’t see anything. Our priority was to pitch
the Tents right there and then search for Firewood (Always pile up firewood
before it gets dark). The time then was around 17:30 Hrs (05:30 pm).Manu went
searching for the Firewood while me and Kiran began Pitching the Tents. All that
Manu can get was a few sticks. Manu prepared Maggie(Which only Manu ate) and
the fire went off. The winds began to Blow and all the three got inside the
Tents.
All that we could hope was the night to end soon as we knew
it wasn’t the right place to camp. We tried calling the RFO officials (we took
their numbers when we paid the entry fee) but the Signal was NIL. We used to
get the Signal sometimes and it used to vanish the same way. Somewhere around
23:30 hrs(11:30 Pm) we could connect to the RFO numbers but they weren’t
answered on the other end. So we left msg’s to both the RFO’s(Beedalli and Girigadde).
Not knowing what to do v even tried calling Battaramane where Mr. Bhat answered
our call but could speak for just a few seconds coz the signal went off. We
tried explaining our location to Mr. Bhat with the best possible description
(The location we camped was just above Kallumantapa).
After that we couldn’t get the signal and then the Winds
began Blowing. It was so strong that we felt as though our tents were being
taken off from the ground and all the three couldn’t sleep the whole night.
Next morning we could see some light (around 06:30 hrs) and then we went to
sleep. Kiran got up at 07:15 hrs and he could see 3 others getting down from
the Peak. It was a great sign of Relief as we got to know that we were on the
Right way(Till then we didn’t know where v were.) At around 07:30, all of us
got up and we began to move downwards to Girigadde. We reached Girigadde RFO at
10:00 hrs where the Official was also in relief as we had sent him msg’s the
last night. He then informed the RFO at Girigadde about our arrival. (Both the
RFO’s keeps the other informed about the entry and exit of the Trekkers as to keep track about the Number of Trekkers who entered and
came back safely).
The Official also informed us about a few Trekkers being lost
in the Jungle and their safe return. One such Trekker had been in the Forest
for 4 days before he could be traced. We then started moving towards
Battaramane which is about 10 Min from the RFO(U can find a Tower near
Battaramane). When we reached Battaramane we were informed that the Food would
take another 30 min and we all rested there. The food cost us 80 per person and
one has to serve Food for himself there. We had Rice and Sambar, along with
Butter Milk and Pickle.
Done with Eating we began moving downwards to Kukke
Subramanya (were informed at Battaramane that kukke was 07 Km from there). But
I’m sure that everyone who trekked KP would say it was more than 07 km. Finally
we reached Kukke at around 14:00 hrs bringing an END to our Trek.
Things we would like to Suggest other Trekkers if this is your
first time:
- Carry a Backpack as light as Possible. Every single gram reduced is a boon to you.
- Carry plenty
of water. The only water resources are near Santha mallikarjuna Temple, Kallumantapa, Battaramane and RFO’s.
- Candies provide instant energy and also prevents your mouth from drying.
- Do not
panic if you’re lost. Losing hope means losing yourself.
- Do not
throw garbage everywhere. There are a lot of Bins present throughout the
Route.
- If this is your
First time, take a Guide if you’re
not in Groups.
- Get a good Camping Tent. Sleeping bags may be deleted as it is just dead weight.
- Make sure to put the Fire off after you’re done with it.
- Do not
harm the Natural Habitat.
- Carry
good amount of food if you’re trekking from Somvarpet Route coz after
Somvarpet, your next food source is Battaramane.
- Always carry
Dry fruits as they are best source of energy than anything else.
- Girigadde RFO Contact Person : Jairaj (9449475506)
- Battaramane Contact Number: 9448647947
- Best season to visit : October to February
- Leeches are very common post monsoon. So remember to carry some salt.
It still haunts us
that we couldn’t reach the Peak. But for sure we are coming back at you KP.
