Beginning of the trek | Next >>
Friday, May 18th 2007, eleven of us started from Bangalore towards Kuduremukha. Picking up everyone from nook & corner of the city took two hours and unfortunately I was the first one to get into the vehicle. Around 11 PM, we stopped near Nelamangala for dinner and took off. We reached Horanadu by 7, next morning. After a quick bath, paid a visit to Horanadu Sri Annapoorneshwari temple. From there we went to Samse via Kalasa, where we were planning to hire a jeep to the trek starting point.
Seven of us got down in Samse village with luggage, while the rest went to Kuduremukha town to get permission from the forest department. Our plan was to hire a jeep at Samse till Mullodi, (last village, afterwards its Kuduremukha National Park range). From there, trek till Lobo’s house and camp. On day two, start early, reach summit & back, pack-up, trek back to Mullodi, take the jeep back to Samse by evening and back in Bangalore by Monday morning. But, the whole plan changed as no one is allowed to stay/camp overnight inside national park premises & entry was restricted for just 12 hours time – 6AM to 6PM next day.
We changed plan accordingly. Instead of hiring a jeep, we started our trek first leg of from Basarikallu gate to Mullodi village. It was noon by the time we started. And we moved along the dusty jeep track towards Mullodi slowly on a hot mid-summer noon. The group moved slowly, stopping for breaks, sipping energy drinks and water. We took 3 hours to reach Mullodi, an approximate distance of 8 KMs.
Reached Mullodi village tired, thirsty, drenched in sweat. As soon as we heard there is enough water in the nearby falls – ‘Somavathi falls’, we almost ran towards it.
Continued…
Related links:Some random photos taken during the trek – here & here
My next post is also going to be on trekking in the rains. We had hired a Qualis.
Kuduremukha is the best place to trek, we must make it there again when it rains 🙂
Waiting for the next post.
And, to note, I am the only person who didnt have a slip in the somavathi falls 😉