Escape to the Mountains – An Adventure near Kodanadu

An old post (drafted in Jun 2006) long-lost in drafts. Read here the first day’s story.

When we woke on day two, we were already behind 2 hours as per our plan. Breakfast was at Kotagiri and also we got our lunch packed. By the time we reached our trek start point Kodanadu viewpoint, it was already 10. With Sun blazing above our heads we started down to Thengumarahada. The descent started from an altitude of 2000 meters to 350 meters and a total distance of 16-17 KMs.

After a long 30 KMs trek the previous day from Bikkapathimund to Siriyur and back to Ebbinad, our legs were not coping with us. As we dragged ourselves down the zig-zag path through the slopes covered with grass, heaps of elephant dung welcomed us. The excitement of the pachyderms present somewhere around us alerted us and in a way made us to forget our tiredness. But that didn’t last long when the forest guard told us that they are more than a week old and the elephants are long gone from that area. Within few minutes, a pair of horns rose up from the tall grass some 50-60 meters away from us. A lone Gaur (Indian Bison) was staring at us. After few seconds of exchanging glances, the Bison disappeared into the slopes. Rest of the descent got most of us involved in most of the people narrating their experiences.

Slowly the slope turned into a flat ground and a small river was in front of us. After a leisurely bath and lunch by the river side, we took off to our end point Thengumarahada. With tired legs & heavy stomach we moved in snail’s pace giving every silly excuse to sit/take rest. Both us and the Sun reached our destinations almost at the same time. After dinner, it was time for a night safari as we heard from the forest officer that there were couple of elephants and a leopard in the vicinity. We managed to get a glimpse of the leopard from our vehicle, not once but twice. Content and tired, then it was bedtime.

Next day was the return journey where we also happened to visit BR hills. Thanks to my sleeping skills, I managed to sleep most of the journey and missed sighting of few animals in BR hills.