Woohooo!! I was on top of the world. I finally completed Kumara Parvatha 10 times, with 9 times being in this year itself (2015). Tenth time lucky. Why lucky? Read on to find out.
I was to do the trek alone as it was Friday and I had still not found anyone to accompany me on it. However, I was not feeling all that down because I got word that my trekking friends DK and Raj were coming there with a group, but they would be starting from the Somwarpet side. I was starting from Kukke side and was looking forward to meeting them on the peak. The bus reached Subramanya town at around 6AM (now that Shiradi ghat road was back in business). I went along my usual routine (yes routine, because I did KP almost every weekend, back to back for a month) of sleeping in the choultry for an hour, clicking pictures of the temple and Sesha Parvatha in the background, and having breakfast. I started for the trail at around 8.30.
After reaching the grassland just below Bhat's house (bhatramane), I decided to rest for a while as this was to be my first KP trek where I decided to run the second half of the trail. I had brought my trail running bag along with me.
I reached the forest APC (Anti-Poaching Camp) at around 10AM and since they(the forest officer and his assistants) were too bored of seeing me there week after week (:P), I decided to leave my trekking bag there and start for the peak immediately.
This was one of my treks to KP where I saw absolutely no one else while on the way to the forest check post. So, Jairaj, the forest officer told me to wait a while for someone to come along with whom I could go with. As much as I wanted to start running all alone, I quietly acquiesced to this. After waiting for 10 minutes, a guy called Anand came over and to my luck, he too had come alone, and so Jairaj asked us to go as a group. Since I had plans of running the rest of the way, I was worried that this guy would slow me down and that I would not be able to run. Talk about regular trekker problems!! The irony was that I was more worried about him slowing me down, than of me running all alone in the wild with no one for company. I guess that's what coming here week after week does to you. Your threat perception level goes for a toss!
I literally had to remind myself that all the threats were the same and will remain the same, no matter how many times I come here. Another reason I wanted to get to the peak fast was because since DK's group was starting from Somwarpet, they had only 7 km's to cover and would be able to do it in half a day's time. After a quick introduction and some small talk, we were on our way. It turned out that he too was a pretty fast trekker. At any point of time, I was only 2 or 3 minutes ahead of him. After chatting him up for some time I got to know that he too was a regular trekker and has been to way more peaks in the Western ghats than me. From Sesha Parvatha onwards, we trekked together. I told him that I was expecting some friends from the other side. The cloud show was absolutely stunning and weather was just fantastic for a trek. We reached the peak, had lunch and napped for more than an hour, but DK's group was still nowhere to be seen. It was 2.30 now.
After waiting for another half hour, we decided to slowly trek back to the forest check post and then call it a day. Many groups kept coming up or going down with us. We even saw some groups who just came from Somwarpet. We got down slowly and reached the forest check post exactly at dusk. It was very noisy all around the APC as many groups camped here. Bhattramane was already full with trekkers and over its capacity. Both of us had dinner at the office and I slept in the veranda of the hut. Anand wanted to sleep inside. I relished each and every second of the cold wind and dew that fell through the night.
We woke up early next morning to a nice sunny day. Since Anand was eager to start early and spend time admiring nature at Sesha Parvatha and Kumara parvatha, he left along with all the other groups at around 6AM. I decided to sleep for 3 more hours knowing that I would reach the peak well in time to meet DK's group who would be descending at that time. That this was going to be the best decision that I've ever taken in all my treks there, I would not know until I started trekking at 9 AM.
I started at my usual brisk pace since again, it was only the trail running bag that I carried and it was very light as compared to my trekking bag. There was no one else around for quite some distance in front of, or behind me. This was because I had started late. I was only a few meters from the forest check post when, all of a sudden in my peripheral vision, I saw something the color of a rock move. I looked up and stopped abruptly right in my tracks!! It was a muscular Indian bison or Gaur. 1000 kilograms of pure muscle!! I had spotted Malabar giant squirrels, pit vipers, and even a spectacled Cobra on my other treks to KP, but never an animal as big as a Gaur.
 |
| Hello there! |
 |
| The Stare |
 |
| Bye bye...........!! |
Boy, were they a sight for sore eyes!! After trekking alone for one and a half days, it felt good to be in the company of friends. Since they were going to be trekking slowly, I told them I would visit the peak and then join them later on. I went to the peak, updated a few people on Whatsapp, and then rejoined the group just a few meters below Sesha Parvatha.
We chatted a lot, and I got to know that their tempo traveler had reached Somwarpet late the previous day and because of this, they could reach the peak only by evening. They also described in detail how bone chilling cold it was on the peak the previous night and early today morning and how beautiful the cloud cover was in the morning. We got back to the forest camp area, I picked up the rest of my stuff, and then went to Bhat's house for lunch, which was Sambar rice. Not bad for a place where we were supposed to be carrying our own food in the first place.
After that sumptuous lunch, DK, Abhi, and I were in the mood to run down the last stretch (7km) of forest that would take us to the main road. So with that, we left the main group, ran down till the stream, took a bath there, and then sprinted towards the main road. I found it very difficult to keep up with DK and Abhi, as they had much more stamina than me and I was also carrying my heavy tarpaulin sheet. I somehow kept up with them and then we all had tender coconut water at one of the houses in the village. The group joined us after 30 minutes or so. We then went to the temple area and had dinner at one of the overcrowded restaurants. I then had to take leave of them as they were leaving for Bangalore in their tempo and I had a KSRTC bus at 930.
It was an amazing trek, and I would definitely be able to tell this trek apart from the other 9 times that I've come here, because that's how awesome it was. Had I joined the group right at the beginning, the trek would not have been as exciting as it was. The bison sighting, making new friends, the excitement of meeting friends at the peak, camping at the forest check post. All these things added to the suspense and thrill of the trek, and that is why I cherished each and every moment of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment