Cloud Covered Horse's face: Kuduremukha

We reached a small village called Balgal at 6.15 am and were taken to Mullodi by jeeps. The jeep track was really slushy as it might have rained there. The distance was 6 kms. We were at Raju Gowda's home stay at Mullodi by 6.45 am. We freshened up and had breakfast of pulao. We were also given packed lunch to carry. The view from there was amazing. From here, we get to see many peaks around and the Somavati River. By 8.15 am, we were ready for the trek and headed to the forest office for permission and seek the guide. Prakash, the guide, was a very nice person. They told us that we had to leave early so that we can return from top before 2pm. It also seemed that hundreds were trekking that day. It was 8.30 am when we started the trek and the trail was very scenic with hills, forest, grassland and streams. There were many wild flowers around. Though we saw few leeches, it was not as comparable to the earlier treks. Many of us were also wearing leech-proof socks.

We arrived at a large meadow around 10 am where we stopped for group photo. With about 10 minutes break; we moved forward crossing streams and forests. The young legs of Bhargav and Poorna were clearly fastest. The trail was moderate. We get to see ruins of a house that is supposed to be belonging to the maharajas of Mysore and also an old church. Around noon, we were at a place called "onti mara", a single tree, from where we were supposed to see the horse face, but the dense fog made it difficult. 

The next trail was again through shola forests, crossing a creek and steep grasslands through zigzag path.Water from streams was very refreshing. We were on the peak around 12:30, and there was jubilation. We had summited one more peak! The view all around was amazing with clouds running everywhere. We got a glimpse of Beltangadi town from the top.

We had the packed lunch, jumped around, posed for photographs for some time and started descending at 2pm. The descent was steep and tricky at some places. Most of us reached the forest office by 5:30 pm. Notable thing was the whole trail did not have plastic or trash which reflects improving awareness among the trekkers.

Guruprasad and Sujith got delayed and came much later, leading to some anxiety for us, but there were other teams returning in the darkness of the forest. Around 7pm there was campfire set. There were so many groups. We were given the rooms, but we realized that there were many who stayed in tents; some provided by the home stay, some had brought their own. There was merry time all around and people were singing. At times it sounded like jugal-bandi between different groups. It was a chilli night and the owners provide enough blankets. We had good sleep and woke up early the next morning. The sight of sun rays falling on the peaks in front of the home stay was enthralling. There were nice paddus (rice balls) for breakfast. We had sumptuous food and went for a bath to Somavati river by 9.30 am. The water was cold and refreshing. Sitting below the full force of water was a nice experience and we thoroughly enjoyed the shower.

Around 11.20am, we left Raju Gouda's place by jeep for Balgal. We had lunch at a small restaurant in Kottigehara town. On the way back, we played dumb charade in the vehicle and it was lot of fun. We stopped for tea around 2.15pm and were home by evening.

It is nice to keep going close to nature again and again and celebrate the beauty of nature as responsible trekkers. I wish to thank Hari for excellent organization and all my friends for a fantastic company.

This post was originally published on Balu Treks.