Kudremukh Trek

I came to Bangalore because of a job change, I have never been to southern part of India afore. I emanate from Varanasi and have been on several treks. Southern part of India is lot different from North so as their mountains. We cannot compare these apexes of Western Ghats to the hills & Apexes of north but this is altogether a different experience. I was feeling scarcely solitary here & had no conception about the options to rejuvenate myself. One of my friend, who is turning into a professional mountaineer offered to visit Kudremukh peak which prevaricates in the Kudremukh National Park, the idea clicked and plan was materialized in the following weekend.

Kudremukh is a desolate place because of ban imposed on mining, the most proximate town is Kalsa. I didn't expect much from this peregrination but I was erroneous & I am blissful about it.We boarded an overnight bus around 11:00 PM from Bangalore to Kudremukh town, we were not vigilant that initially we require to take an approval from the forest department, fortuitously we met with a group which was heading to the same destination & it was an immense group & four people were absent so they had space to accommodate us with them. We reached Shamse by 4:00 AM, the atmosphere was remotely arctic it felt astonishing though there is nothing spectacular about shamse, there are some two or three shops & an over bridge which connects to the national park road.Here comes the best part "Jeep Ride”, I have peregrinated in Jeeps several time but can't explicate this feeling. The roads were rough & soil was loose. It was virtually a six km roller coaster ascent, I felt like doing a river rafting in a boat though there was no river or a boat.In Kudremukh National Park, night stay is not sanctioned however we were fortuitous to be with this group & manage to stay in the forest department office, they charged us for the lodging & victuals but it was awe-inspiring.Commenced our Journey in 5:00 AM in the morning, it was a moderate trek of 8 KM (one way), in the commencement it was facile but as day got more effulgent the heat commenced taking its effect. I admit that this trek was different from other treks which I had been to, you have to be yare for the sear heat. It was an astounding feeling though, I was feeling like that I am solitary in this wilderness though it was erroneous. :)Trek had its effect & by the time I came back to our hideout, I was exhausted, to my luck I was carrying my slumber bag & a bottle of Rum. The caretaker was a nice lady, she arranged a bon-fire for us & cooked ambrosial meal though I can't designate what I had in dinner because of my lack of cognizance.The feeling was sublime, after an 18 km trek, sitting underneath open empyrean, besides fire & counting stars....Next morning again boarded Jeep to Shamse but this time it was a decent & less thrilling (maybe I was expecting this) .

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Kudremukh (Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka)