A long one !!! Kumara Parvatha trek... Check! Said to be the one of the difficult treks in Karnataka, I always wanted to attempt it and wanted to test my endurance levels.. but I was bit skeptical about doing it as I never did moderate treks also till now and this one is of 26 + kms.. But somehow I made my mind to give it a try...
Initial plan was to reach Bhattara Mane by evening on day 1 and camp there and reach the top of KP, get down to Bhattara Mane for camping on day 2 and getting down to Kukke temple from Bhattara Mane on Day3..
Coming to the trek day, we reached Kukke Subramanyam temple at around 1 P.M in the afternoon, had some lunch there and got ready for the trek..after 20 minutes of walk we reached the trek starting point.. The first stretch(5km) is gradual steep ascend through thick and dense forests.. it was bit difficult to climb in the starting with the heavy backpack but after sometime got adjusted with it..after crossing this forests, we entered the grasslands which is quite flat trail and it is the point where Bhattara Mane(Bhatt's house) is located.One shouldn't miss the beautiful sunset from this place. After 4 hours of climbing we reached the first view point near Bhattara Mane and we rested on those benches for a while... We were informed by some people that the trek is closed the next day and the forest officers also told the same due to some virus issue and to avoid forest fires.. We had some dinner and pitched tents to sleep.The organizer told that they will make some other plan as the trek is closed. We were disappointed at that point of time until forest officers came and told us that we were allowed to trek but we shouldn't carry any mobile phones or cameras. We had huge sigh of relief.The officers told that we should start the trek as early as 4 A.M. We woke up next morning and got ready by 4:30 A.M and started the trek towards the peak. The day 2 first part(climb up) seemed easy than the previous day as we don't have any luggage to carry. The views are just spectacular from the Shesha Parvatha with lush greenery all around and stunning peaks...After reaching Shesha Parvatha we have to descend down for a while through the dense forests and then ascend the huge rock which leads to the Kumara Parvatha peak..We rested there for a while and took some pics there (though none of us carried our mobile phones,we got some beautiful pictures and memories forever which were captured in Deepak's go pro which he carried 😀).It took us 3.5 - 4 hours to reach the KP peak.
Time to descend down - We started descending towards Bhattara Mane and for me descending down became very very painful than ascending may be because of the shoes which I wore..the toes were crushed and with that pain only descended down very slowly(like very very very slow that I was the last person to reach Bhattara Mane).Thanks to the organizer Anil for his patience, support and help.He organized everything pretty good..We had some lunch at Bhattara Mane and took some rest then started descending down towards Kukke... First few minutes of descending down was fine and then again it became difficult for me because of the backpack.. By seeing my troubles, Anil offered me help that he would carry my heavy backpack... He was already carrying couple of bags, did enough help everytime and I don't wanted to trouble him by giving him one more backpack.. I descended down slowly and steadily by taking some small breaks in between and it took around 4 hours to reach down to starting point. It took me 15.5-16 hours to complete this 26 km of trek and I felt very happy after accomplishing it :) Never thought I could complete this trek !
Though it seemed very painful at times, it is worth.. The stunning views, the feel that you get when you reach the top is unforgettable.. I met some strong minded souls who in the trek where I could learn a lot from each and everyone of them.. Thanks all of you :)
