The little mountain

Wait for me....!!

Shouted my beloved friend, late again this time as the bus that would take us to Mangalore had arrived and was almost about to leave. With all excitement packed for lunch with us we were all set to conquer yet another big guy. Adios!! , we shouted as the bus finally left. KumaraParvatha, here we come!

Kumara Parvatha or Pushpagiri , at 1,712 meters (5,617ft) is the highest peak in the Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It is located in the Somwarpet Taluk, 20 kilometers from Somwarpet in the northern part of Kodagu district. It is 6th highest peak of Karnataka and a tourist paradise. 

  

It takes about an hour and a half from Mangalore to Kukke, and from there on the journey on foot begins. Having had our breakfast in an inn at the heart of the Kukke town we were all set to go. The road that leads to the mountain is right beside the Kukke Subramanya temple. Lord Subramanya is one of the highly revered dieties in the region and the temple sees thousands of visitors on a daily basis. With all the blessings of the lord, we started our journey and what was to be one of the best experiences of my life.

So we set off! It was a good 15 kilometers trek to the top and we had to make it by daylight lest it would get even more difficult for us. Our biggest enemy! One who will slowly creep over you and you wont know what hit you. It will stick on to you as if you're Anjelina Jolie and never leave you.Not for anything! You overlook this one and you're doomed to terrible suffering.The leach. It will suck the life out of you and you wont feel it a tad bit but what follows will be a dreadful sight! So always carry some salt! Yes sir!. But we didn't have any, and so we prayed.

The initial part was a trail through the forest. After half an hour of walking we were slowly beginning to climb. It was cloudy day and the journey was pleasant. Through the forest you'll find a few places where there are streams running and these are your refills throughout the journey. The trek is strenuous and its highly advised that each person carry a water bottle for refill. A stop at the water bodies and back to climbing. On the way we met two trekkers who were from the same city as us and we chatted for a while before moving on. Who knew we'd spend the the night that was to come with them.

Through the forest

Occasionally we would pause for a group photo, and after a great number of selfie's and very public monkey-like acting we would resume our journey. The view is beautiful once you exit the dome of the forest cover, and it only gets better as the journey progresses. Time for lunch you say? 'Bhattra mane' it is!!

Out of the forest

One thing you don't need to worry about if you want to trek Kumar Parvatha is food!! Yes! Thanks to Bhattru we'd all have plenty to eat just at the time when we have no more energy to take us further. If one leaves at around 9 a.m in the morning then one can make it to the 'Bhattra mane' at around 12 noon. Just about time for lunch!

A view of Bhattra Mane

It's really fascinating how this place came to be. It is in the middle of nowhere! From far you can notice huge plantations and commercial growing of Arecanut and others of the kind. It's like finding platinum in a world of gold!!

Mesmerized by the very existence of a place like this at this altitude and amidst such forest cover, we walked into Bhattra mane for what was to be a very hearty feel.

You could say the journey began now! At this height you begin to feel the wind and the world below seems like a distant entity. It's really beautiful form here and what one could call the 'Stairway to heaven'. We had many mountains to cross before we actually reached heaven though. One can find the Kallu Mantapa on the way, poised at an awkward angle on the slope. The view from here is surreal and its worth stopping here for sometime.

Green Pastures

There it is!!

My friend shouted, and we all began to see where he was pointing at. Kumapraparvatha!! we thought, with all the excitement you see in a child's eyes. We climbed harder, we had to reach before dark!. It was not Kumaraparvatha of course. On our way up we saw people getting down. It would have been a routine sight if it were not for their feet. Their feet were entirely covered in blood, so much so, that you couldn't see the color of their skin at all. Not one, not two, Each and every member of the group had their feet treated with some extra leach love. We didn't want that! Never! Please God, NO! That group had climbed from the Somwarpet side, which was an alternate route to the one from Kukke and my guess is that, that's what led to their distress. Whatever it might be, we continued our journey. 

En route

The leach men

 

There it is!!

My friend shouted, this time we were a little hesitant, but we looked nonetheless. It wasn't KP. Shesha Parvatha as it is called is as mesmerizing as Kumaraparvatha itself, and we started to climb. You will see a huge rock cliff on your right, from where water will be flowing ceaselessly and you wont see anything on your left. Yes true. Don't panic when you see this. There's time for that later. For now, forward. Heartwarming scenery around you will only make you humble and ponder about the beauty of nature. Mountains surrounding you from all sides, the wind carrying you with it and the water beating into the rocks, just breathtakingly beautiful.

The cliff

There it is!!

My friend shouted again, and then would be the last time he would do so because I would strangle him right then. But before i could react the clouds cleared, ever so slowly. It was like a movie scene, the bride showing herself beneath the veil. She was beautiful! (in this case it was a he though). KumaraParvatha in all its glory!! We saw a sign that read “KP 2KM AHEAD”. We leapt in joy and ran!

Higher than the clouds

There is a little climbing down you have to do and you will reach the base of the little mountain. You can see camping sights, tents and square blocks for lighting fire, and from there on the climb starts. This part of the journey is truly challenging and you'll remember this part for a long time later. The rock is tilted at angle of a little more than 45 degrees. This is where you'll need to panic, especially if you're going in the rainy season. One slip and you're doomed. Tread very carefully.

The slippery slope

After 15 minutes of cautious climbing we were almost there. Now we ran !!

On the very top we found a shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. The idol of Shiva was majestic and intact. A little further and we found the route from Somwarpet, by which the leach men, as they were now being called, had come through. A little further and we saw heaven.

 Higher

and Higher

No one spoke for the next ten minutes, what seemed like more than an hour. Words just wouldn't do justice to the beauty that lay in front of us. The feel of the wind is exhilarating! the view just breathtaking! You have got to see this yourself... After some quite pondering about the  universe and its possibilities we shifted our focus to the immediate task at hand, gather wood, make fire! Now that isn't as easy as it sounds. It was raining and the wood was damp. At this height there's no chance that it would catch fire. We tried and tried but to no avail. When we were finally about to give up, our eyes fell on the two friends whom we had met on the way and we felt like it was Christmas!! They had come prepared for this and with the help of cotton balls and their sheer determination, we finally got the wood  burning. The Maggi that is made out of this fire, let me tell you, is none like you've ever  tasted before.

Our tents

The sun was hiding itself and it was time for us to erect our tents. It started raining heavily and we had to finish this as fast as possible. We had two tents, one of which was torn and therefore useless in the rain. We dumped our bags in that tent and ran for cover to our only other tent. six people in a tent for three and one can only imagine the havoc that followed int the rain. Some time in between we also felt that our tent would fly away. They say when you are so close to death you start revealing your untold stories and your deepest secrets. We were definitely not sure about our survival the next day and so we began! 


 It had stopped raining. The sunlight came through a tiny hole in the tent and i could hear some voices outside. I made my way out of the tent to be greeted by the cold morning breeze. It was so cold i thought I'd freeze there. The sun was still kind of hiding behind the clouds. I met my friends who had also made it through the night, alive! Saw nothing short of humility in each of their eyes as I'm sure they saw in mine. 

Heaven on Earth

It was time to head down. After bidding farewell to our fellow trekkers we started out, with a feeling that we had discovered nature...discovered ourselves.