Those first few stepsThe sweden-returned holidaying Deepak (D), Kichi and I (Arvind) decided that irrespective of the group strength, we will make our headway. So we laid out a plan to hit the roads to KP over the last weekend (4-Jan-08 thru 6-Jan-08). A couple of veterans of this trek were already amidst nambayz. Supreeth and Madhu who had already made it to the top earlier provided ample advice on the kind of stuff to be carried along and the tentative schedule for conquering this high-incline rough terrain.
The path less taken
Something on KP: KP is known for its arduous trek path and there are two routes of reaching the top. One is from the side of Somavarpet. From Somavarpet, we have to take a bus to small town called Bidalli, which is 25 kms from Somavarpet and then start the trek from there. This route runs predominantly through the forest area and is apparently less strenuous than the second route which is starting from the pilgrim place,Kukke. In fact, the peak is named after the deity of Kukke - Subramanya (Affectionately called Kumara). Just about a kilometer from this temple at Kukke, is the ascent to KP.
The three of us reached Kukke on Saturday morning at 6-30 AM. Hiring a room for a couple of hours, we freshened up quickly to seek divine blessings at the temple. After a sumptuous, but not heavy breakfast (heavy breakfast to be avoided since the ascent is quite steep right from the beginning), we hit the roads to KP at 9-00 AM. We all needed some warm-up to get acclimatized to the hot weather and the rough tract; but KP offers no such respite. Right from step one, it is a trail of loose gravel with some steep inclines. Kichi was not completely at ease when he started off and this actually helped the other two of us to take ample breaks along with him. Trudging slowly and clicking quite a lot of pics, we reached our first major pit-stop. This is around 2.5 kms from the base of the peak and is a large black rock, enough to house 3-4 tired bodies. Hogging glucose and bananas, we rested for about 20 mins at this place. The next major milestone was another 2.5 kms away. The summer season actually helped our cause. Leeches and broken legs were at large unlike in the rainy days. Moving along, at a neat pace, we reached Bhattara mane (rightly called so which translates to the House of the Chef! Although, the house owner is Mr.Bhat). This place is the mandatory stop for all trekkers of KP and for the last 34 years, Mr.Bhat has been catering to the hungry trekkers with hot, home-made food. The kind of succour this place provides to the tired bodies is unimaginable. What is hidden behind the scenes, that makes this a reality is even more baffling! Each and every consumable that needs to feed the ravenous trekkers need to carried along by the men folks right from Kukke to this place. This is a routine affair for them but that is also a testimonial to their endurance.
The three musketeers @ 'Bhattare Mane' We reached Bhattara Mane precisely at 12 noon; after a 3-hour long trek. Resting for about 2 hours and enjoying a hot meal, we were again set to hit the road at 2-00 PM.
From my past experience of similar treks, I can easily conclude, this has been the toughest of them all. (My dream of a Himalayan trek is still pending!) Bhattare Mane is exactly mid way between Kukke and the KP peak. About 1.5 kms from place is the Mantapa - a stone-pillared structure enough to house 3-4 people. This stretch is also pretty steep and the rocky terrain just adds to the fun! While it can give shelter from rain, the strong winds have to be taken care of. We reached the Mantapa at 4-00 and rested for a while. Kichi was still not completely up to mark since his pace did not match his earlier stints with us. While we still decided to get to the top and then decide where to camp for the night, we were not very sure if we could stay at the top since we had no tents with us bit just sleeping bags. Nevertheless, we started off to the top and reached the peak by 5-15 ambling along the serpentine trails. For D, god knows what, after the lunch at Bhattare Mane, he seemed to sailing rather than trekking. He easily overtook the folks ahead of us and reached the peak first. I was a little slow and caught up with him with a delay of 5-10 mins. Good lot fotos top celebrate our long-drawn expedition, D christening a couple of smaller peaks on the way as 'Uphi Parvatha' (the fake peak) and 'Mini Parvatha' (the mini peak) and some gusty winds was a good culmination. We headed back to Mantapa and felt very proud of our pace. That is where you need to recollect the title of this blog!!
Cuddling in Sleeping bags..........brrrrrrrrrrrr!!
Lead Kindly Light!
With a good home-made chapathis that D had got, we were set to hit the sack. Cuddling up in our sleeping backs, we (Sorry..only I) had the best of the sleep for the times to come. D and Kichi were less fortunate since they found it difficult to fall asleep. Morning was less eventful, and a brisk descent saw us back at the forest office at Bhattare Mane in less than 2 hours. That was when a realization awaited us. The forest office guard told us that the peak that we were atop is actually Shesha Parvatha, and KP is another 1 km from there towards east. What we thought was a dream come true was only partial (A final reference to the caption of this blog!). But that also meant we need to trek this again; probably from the side of Somavarpet. Another lunch, another quick descent to Kukke and our trek was finished. The entire descent had taken less than 4 hours discounting the break of 2 hours for lunch.
Mini Parvatha
Sidda Parvatha
Uphi Parvatha
Where we went...and where we intended!!
This first trek to KP will always be remembered for its duress and the unconquered peak!
Labels: KP, Kumara Parvatha, trek, weekend getaway
¶ Tuesday, January 08, 2008 2 Comments
