walking during the trek. So trip was on, the place decided was Kokkebetta in Coorg. People joined, left, started for the trip and had to pull out at the last minute, eventually we were left with a gang of 4. Good crowd considering that it is getting difficult to get a good trekking crowd. Looks like Kokkebetta takes only 45 minutes to reach the peak, not worthy to be called a trek so on the last hour the place was changed to Kumaraparvatha. Kumaraparvatha is supposed to be tough, had experienced it once, doing it in a single day on summer looked like a self imposed punishment. The only reprieve was, we will be climbing via somwarpet route and climbing down to Kukke, and this route is supposed to be little easier.
Got down at Kushal Nagar at 4.30AM and waited for the bus to Somwarpet. The first bus to somwarpet is operated by Swamy travels and starts at 6.00 AM sharp. From Somwarpet, you need to catch one more bus (Pushpagiri Travels) to Beedhalli. The trek started at 9.00AM. From Beedhalli, it is 4KM to forest guest house. First half of 4KM is tar road till a temple, and the next half one has to follow the jeep track to the forest guest house. The real trek starts from here. We reached the guest house at 9.45AM. After completing the registration at the forest guest house it is 7KM to the pushpagiri peak. Good part was the first 3-4KM is through dense forest, which protects you from sunlight and makes the trek a lot easier. Since it has rained on the day before, it was relatively cool and enjoyable. The only problem we faced under these conditions were the leeches.. We walked fast, and managed to escape without any bites. After the forest, there is a moderately steep climb, to reach the peak. We managed to reach the peak around 12.30PM and rested for a while, helping ourselves to the snacks and juices we carried.
Anyway could not spend much time on the peak, as the strenuous second half waited and also had to consider the time factor. The rains on the previous day, had made the weather a little pleasant and there was some mist at the peak, which did make it a little awesome. Started the climb down at around 1.15PM. Considering that the last part of the trek is in the forest again, wanted to complete it before 6.00PM or before we lose the sunlight. So walked fast with little breaks. Halted for around 15 minutes at Bhattar Mane, for the butter milk and continued the race against the sun. The sight of snake crossing the path and elephant dung on the path inside the forest, made us forget the breaks. Finally the trek ended at just after 6PM but was too tired to celebrate the fact that i had completed 25KM with less breaks in a trek on a single day. The journey back home was in the last seat of Karnataka Sarige bus, the only option that was available to us. The last seat factor went unnoticed as the tiredness took over and i slept like a log through out the journey.
