, once the land of mining, is a magical surprise box in itself. It provides such amazing view that any nature lover will be taken aback!
(translated as Horse Head) is a treat to eyes. Everywhere here one can find lush green mountain, amazing scenery, picturesque landscape. Nature is in its purest form here.
. The place has been so famous that its been attracting trekkers from many far and nearby places. People flock here in huge numbers, especially during the peak season(Nov-Jan) to get forgotten in the beauty of nature.
One of the most visited trekking spot is the
Kudremukh Peak (named so as the peak resembles the face of a horse). The peak is at a whopping height of 1892m above sea level. Situated amidst indescribable scenic splendor,
Kudremukh Peak provides a fantastic view of the surroundings.
To start off,I badly required a trip, as it had been very long since my last trek, and adding to the surprise this trek was all planned just on the previous day. We were supposed to leave from
Udupi the next day before dawn. But somehow, the "Its Sunday!" effect showed up and we managed to depart only after 07:30. Finally we departed from
Udupi but
Kudremukh was still 2 hours (90km) away from us. Thinking that we will reach on time, we stopped for breakfast at
Karkala, and also packed few foods for our trek from here ! Finally we managed to reach Balegal,
Kudremukh only by 11. From the Balegal bus stop, one has to head towards Raje Gowdas house. The house is situated quite away from the main road (~7km). One can either walk till the house else there are 4WD Jeeps available which can drop people Raje Gowdas house.
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| The Peak as seen from far ! |
We managed to reach Raje Gowda home only by 11:30. It was already late and people started advising us that we cant climb to the peak and would probably have to come back mid way. But, thanks to our convincing and adamant nature :p, we somehow convinced them that well be back to the base by 18:30 at any cost. After paying the designated entry fee, guide charge at Raje Gowdas home, we began our trekking.
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| View on the way to Kudremukh |
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| Trekking Trails |
The trek to the peak is not an easy one and is approximately 9km from the base. One passes over 7 other mountains while trekking to the top. It takes around 4 hours to trek to the peak depending upon physicall fitness. Blame it to our journey or irregular trekking habits,initially, walking just few metres in the rough terrain made us very tired. But somehow we recovered and caught up with the pace as we had a long way to go. We were pushing it hard as we didnt want to miss this golden opportunity of trekking till the top !
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| Lush green Hill on way to peak |
The trek route to peak is a awesome experience. It was a all pleasant weather filled with occasional drizzling and a cloudy day. We were mesmerized by the natural splendour of surroundings. Everywhere, one could just see greenery around. Through out the path one could see hills, mountains, swamps, gully, riffile, waterfalls. Trekking to the peak was more of a adventure than we had expected. We had to pass thru grasslands, step rocks, hills, waterfalls, leeches and what not!
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| Small stream en-route to trek |
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| People getting down from the peak as we climb up |
Finally after crossing all the hurdles, we reached peak around 14:30 ! We were all dumb-struck by the view ! It was a view one would never forget throughout their life ! A view which makes one forget all pain and sorrows! A view where one gets forgotten in the scenic beauty of mother nature!
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| The last few metres! |
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| Amazing view from the top of the peak |
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| Clouds Covered mountains of western Ghat |
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We stayed here for a hour or so and finally began trekking back to the base. Somehow, strange enough, we reached back to base much more faster than we had climbed up ! Finally we managed to reach at Raje Gowdas house by 18:30 in the evening, and yes we kept our word of reaching in time ;p
All of us were completely tired but we had a happy look of having trekked this beautiful peak ! Finally we boarded the jeep to get back to Balegal in the main road and then headed straight back to home.
Overall the trek is a must if ones to enjoy the beauty of nature ! Even though the trekking routes is tough in terms of difficulty level, the view from the peak makes this trek a worthy one !
Note : Following details are provided for Info :
Raje Gowda : 9481179008
Jeep Charge (to & fro) : 1200 /-
Trekking charge : 225 +200 (Guide Fee)
