A short two-day trek to Kumara Parvatha, a local mountain in Karnataka

Kumara Parvatha stands only 1,712 m tall. Karnataka doesn't have high mountains by Himalayan standards but it is the sixth highest. But every trek to the peak of a mountain has invariably involved arduous efforts of different kinds on my part. The trek up to Kumara Parvatha was supposed to be very tough, and so, for my 55th birthday, I decided to do it.

I started at 4:30 am on February 6 from home for the Hyderabad Airport.

Seshu Parvatha, a part of Kumara Parvatha range

The easiest way (and cheapest) is to join a trek group from Bangalore:

They start Friday night by bus, 

Reach Kukke Subramanya (the closest temple town) early Saturday morning, 

Trek up mid-way to Battara Mane (or Batru Mane, or Giddi Gadde as the locals refer to it) by Saturday evening, stay overnight, 

Trek up to the peak on Sunday starting very early, 

Descend all the way down by late Sunday evening to Kukke Subramanya

Start back to Bangalore by bus Sunday night to reach Monday early morning.

The journey can also happen from Bangalore to Somwarapet by bus, trek up to Pushpagiri Peak, and finish at Kukke Subramanya.

My option since I was in Hyderabad was to :

Fly to Mangalore early Saturday morning, catch a bus/ cab to Kukke Subramanya, trek up to Battara Mane, sleep overnight,

Trek up to Pushpagiri Peak starting very early on Sunday, trek all the way down to Kukke Subramanya and sleep overnight,

Catch a bus back to Mangalore and then catch a flight back to Hyderabad in the evening.

Seshu Parvatha in the far background, en route Mangalore to Kukke Subramanya

I missed my flight (happens to even people like me every few years), so I had to reschedule it via Bangalore to reach Mangalore by 12 p.m. And I had to shell down hard money to go by a cab (Rs.2800) instead of a bus (Rs.130), since a bus would have delayed me by 1.5 -2 hours. 

View from the moving cab from Mangalore to Kukke Subramanya

Driving through Karnataka is always a pleasure, with lush green plants at any time of the year all around. The distance of 112 km to Kukke Subramanya is covered in slightly over 2.5 hours by cab from the airport directly, or 1 hour to the KSRTC Bus Stand at Bejai, Mangalore and 3 hours by bus. Buses are there every hour.

Kumara Parvatha Trail Head from Kukke Subramanya

I started my trek from the trek from the trail head at 2:45 p.m. It was a continuous 30 to 40 degree steep incline all the way to Bhattare Mane and I kept wishing for a flat trail for at least a short while.

You can see golden sunlight seeping down on the rocks below,  forming their own patterns.

This is a view of the actual trail. The steps are over a foot high, uneven, rocky. and the incline is almost 45 degrees at places.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep..."

Sunlight struggles to make its way down through the green cover of the trees. 

The earth reaches with its fingers to clutch at the sky at dusk.

Sunset near Battara Mane

A view of Sesha Parvatha from Battara Mane.

I drank up almost 2 liters of water from my water bag by the time I reached Bhattara Mane. It was really hot in the day at 32 degrees, but became cooler by evening. One of my trek friends, a young kid named Teja from my Brahmatal trek, had heard I was going, and had organized a friend called Abhishek who was a trek lead for Kumara Parvatha trek, to meet me and help me out.

Narayanan "Bhattru"

Abhishek was a life-send, and had food organized for me in Battru's home. Battru may mean a caste that performs pujas, and while his name is actually Narayanan, everyone refers to him as Battru. He is the 3rd generation living there in the wilderness. His grandfather had settled there, cultivating the fields around. Some time back, the government had declared the land as a reserve forest, but he protested that he was there since generations, and so the government decided to allow him to stay on, just outside the forest camp.

He prepares food for 200-400 trekkers in peak season at a time. He generally charges individual trekkers Rs.150 for a meal, that consists of unlimited boiled white rice, a watery sambar made with sambar powder that he makes himself that even has rare pieces of bottle gourd if you can get them, a very watery highly fermented, sour buttermilk, and chilli-lemon pickle for taste. That tastes perfect to me, but if others had different opinions, no one said so on a hungry stomach. I got my food for free courtesy Abhishek.

Abhishek also had tents pegged out for his trek group, and I slept overnight in the two-man tent with him. Solo trekkers can possibly sleep in Bhattru Mane's residence on the floor. Or he can rent out tents for people. Our tents were pitched near the Forest Camp Gate, around half-a-km from Battare Mane. 

During the night, it was wonderfully clear and a starry night. Orion had risen and Gemini was clearly visible. I met my fellow trekkers and showed some of the stars and constellations to them. 

In the middle of the night, it suddenly grew cold with the wind gusts blowing at around 12-15 kmph. We had removed the tent flaps because it was hot in the night, and were suddenly shivering in our thin sleeping bags. Trekking in the wind on mountains can be treacherous because of balancing on narrow paths and steep inclines at places, and we were wondering whether we should cancel our trek.

Early the next morning, I had to stand in a long line of 4 people for the toilet, at 4:30 am to try and move my bowels. Bowel movement is a major issue for me in treks. I gave up after trying for a few minutes. My large intestine refuses to perform on order!

I had bought some cake on the way and passed it around for breakfast. The wind speed had fallen to more controllable limits. We began trekking at 5:30 am. Of the group of 17, around 5 had dropped out because of their tiredness on the first day.

The Karnataka Forest Department charges Rs.350 per trekker for doing the trek. It also retains a deposit of Rs.500 to make sure that all plastic packets are counted, and nothing is left at the top of the mountain. Cigarettes, lighter, are especially dangerous articles to carry in the jungles, since careless trekkers may start a forest fire. You can get your deposit back after completion of the trek. During the trek itself, I was gratified to see that the search had produced desired results by the absence of any litter in the trail. I didn't have to pay anything again since Abhishek took care of it. He refused to accept any money from me.

Dawn on the way to Seshu Parvatha

Fellow trekkers

The number of trekkers has vastly increased over the decades by five times. That means more Indians are increasingly taking to being closer to nature than ever before. Each young person I meet on a trek is an affirmation to me that the younger generation is far more sensitive to nature and having a fuller life other than fighting for survival. 

Bharti Kannan was a young kid, about 23 years old, who I befriended on the way up to Kumara Parvatha. He works as a Business Analyst for the Murugappa Group. He wants to be a writer at some point of time, and professionally, wants to do an Executive MBA. It was his first major trek, and he accompanied me through till the top and part of the way back. 

A view of Seshu Parvatha from the back

It was again a continuous incline right till Sesha Parvatha, a distance of 6 km. After reaching it, we figured out that Kumara Parvatha wasn't one peak but the region itself. Sesha Parvatha was part of Kumara Parvatha, but Pushpagiri Peak, the highest point, was another 2 km further. 

The trek up to Pushpagiri peak is rocky. And just before the final point, you have a huge rock face at a steep 45 degree angle. I found negotiating along the left edge of the rock face doable as did most people. It was the toughest part of the trek, mainly because it was rock climbing that I am not very comfortable with.

Post that, there was one more rock climb. I then made it easily the balance half-a-kilometer plain stretch to Pushpagiri at around 9:05 am. 

Pushpagiri Peak is just the highest altitude point of Kumara Parvatha Range. There's no "summit peak" really.

I started back from Pushpagiri at 9:30 am. and stumbled my way to Battare Mane by 1 pm. I had lunch there (same fare as dinner but freshly made). I started back at 2:30 p.m. and made it back by 5:45 p.m to the trail head at Kukke Subramanya. 

At the left of the steep cliff down is Pushapgiri Peak which is the highest point of Kumara Parvatha range, around 2 km ahead of Seshu Parvatha.

Seshu Paravatha seen from the back

On the way down from Seshu Parvatha to Battara Mane

And then I treated myself to some chilled beer with pepper chicken at a bar out there, packed it and went to my hotel. Before eating it however, I had to wash my shirt and dry it for the next day, since I had only got one spare quick dry t-shirt. Then I had to have a hot shower. And then I drank my beer, ate my chicken and slept like a log. 

By then, I felt like a log because I had done almost 21 km the past day, and I was wincing as I stepped down the stairs, pausing gingerly at each step I had to descend. Ascending was joyfully sweet - I only wished every staircase was an Escher well where I could eternally ascend.

The trek was as all treks, exciting and challenging. And as every trek ends, I think it is the toughest that I've done so far. Or is it just me growing older, hearing Roger Waters?

"So you run and you run, to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking

Racing around to come up behind you again.

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older.

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death."

As I enter a new year, a new life begins, with more places to go, and I sleep with a smile.