Trekking inside Kudremukh national park
If you were expecting details about the most popular Kudremukh peak trek , this is not about that. We always love to visit the not so famous place, thus avoiding the crowd and enjoy the forest path without much human interactions.
In India , Himalayan trekking is seeked by adventurous people around the globe but only few know that there are some amazing peaks with exceptional views in Western Ghats. We always wanted to do trekking in Kudremukh region , so once the COVID situation got subsided in 2021 we decided to do a hike in Kudremukh. Through the media we knew only about the Kudremukh peak trekking. But during our stay in Bhagavathi Nature Camp , the staffs mentioned about other treks in that region. Of that Narasimha Parvatha is the longest trek with 70 kms to cover , so that includes an overnight camping in the jungle. We were very interested to do that trek but with the unexpected rains and our plans to visit few other forest areas in Karnataka, we set aside our plan for a lengthy trek. We were told that the Kudremukh peak trek became very touristy, so we settled with the Kurinjal peak (Altitude 1159m) trek.
Next day after an early breakfast, we were geared up for the trek. There was another group with four people who were also prepped up for a trek. While they were dressed up in shorts and bright color shirts, we were dressed up in green along with knee length leech socks. So we thought they were going to some other trekking route but when the local guide came , the staff in the camp told that we were all going to the same Kurinjal Peak trek. The other group got confused as they had plans to Kudremukh peak trekking. Even after the guide told that it was already very late to start Kudremukh trekking they were very adamant about their plan , so they withdrew from our trek.
In this few minutes of confusion, we were happily watching a family of Malabar Gray Langur who were casually foraging on a fruit bearing tree.
Meeting Big Mammals in the forest
The scenery at the start of the trekking itself was very beautiful and now with just two of us and the guide, we walked in our own pace while observing the plants, butterflies and birds around us. There was an Indian Guar family casually grazing around which was so beautiful to look in that morning sunlight. They were alarmed on seeing us , so they ran deep into the grasslands and stared us from there. After few seconds of starring contest, they went back to their grazing job.
We continued our walk watching the streams and beautiful begonia plants on the rocks. We crossed a small grassland patch where all the Pansy butterflies were fluttering around.
We slowly moved to the Old growth forest section. The trees were so huge and the dense canopy made the place very dark. We couldn’t see much activities here but we heard birds sounds at the canopy level. Through the little gaps in the canopy, the Sun was throwing golden light and the beautiful tender leaves sprouting from the forest floor glowed. The trek route was very clear , so the guide gave us enough space and he went ahead. We walked very slowly in this section, just intaking the whole surroundings. I noticed many orchid plants but nothing was in bloom. Apart from the green shade, something caught up the eyes of mine and Vinod. On a closer look, we were thrilled to see the Mysore clock vines in bloom. Though they were brightly colored in red and yellow, inside that dark forest they were not clearly visible at all. Still they really added an enchanting effect to that evergreen forest patch.
Once we crossed this dense forest patch, we started seeing open grassland with scenic views. It was a continuous uphill climb and now it got steeper. The rainy season in Karnataka was long over , so the grassland was all dried up. Still we saw few plants like Bicolor Persian Violets (Exacum tetragonum) were popping around here and there.
The guide took us through the shortest but steepest path to reach the peak. One of the most amazing aspects of hiking is to stand amidst the clouds and enjoy the scenic bird eye view. The last mile would be always tough in a hike, but the moment you reach the peak you would forget how hard it was and it all would be really worth it. We started getting glimpses of the surrounding hillocks during our climb. Vinod climbed on a huge rock to get a better view and he saw a Blue Rock thrush sitting on a rock.
Mist started coming in , so when we reached the peak we couldn’t get the perfect scenic view. But I saw the Blue Rock thrush through the mist which made it look more beautiful. There were few butterflies like Plain Hedge Blue, Blackvein Sergeant fluttering around. We just sat on a rock and enjoyed the view from Kurinjal peak. It may not be the tallest or the most adventurous peaks in the world but I was at peace once I reached the peak. I thoroughly enjoyed the view and the hike.
Downhill we thought the guide would take us in the same route. But as we mentioned him we loved the dense forest trail, he took us inside the dense foliage. He warned us though that we had to be careful for leeches. Anyway we were fully prepared for leeches, so we didn’t mind about them and enjoyed the walk amidst rainforest trees. Soon we started hearing mixed flocks birds sound and we rushed to the source of the sound. There were White-bellied treepies, Velvet-fronted nuthatch , Brown-cheeked fulvetta and many other birds. It is always hard to see birds inside dense forest but if you see them, the effect is totally mindblowing.
After few kilometres in different path we were back to our original trail. We were expecting small showers seeing the cloud pattern when we reached the peak. But the sky was bright with no hint of clouds. It was noon, so the butterfly activity was much more than morning. We clicked on everything that was sitting and we chased the rare ones that were not sitting. Vinod was chasing Colour Sergeant from the time we entered Kudremukh forest area but the butterfly kept on flying away when we went closer. Finally I got a click of female Colour Sergeant who resembles Lascar butterfly a lot. They are very rare ones in Tamil nadu but in Karnataka forest section we saw them in quite a few places.
The guide was very patient with our frequent stops for butterflies in the return walk. We were very exhilarated with our quick hike to Kurinjal peak and that too without any other tourists. The entire place was only for us which added more attraction to this trek. This was our first trek after the COVID Pandemic and we were glad that we did this trek. It was really a calming experience.