Kumara Parvatha reality check on my threshold limit – physically & mentally

After Chembra it was about which trek would up the ante, KP or Kumara Parvatha stands out tall among most options at least in Karnataka. At work we did a quick opt in/out routine we got 4, but we wanted to connect to some of the other trekkers who would be interested in KP. This got us on Orkut and the Bangalore trekkers community, the thread really gathered a lot of steam, and on the last day we had to say no to a large number of people. On day zero we had critical mass of 11, an eclectic bunch we had Software engineers, sales guys, free lancer, engineering we had them all.

Start point was 4th Block Jayanagar coffee day, quick round of intros and we got started to KP. The journey was uneventful apart from a stopover for gurkha dinner (dinner at 12:30 AM) where we discussed previous treks, hometown details.

We reached Kukke by 6:00 AM, actually the only time in the trip nature was kind to us, kumara dhara was inches below the bridge allowing safe passage. We knew we were in for some bad weather when we saw the IMRD pictures, but we discounted the fact that bad weather meant many elements rather than just rain. The trek started on Oct 2nd morning the day or the weekend that submerged northern Karnataka.

Stopped over at a place where at Rs.15/- you were allowed to use the toilets and cleanup, there was no point taking a shower as it was raining torrentially. They had luxury/non luxury toilets. Luxury toilets had light and a mug, non luxury was devoid of these. Breakfast was basic included one of south Kanras delicacies Buns (not your typical bun, bun that you have with sambar and chutney).

The trek is split into 3 halves, 1st half is a 5Km trek through the forest some moderate gradients, the 2nd half is grasslands with gradients slightly tedious, then the shola forest the difficult gradients.

The trek through the 1st phase of forest should be pulled through easily, if you are ok with continuous rain and leech bites. There are a number of ways to get leeches not to bite you, but in heavy rain all those tend to get washed away and the leeches have a feast. So I let them do what they are best at, and never stopped over to pull any out. When you are just out of the forest into the grasslands, in the occasional window when the fog clears you can get some breathtaking views and the aerial view of Kukke. The grasslands had visibility of a maximum of 10 feet at some places, and it was round about noon, so this was a prelude for things to follow. On the grassland is the only home popularly called Bhattra mane, where two brothers over the age of 50 for sure cook for the trekkers at 60 rupees per head. Lunch is rice and huli forget what huli. On that day itself Bhatta was serving close to 60 people, all were from Bangalore. There is definitely something about what Bangalore does to you, to make you take the route not taken.

When you put on your shoes you realize what damage phase one has done already, the shoe is filled will rain water and blood from leech bites, the socks pour out mixture of blood and water when you dry them.
When we started phase 2 our goal was to camp at mantapa, but change is what you need to be ready for on a trek like KP especially considering weather. When we reached the mantapa , there were occupants already, so alternates were discussed and we decided that we would trek on and camp at the most favorable location. It was getting colder and the terrain was rough, practically climbing a stream caused by the rain. We reached a place that looked kind of ok, with rocks on the sides and even ground, but we just realized it was leech HQ, these guys were huge and all around the place so we abandoned that idea.

So we trekked further, there were guys with cramps and most of us in real bad shape, but we wanted to camp at the peak put the tents on the Somwarpet side protecting us from the winds and rain. We reached Shesh parvatha, we knew we were close, now the trek through shola forest. Shola forest is like a real jungle, its got the largest share of leeches and snakes, and the light was fading. The trek through Shola was swift, till we reached the waterfall, trekking through a waterfall is a great experience, the cold water the rain the leech bites cocktail of nightmares.

Then comes what is called angel rock, due to the heavy rains we could not go straight up but took a detour, we reached a point where there was no way ahead, light was fading so we could not go back to Shesh parvatha. The place we were at was like being at an edge of a whirlpool. The land was flat which meant the winds would rattle you, leeches were everywhere.

But we had no other option so we put up the tents and since the winds were actually knocking us off our feet it made sense to put up 2 tents for 11 people, as the probability the tent lasting the night was 80%.

So 5 in tent 1and 6 in tent 2, I was in tent 2. Initially it was fine the winds would rattle the tent, but we were glad that we stopped getting wet any further. In wet clothing inside a tent for 6 does not seem like a lot of fun, but with the cold that had been hitting us all day, a roof and dry place was a luxury.

We had dinner, chapattis chutney powder, Goju. Done with dinner it was around 7:30, we could only get out at 6:00 Am tomorrow considering the weather, so it would be 12 hrs in the tent. It was real cramped and we found our spots to kind of sleep the night off. But within 30 minutes water entered the tent and someone realized that we were sleeping in water, difficult to realize actually as our clothes are like the ones you might have just dipped in a bucket of water. Two of the guys in the tent started to drain the water from the tent, the tent floor had no water but it was still wet. It was 8:00 PM, the floor was wet winds hard and cold, lasting the night was going to be worst nightmare for all of us. Some of us could not bear the cold, removed the wet shirts and draped themselves with every plastic cover they could find. Smoking in a tent of 6 where 5 are non smokers would have been a no no, but the heat was a solace, but the smoke would get to you at times. The wind was relentless, if you are at a beach in rough weather when a big wave strikes you can hear the roar much before it hits the shore, the winds at 5000 feet are exactly similar only difference they strike in any direction.

Every time the wind strikes the tent gets bend to a point, when we hand on to the bars fearing that they would break. One of us had his hand glued to the rim all night, at all times. This was the state for nearly 6 hours when someone from tent1 came out to fix the tents, they put some stones around our tent as well. This reduced the size of the tent significantly, the tent is meant for 3 people we were 6 now and with tent size reduced further we were like chicken you see being transported on bikes with their legs all tied up. We would be woken up by guys crying with cramps, but humanity takes a backset during survival.

At around 5:00 my mind started giving up, I wanted to get out the cold was no longer an inhibitor I just wanted to get out of the tent. At 5:30 I got out bared bodied getting pounded by the cold winds but my body was taking it surprisingly, everyone got out by 6:00 AM and we were off by 6:30 AM.

One of us had twisted his ankle and I was suffering from sleep deprivation, so we slowed down considerably, two more guys accompanied us. This stretch I would call the hallucination phase, I could see people, structures everywhere, my mind was so keen to see civilization it was making me believe things. This was extreme it would only get worse, so many times I yelled out to the rest of the guys look there are people calling, there is the forest office, there is the mantap. We reached bhattra mane some guys had stayed back fearing the worst things had happened to us. After lunch and my power nap we started again, me and any injured friend fell behind yet gain and one guy fell back as well to make sure all was ok. My friend was in excruciating pain, he would take steps forward and the pain would get to a point where he would go dizzy and walk astray. At every break I would fall asleep and my hallucinations were getting worse, but I stopped telling people about them, but started waving to the people I was imagining hoping that they were real.

In the forest we saw a sign board saying 2 Km Subramanya, 2 hours would have passed but we just seemed getting deeper into the jungle and the light was fading away. This is when fear sets in gain, I was confident that we were on the right path, but after some point walking in the dark would be next to suicidal considering that KP is home to a large number of snakes especially the Cobra, camping in the tent considering this fact was also impossible. Fear lends you wings, my sleep deprivation vanished, I started running down shouting out hoping someone would respond, but for 30 min this went on with no sign that we were reaching anywhere, it was dark now, I could not see either of my friends just a few feet away, I kept shouting when I heard the dog bark, it was a sure sign that we had reached the foothills, after a 10 minute stretch which seemed like an hour we reached the road. When I put my feet on the tar, it was the time my body gave in, I put my bag down and slept on the tar road for a few minutes.

Luckily me managed to get an auto that dropped us to the temple, at the restaurant anyone would have imagined that I would have been the penultimate picture of gluttony, but all I had was 3 glasses of tea, sometimes the simplest things in life give you a sense of security that the worst is over.

It would be totally unfair, if I would not thank all the 10 guys that made this trip happen, and helped etch a memory that will last the tides of time. Thank you guys!