From long time the thought of trekking of Kumarparvata was in mind. As heard from friends about it being rigorous and exhausting our desire to trek became more stronger. We wanted to test ourselves and see what KP is all about. The season in which you trek really matters, it more difficult to trek in monsoon and summer.
Monsoon makes you lose your way and summer will make you lose your will. Though being in a hottest of the month we trekked to KP. We grabbed the long weekend opportunity on the occasion of Good Friday.
KP is located near Kukke Subramanya town which has Subramanya temple famous amongst devotees for Sarpa Dosh Puja. Best way to reach Kukke Subramanya from Bangalore is KSRTC Rajhamsa bus. Book tickets online. www.ksrtc.in. Once you are in town find a decent hotel to get fresh.You will find many hotels around bus stand or Subramanya temple. And if u reach too early in the morning like 4 take a nap for hour or so. Trek starts from near this temple. Walk around one km or so takes you to the base of KP, from where actual trek starts.Trek to KP is divided into three parts
1) Ascent of 5 km which ends at Bhattara Mane (Bhat's House).
2) Trek from Bhattara Mane to Mandapa
3) final ascent from Mandapa to the top
First part of trek is through dense forest and one cant find out exactly in which direction one is going, but there is only one way so no worry to get lost. In middle you will find boards mentioning the distance remaining to reach Bhat's House. Make sure to call Mr Bhat at least two weeks before and reserve the place for stay. Mobile No: +91-9448647947. This part of trek is not that interesting as you can not see any peaks or valleys even you are at considerable height. We started our trek around 10 am, and we reached around 2/ 2:30 to Bhat's house.
Bhat is a smart man, well versed with many languages, he even speaks rudimentary Marathi.
We learn that he has given training to cooks of Udupi restaurants in Maharashtra for few months.This is the only house on the way to KP. He has developed small farm around his house. We enjoyed talking with him. The food served here is good. The sleeping facility is very basic, but it is more than what anybody can ask for at such location.We relaxed a while after having lunch, Bhat suggested to go and see the sunset from nearest point. And the sunset was amazing. I can not describe it just see it for yourself. After seeing amazing sunset we returned back to Bhat's house. We chatted for a while and started playing Antakshari most common and enjoyable game with friends. We planned for our next day as we had to cover the distance from Bhat's house to top which usually takes around 5/6 hours and return back to base taking a halt at Bhat's while returning back for lunch. Bhat promised to make breakfast early in the morning so that we can leave early.
Next day we got up early and were ready after having breakfast to start the trek. Still it was 7 am when we left Bhat's house. You will get forest check post just 10 mins walk from Bhat's house.
Register yourself and pay the fees for trekking here and inform them that 'will you come back same way or descend from other side' which takes you to Somwarpet. If you are planning to descend from other side, make sure to reach base i.e. Somwarpet by 4pm. As there no buses to go further from Somwarpet. The trek in morning is very pleasant, no scorching sun, gentle breeze flowing and the sun unfolding from behind the peaks. One covers a good distance in the morning without feeling tired.
After trek of around 30 mins or so you will see Mantapa, a rock structure and a stream nearby. Many people prefer to camp here as it is midway between base and top, water stream nearby and view of valley is amazing. If you have tent and all other stuff to camp, this will be the best option.From here take a look back, you can see Bhat's house, Forest check post, town and beautiful valley. A eyeful look on all of these and all the efforts to reach here are worth it.
Now this part of trek is bit tiresome.
Few steep climbs, twists and turns and you see a peak and you might think this is peak but it is not. Reach it and you will see the a patch of forest and actual peak. Few more minutes of trek and you reach to peak. We reached the peak around 12:30. There is small temple structure made of stones. You can enjoy the beautiful view. As they say the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and getting safely to the bottom
again.
After spending 15-20 minutes on the top we started to descend back as we had to reach base by evening. The descend back is tiresome, heat was too much to tolerate, dehydrating us. Taking frequent breaks we reached Bhatt's house around 2:30. Lunch was ready. We ate lunch and relaxed for a while. Most of us were already tired a lot. Suddenly clouds started gathering in the sky and we hurried up thinking rain will make trouble. Reaching base was very very tiring being trekking since morning takes its toll on your endurance.
Overall a very good experience and one hell of a tiring trek I had in Karnataka.
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