MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP - KUDREMUKH

A trekking plan to that took nearly 6 months to to materialize found 10 of us headed from the hustling steaming Bangalore to the cool monsoon blessed land of  Kudremukh, The largest protected area of a tropical wet evergreen type in Western ghats.

By George Tom

Kudremukh attained the status of a National park in 2001 based on the suggestions given by K Ullas Karanth who made a detailed survey of this region and  further suggested Lion Tailed Macaque as the flagship species for the region. Kudremukh national park is spread over a area of approx 600 sq. kms , the Park  forms a chain of rolling hills with a mosaic of natural grassland and Shola forest.

 Kudremukh has been in news since the past 10 years owning to the Naxalite activities and the on-going opposition to the KIOCL mining company's presence  within the national park by various Environmentalists and wildlife conservationists over the threat to the region's bio-diversity by the pollution caused by  the mining activities. At least 2 major leakage from the pipeline caused the iron ore silt to flow into the 2 major rivers that flow into the park Tunga and  Bhadra. The following link is the detailed report submitted  on the impact of the iron ore mining in kudremukh on the Bhadra river -  http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/KUDREMUKH%20mining.pdf

Following the protests the government shut down KIOCL and its mining operation on the morning of the first day of 2006. The rehabilitation of the tribal living within the national park has till date been on going. Today, 5 years after the grinding of the mining giant stopped, the park is coming back to life.  Please read the following article that maps the progress of the park - Return of the wild

The tempo traveler booked by Sunil brought us  to the township of Kalasa where we were joined  by Amit  who is working with Wildcat-C. After initial refreshments we traveled up to  the check point beyond Bhagavati camp to trek  up the Gangadikal peak with mounting  expectations of feasting on the world's most  beautiful place (For objections please lodge  your complaints to Amit!)

The fog that kept its hold on our visibility  never once spared but for a meagre few seconds.  For most of the time we trekked with a  visibility of only around 50 mts or so. We  still had a amazing time at what ever the misty  mountains of Kudremukh had to offer. Panting  and sweating even at the freezing temperatures  we finally pegged our flags on the peak, which  finally dashed our hopes to smithereens! It was not only thickly fogged but to add to out owe started raining too! A few of the brave souls  stood to the freezing rain without raincoats. A  completely soaked and shivering group trampled  down. And that's when we realized that it was more easier to trek up then down! The mossy  coated rocks and the rain and the leeches made  the return more treacherous. They at least bagged Prakash's ankle who had to hop for the rest of  the trip.

By Ananth

We pitched our tent at the Sitanadi nature camp  at Someshwara wildlife  sanctuary in Hebri.We  spent quite some time catching frogs in the  night and The next whole day we spent time birding  in and around the camp while it almost rained non stop. The guys had blast taking mud bath in  the river, courtesy Guru who is always  exploring more natural and totally weird ways of doing things!

By George Tom

The rest of day the president and rest of us  spent a lot of time discussing matters concerning KANS which was frequented by  loads and loads of talks on random matters ranging  from Raghu Dixit to Swamy Nityananda!

Overall the trip was fun, probably next time when we trek up to the Kudremukh peak I would be able to give a detailed record of the fauna of Kudremukh!