It was time for another monsoon Trek, and we decided to head towards Tamil Nadu. The obvious location was Kodai Kanal. Initially when we were trying to find out the details of the possible trek routes, we realized there were 17 listed by the Department of Forests. Deciding the route to be taken was indeed a tough task.
Since we were spending 3 days in the region, we decided to head towards Perumar Malai which is the highest peak in the region. To climb this peak one needs to get down in the town Perumar Malai which is around 20 kms before reaching Kodai Kanal if you are heading from Dindigul. Immediately after alighting we quickly asked a localite about the terrain and the route to be taken.
A pukka road (jeep track) exists which heads for almost 2 kms uphill, then the Bridal path of the size of a jeep track continues further. This track has been rarely used by any vehicle. We found all kinds of weeds grown on the track and fallen trees blocking the path. Of course, for a trekker these are no hurdles. One needs to make a way through these weed patches. The path continued till we were almost on the top of the peak. We reached the dead end, a quick search on the left side of the jeep track revealed a hidden trail made of rocks which took us further up. Continuing for a while we felt that we are lost. No worries. We just headed straight uphill making our own way and reached the top. The upward journey took around 2 ½ hours since the distance travelled was 8 kms. It is an ideal place to camp on the top but since we trekked for a short while, we decided to descend. The descent took 2 hours. In the town we visited a small hotel named Hotel Johnson. The owner was kind enough to accommodate us for the night.
Day 2 morning, we headed to Kodai Kanal in a truck for a change. The Driver took us to the District Forest Office. Reaching the place we realized that we were too early. The office opens after 1030hrs. Once the office opened, the ACF told us that no permits were being given for the day to go to Berijam lake but we managed to get it for the next day. We quickly decided to reverse the route which we had actually planned for.
We headed towards Pumbarai by bus from Kodai Kanal. Alighting at this town we started our trek to Kukkal. Unfortunately the information which we had was more than 2 years old. We were told that it was a jeep track (kuchcha road). To our surprise we saw well tarred roads. Thanks to the Development in Tamil Nadu. Even 
though we were slightly disappointed, we moved on. The place is completely inhabited by people. Enroute to Kukkal you will find step cultivation every where. Potato, carrot and onion farms are a common sight. Upon reaching Kukkal, we had to look out for accommodation. Vinayagar, a localite was more than willing to offer us the accommodation. He indeed took us around the village showing us some worth seeing locations.
Day 3, We headed towards
Mavanur is the village which we had to cross before reaching the lake.
While trekking this path we saw a few bison’s. While we were trying to take the pics, I realized that one of the bison’s was staring at me. Without uttering a word I just started heading ahead signaling my team that we should keep moving. You wouldn’t want a Bison chasing your back right.
We reached the village Mavanur and then we proceeded towards Berijam lake intersection. We saw 2 forest guards. We informed them about the permit we had and enquired about the usual time taken to reach the lake and to return by foot. We realized we were short of time since we had a bus to catch from Kodai Kanal to 
We were lucky enough to spot a few bison’s in this valley. Other than that we hardly had any surprises.
Getting a permit in this range would be indeed a challenging task. Intimating the DFO office, Kodai Kanal of your plans before hand would be advisable than walking in directly.
A small request – Please do not litter the forests or the roads. Be kind to the forests.
