Several attempts over a period of 6 months turned to be fruitful as we were able to secure the permission from the Forest Department for a trek to Brahmagiri, a peak located in South western part of the Coorg District, Karnataka. A maximum of two teams are allowed over a weekend.
The team consisted of seven members. Anirudh, Narayan, Pramod, Rajesh, Shankar, Sandeep and myself. There were no beginners in the team as all had some sort of trekking experience.
A huge amount had to be forked out to the Forest Dept. for gaining entry into the forest. We were charged entry, trekking, accommodation, guide, maintenance fees and what not. The Office is located in Srimangala town. The starting point of the trek is Irupu falls which is 12 kms away. A decision to walk was made instead of wasting time waiting for the bus. An hour and a half later we were in the forest Dept. check post near Irupu falls. We were forced to wait for more than an hour by the guide who said another team has to come. Finally we were able to convince him and started our walk without the other team.
The weather which plays a vital role in case of treks was very cooperative. It was cloudy throughout the day and pleasant. Our first stop was Narimalai Forest Guest House after a two and a half hour walk from Irupu Falls. We found no surprises enroute though the Dept. officials said we would find a lot of elephants. We had actually planned to go to Munikal caves and Narimalai hills on Day 1 and head to Brahmagiri on Day 2. The guide insisted on heading to Brahmagiri peak on Day 1. So, we had little option. We quickly finished our lunch in the Guest house which was carried by us. The rucksacks were dumped in the Guest House and we proceeded towards the peak which takes two hours.
I was the last person walking. The guide who was leading the team suddenly started running back. I was a little confused as I didn’t realize what was happening. We heard movements in the valley which was on our right. There were elephants. The trees obstructed the view of the elephants. We were all ready to run just in case the elephants decide to turn nasty. Luckily they all moved away from us. Unluckily we were not able to spot them clearly. The team proceeded further towards the peak. The peak was visible from a distance. It looked like a normal one. It was indeed deceiving. The last leg was very steep, almost at an angle of 75 to 80 degrees. The climb was extra strenuous. Once we reached the top, as usual it was heaven. A never ending range of forests could be seen from the top in all directions. Another significance of the Brahmagiri peak is that one side of it falls in Karnataka territory and the other side falls into Kerala territory. The boundary lines of the two states are clearly visible even from a long distance.
While we were heading back in the same route which we took, a herd of elephants were spotted in the same valley where we failed to see. Quickly a few photo shoots were made and then silently we took a deviation from the original route to the guest house. A few hundred meters later a solo elephant was spotted which was standing in the open grasslands.
Another deviation was inevitable. A ten minute walk would have taken us to the guest house. But, we ended up walking three times the distance. Visibility was reducing every minute due to the formation of mist. Finally we made it to the guest house. The other team had reached the Guest house by then. They never made to the peak. Had we waited for them, we would also have missed it for sure. We barely slept in the night as it was very cold.
Day 2 morning, Munikal caves was the first spot we visited. The lazy guides decided to take both the teams together which none of our team members liked. Spotting wild life was next to impossible because of the constant noise made by the other team. An hour’s walk later we reached the caves. The place is littered with a lot of huge boulders. Nowhere else will you find so many boulders. It’s a wonder as to how they were formed and accumulated in just one place. Locals believe that one Muni resided in these caves and that is how it earned its name. Muni(saint), kal (rock). The Muni had built a small house for himself in those caves, of course abandoned now.
We headed towards the Forest Guest house and then proceeded towards Narimalai Hills. The guide asked us to go on our own. We started our approach to Narimalai. It took a little over 45 minutes to reach the top. From the peak we could almost see the entire Brahmagiri range. It was almost in the centre and in an equally elevated position. Never ending grasslands on the hill locks was a good sight with patches of trees in the valleys. A water fall near the Guest house was visible from the peak which was inaccessible. In a land of green a white line in a corner was making all the difference.
As soon as we made it to the Guest house, we requested the guide that we would start heading down to Irupu Falls which was our start point. Packing was done quickly and then the return journey was initiated. A silent walk down the hills took us to the Shola forests. A not so dense forest but of course infested with leaches. The rain on the previous day’s night woke up all the sleeping little creatures (leaches). They were higher in number comparatively than on Day 1.
The guide was leading the team, behind him was Shankar and myself. The rest of the team was trailing behind a little. A constant pace was maintained while going down hill. I was in my own world following the guide and Shankar. Suddenly all hell broke lose. The guide pushed us and started running back, Shankar followed him behind. It took a while for me to understand what was happening. I never had time to have a second thought. I just ran backwards following them. I almost missed my step twice but managed to stand firm and ran a good 200 meters. We were literally gasping for breath. I checked with the guide and Shankar what happened. Shankar said they saw an elephant barely 20 meters in front of us heading in our direction. We had almost bumped into a herd of elephants. A few minutes later, the guide headed towards the direction of the elephants slowly. He couldn’t spot them anywhere. It is very risky to move ahead without the knowledge of the direction taken by the elephants. If they lose their mind and decide to chase to have some fun, we would end up being footballs for them to play around. The guide started shouting, yelling, clapping and making all possible noises to alert the elephants, so that they wouldn’t come near us. After a while he decided to move ahead and then asked us to follow. For almost 1000 meters through out we saw fresh Elephant dung which indicated that it was indeed a big herd. It was a lucky day for not having chased by the elephants. Had we been chased by them, no wonder it would have been a different story altogether.
As if that wasn’t enough. We had reached the checkpost near Irupu falls. There is a bus stop at a distance of 700 metres uphill from this place. We were relaxing and had ordered food in a small hotel when we heard the bus coming. We were forced to run again for that distance. The driver simply wouldn’t wait. He was accelerating and moving ahead even though he saw us running towards the bus. Finally we all made it to the bus, thanks to Narayan and Sandeep who ran fast enough to a distance from where the driver could here their yelling. Had we missed the bus we would have left with no option but to walk another 12 kms to Srimangala.
It is a combination of the right ingredients which makes the dish tasty. A different experience altogether. The main reason I would say that the team was very lively and cooperative.
Details:
For Permission:
1. Contact the Range Forest Officer, Srimangala Wildlife Range at 08274-246331 a good 15 days in advance for booking.
2. Contact Pramod who works for the forest Dept. at 9448813835.
Reaching there:
From Bangalore head to GoniKoppulu (Coorg District) 5 hours journey. KSRTC bus reservations can be made.
From Gonikoppulu a lot of buses take you to Srimangala – 1 hour journey.
Srimangala to Irupu Falls – buses available with very less frequency.
Returning from Irupu Falls
Last bus from Irupu falls to srimangala – 1530 hrs (This bus takes you to Gonikoppulu as well)
Last bus from Srimangala to Gonikoppulu – 1815 hrs
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