Chembara Trekkkk !!!!!

After a successful attempt over the Mullayanagiri our next target was the CHEMBARA peak, this peak is from where our trekking fantasy took its shape as it is now. But we were never able to make a clear attempt for this one. As we had a long vacation in the May we ought for this. Actually May is definitely not the right month for planning a trek, Anyway we planned up the for the May trip with CHEMBARA Trek and few other sight seeing option around wayanad.

As usual myself and Harish was part of the squad and we missed our regular buddy rakesh for this trek, and the new team included vijay bhaskar,umesh,siva,murali,prem. We took the Mangalore mail and reached Calicut and from there it was a 3 hrs journey to reach WAYANAD.Day 1 went ahead with few sight seeing and then came the much awaited Day 2 the Trek Day. We Packed our backpacks took a jeep towards the Chembara.

It was a 9 km jeep travel to reach the chembara estate. Actually u will be traveling thru a privately owned tea estate to reach the forest office, and u have to pay for the trek and the authorities will allot a guide. After completing the formalities with the forest authorities it is another 3 to 4 kms travel in the jeep for us to reach the trekking trail.

Initial trek path was a well maintained jeep track thru the tea estate after covering a half Km , there is a watch tower from where the actual trek starts. There is small path into the jungle from the watch tower, from which it is a gradual ascent towards the peak.we heard from our guide Ranjith that there are totally seven levels in completing the trek.
Small Path leading to the Trek

Into the small path it was full of thick bushes thru which you have to hike, as we hiked thru this trail we were able to feel the gradual increase in the elevation. It was almost 1 km thru this lush green bush we had a small stream of water where filled our bottles for the rest of the trek.The natures pure water really gave us a heavenly delight.
Jungle Path

That's Ranjith fetching some water

After a solid hike for another 45 minutes we entered the shola forest region from where the peak was very much visible far away, where we were now is only the level 2 and we are yet to cross 5 levels to reach the peak. And the chembara peak special the “heart shaped lake” is just another 45 minutes away.

From level 2 the trek really started to kill our energy but the nourishing factor for us was only the nature almighty, as it was hard for us to believe that we were trekking in summer.

We reached the heart shaped lake as always ppl say it never dry even in summer and we witnessed that to be a truth. And also the lake was full of life and u can see lots and lots of fish jumping at you .We took a long break near the lake, finished our food and took some nice rest.Most of the ppl were totally exhausted at this point itself, but to be honest the trek has not yet reached its full momentum yet. With this we completed 3 levels and 4 more to go
Shola Forest

Heart Shaped LakeAfter crossing the lake the trek was getting more and more steeper and also it grew to be more demanding
we needed to climb carefully and also assure our new trekking friends that “its fine the trek will be over by another 10 minutes”. This dialogue was the only driving factor for few to reach uphill.

Altogether the path was little bit slippery due to the loose mud which was very dry, thanks to the sunlord.
Steep and green Path

Everytime you complete trekking a ridge you end up only to identify a new horizon to be climbed. After completing 5 levels the trek path was unfolding to be too steep and the trek is now becoming more strenuous.just before the final level there is a small resting place, there we took our final break kept all our back packs and started towards the summit.

Heart shaped lake view from top

Totally exhausted but fully determined we pushed ourself hard towards the summit, the final strech was little bit scary but the view from there was worth the risk. Yes!!! Atlast we were on the summit having the full view from the top.The splendid view from top made us all completely forget the tiredness.

Tired but Desperate

After clicking few shots and celebrating the victory . we started to detrek. And the fun part started only there coz the steepness and slippery path really scared us. And the steepness was completely visible only when you detrek. So we needed to be extra careful considering the steepness. It took us 2 hrs for coming down and 4 hrs for reaching up. When we came down it started to rain heavily.

It was really steep

Altogether this successful trek has only boosted our trek interest and I have identified a few more trek enthusiastic members from our team. A special mention is required on Mr Umesh Kumar as we all considered he may lag back and will not complete the trek but he did it with determination.

That's the group on TOP

Note
-Permission is mandatory
-Guide is mandatory
-Plenty of water on the trek path.
-No camping is allowed.
-The water in the lake is not drinkable.

Contact Mr Pramod 09448813835 for the trek permission.

Mullayanagiri - Sucess Atlast !!!!

After a couple of failed attempts to make to any summit, this time we planned to scale the Mullayanagiri Peak , it is considered to be the highest point between Himalayas in north and nilgiri in south.This time the team that gathered was Myself , Harish and Rakesh and in addition we had new members Hari , Saravanan (Douglas) and shiva. We as usual gathered in CENTRAL for the 9.00 PM mysore express , we boarded the train by 9, got down at blore and waited for our driver in the Blore station and which was the most annoying part in morning. After a 45 minutes restless wait our driver arrived at 5.15 am. We took the route NH 206 neelamangala and tumkur.

The road towards chikmangalur is almost deserted once you cross Blore circle, we didn’t even spot any tea shops on the way (But bars were plenty).Once you cross chikmangalur and move towards the Mullayanagiri you will be crossing two forest check post and then watch for the board to identify the base camp. As the peak can also be reached by a Vehicle , check with local ppl to show you the route to the base camp. As per our trip charter we were supposed to reach the Base camp by 12.00 in the after noon, to our utter surprise we reached the base camp by 10.30 itself ( Even 10.30 is not the right time to start a trek). Sarpadhri Gate is the base camp for the start of trek , we got down there took our backbags and start our trek from there.The trek trail is actually too narrow

As we start to trek from the Sarpadhri gate, the trail was too narrow and it only got worst when we went further. After few minutes of trek we were really really not sure on the trail we were trekking, after giving a thought we continued desperately to reach the summit . Though the trail was not so easy to walk, the elevation gain was tremendous as u trek towards the summit.

The entire trek was thru open area only, but thank fully sun was not killing us as expected, as the elevation was gaining little by little, the trek was lit bit scary because of the steepness of the valley by your side, So we trekked very consciously and cautiously. The trail was visible only for 10 yards from the place you stand the rest of the trail unveils only when u trek so the trek was moderately a tough one . After a 30 minutes of trek we reached a small Green tree, It was only a land mark but was not even sufficient for entire group to rest, we sat there for a while and continued our mission

As we trekked with determination towards the summit, the trek itself was killing lot of energy as we were informed tat this trek is a much easy one, we were not mentally prepared for this steepness and the elevation gain. After another 20 minute we reached up to small rocky pass way which was a nice sit out and also it gave us the splendid view of the valley below

After some chit chats we started to trek towards the summit, after hardly a 15 to Minutes trek we reached a Small Temple which had a nandhi statue in it, this place had some real good space to sit. From that Temple point we are obvious that we have reached the Summit, as we were only short by another 10 minutes.

After gathering some breathe we started towards the trek to reach summit , when we crossed a 20 yards or something we ended up in a place with Caves that had no visible end, the view inside the Cave was splendid and it sitting there really gives you a great sense of relief.

After few snaps in the Cave we briskly trekked the rest of the few yards to Reach the summit, YEAH !!!! there we are on the summit of the Mullayanagiri.This was our first successful ascent to reach a

After reaching the summit stayed there over night on the hill in the temple , the owners collected a very nominal fee for the stay and the food was really good, we took the Bababudan giri trek the second day morning, but we were not quiet sure about the trail after a 2 hrs walk in th peak only we realized that we have lost the trail, so we were forced to return back,I am not elobrating the story , anyway Pl don’t try bababudan giri trek without a Guide or a much experienced trekker.

Important Things to note
- The trek was not so difficult but definitely not a walk in the park
- The summit can be reached thru road and .5 km trek also
- Plenty of water is uphill below the temple but no water on the trails way

- No Permission is required to Trek this peak