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 belowAfter 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
