A team which believes in the spirit of adventure, trekking, camping and so on has started to fulfill its long pending wishes of conquering peaky mountains of the western ghats. A social organization (Sahyadrisindia) of enthusiastic adventurers recently conducted a nature camp at the highest peak of Kodagu District.
Tadiandamol 1748m (5,724 ft) is the highest mountain of kodagu district situated near Nalknad Palace which is 40 kms from Madikeri. It is located on the Western Ghats range, a place of interest for trekkers and naturalists. The mountain has patches of Shola forests in the valleys. The peak is not altogether inaccessible; One-third of it can be negotiated on a jeep / bike. The topmost position is rather difficult to ascent. But if one persists and climbs to the top, their exertions are amply rewarded and there from the giddy top of the peak they can look all around towards west and east and feast their eyes on the majestic grandeurs of the slopes.
On a saturday afternoon (16/10/2010) we were on our way to Tadiandamol mountain situated in Virajpet Taluk of Kodagu District. So the five of us – Prakash, Sharath, Unloadanna (Prabhakar), CKT (Suresh) and Iskon (Raghu) left bangalore in a Santro Car at 2 pm. We travelled to Virajpet via Srirangapatna – Ilavala – Hunsur – Gonikoppa – Virajpet – Kakabbe. At 6:30 pm we got down at Virajpet to pack some food for dinner. The thrive to have Coorgi Pork was fulfilled by hotel Madhupana Restaurant. We left virajpet and reached Kakkabe at about 7:45 pm and found a person around to guide us for directions — we should have got down at another junction just 1 km before kakabbe where Nalknad palace will be the base camp. We thought Home Stays are very expensive for our standards and decided to spend a night in the car. A good drink with un-tasty pork and late night chill denied the sleep.
TREK BEGINS:
At 6.30 am, we started off in the car till the end of the tar road. After parking the vehicle the trek started exactly at 6:45 am, numerous sessions of photography en route were on. There are foot trails leading to the mountains but you don’t generally follow these, as sometimes the path abruptly turns in one direction and you start ascending a different peak altogether. This series of hills interspersed with Shola forests is the highlight of the trek. After passing a series of small green peaks and shola forests, the climb was getting steeper, unloadanna had enough of trek, waiting for the occasion ‘Pillar legged Iskon’ took his hands off and they both decided to stay back. The trek continued by three of us, the endless sight of mountain ranges mixed with the green forest cover and the cool breeze slamming our faces made the trek worthwhile and our fatigue vanish. After a series passing mountains gradually the tallest peak was visible and it rejuvenated our energy.
After nearly two hours of strenuous uphill trek finally we were at the top of the Tadiandamol peak at 8:40 am (the highest elevation in Kodagu district) and one of the highest peaks in Karnataka. A sense of relief, exhilaration, joy, some pride - the feeling of being on top of the world can’t be described in words, it has to be felt and enjoyed. We waited for the cool mist to clear off to give a sight of the surrounding mountians, the clicking of photos and removing leeches was on..
We also realised why camping here is extremely difficult - it was an open narrow hilltop with shola forest on one side depth and gorge on other sides, strong winds can be unbearable in the night. Besides, there was no firewood in sight and the ground was moist. Carrying all the camping stuff to the peak itself would be an arduous task and water is scarce too.
After a few minutes break soaking in the beautiful sight around us, we swiftly descended down; fog had completely eclipsed the surroundings. The weather was still chilly and the sun was playing hide and seek. The Tadiandamol peak was completely engulfed in fog. We left for the long walk back and found unloadanna and pillar legged iskon resting on a huge black rock en route finally reaching the car at about 10-45 am.
Written by – Prakash S.J
Photography by - Sharath Kumar
www.sahyadrisindia.org
info@sahydarisindia.org
For More Pictures Click Here
hi praksh..
ReplyDeletenice blog.. :) seems u had a wonderful trip.
me and my frinds are planning to visit tadiandamol next month.. the place is new to us. i have some sdoubts. where did you parked your vehicle? is there any safe place to park. because we are planning to stay a night at the peak. waiting for your replay. kindly replay to my mail id. (shajahanth@gmail.com)
thanks.