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Written by Shantanu Bhadoria
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Tuesday, 30 January 2007 00:00 |
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KP (Virgin Mountain) : Operation De-virgin-ize
My target was to complete KP in as short time as possible and hence I decided to start early in the evening at 21:30 hours from Bangalore. The ticket was bought before hand in the afternoon of 26th Jan 2007.
My equipment was all ready and I had taken all the required info about the terrain and the path from oneiro the day before. What I found out was that KP trek unlike the less frequented treks does not require any navigational aid like a compass or map. The path is all laid out and trekkers simply have to walk along the mud/gravel path which goes all the way up to the peak.hence I just bought two bottles of water and a "Andslite flashtorch". The Andslite Torch is available at sports stores in jayanagar and can come in quiet handy if you plan to walk/trek at night. The beam is highly focused and the LED light is guaranteed to last a life time. I also decided to dump my pants for some durable khakhi Shorts to be more comfy during the trek. (Personally I am just a fan of Crickey
Friday : 26/1/2007 21:30 (T +00)
The Start was chaotic as at around 21:30 My agent told me I might have been standing on the wrong platform and I rushed out to find the bus just about to leave. I quickly climbed on to the bus and found the seat. I reached Kukke Subrahmania Bus stand at 7:00 AM next morning( one hour delay owing to a bridge fall on the way)
Saturday : 27/1/2007 7:00 (T +9:30)
Had food at one of the Veggie resaurants in the area. The vada's here are much better then the ones you find in Bangalore's South Indian hotels and are completely edible.
Beginning The March Onto KP Once I got down from the Bus I walked to the dead end and took a left to get a view of the main temple at Kukke. (It seems this place has quiet a few temples of it's own.)
The arch Along the mud track leading to the start of the Climb
Right before the temple I took a left into a mud track that goes into a kinda of village colony of houses where after sometime you come across a arch with stone figures of two old rustics on each pillar. However you dont go under the arch as the way to KP Base goes straight up the mud track. Afte some time you will come across a cross way where a sign board tells you the way to Kumar Parvat which will be on the left.
Note : Kumar = Virgin
Parvat = MountainThe KP Sign Board
After Some time I saw a path on my right leading up to the mountain. Verifying the heading as east I guessed this was the path up. Moving up a couple of trekkers coming down from the trek confirmed that this was indeed the way to KP.
The initial forest path going up towards KP
At many points initially there can be a confusion as some times the path diverges but later I realised that all diverging paths ultimately lead to KP
Confusion
This part of the trail is mostly a gravel path in the beginning and the forest around is moderately dense. after climbing a little distance i reached a point where forest cover started to decrease and Elephant grass started to appearTaking the first breakAfter this the hiker has two options as there are two paths crisscrossing each other while climbing. One of the paths is a more linear path moving directly up where you climb up for most of the part the other path goes in a zigzag way criss crossing the linear path. you can walk up the second path. However I always prefer to climb so I took the linear path.
Saturday : 27/1/2007 9:30 (T +12:00)
Once I cleared this area I reached an almost continuous horizontal path. From this time onward we can almost continuously walk alongside grass and we don't walk through the trees again till near the peak, However the there are dense growths of trees in the small valleys between the hills.
Forested valleys and barren baths Forested valley
This is also the point where, after some walking that the peak before the KP is visible for the first time. KP itself is hidden by the previous peak and hence not visible till you cross the second last peak and unlike the other peak KP is much more green and well forested being on the windward side of the Western Ghats.Second BreakAfter taking a short second break and asking some other trekkers to click my pics I moved ahead and came across a The Tower of stones tower of stones. I am not sure but this looks man made. But it just makes me wonder about a few things. Why would some one make a stone tower like this. and if it was supposed to be of any use at all. What I think is the tower is the work of some Idle guy who had tons of time on his hands and who wanted to be creative.
I can guarantee he must be one happy guy in life having enough time to do stuff like that.
Walking a few kilometers further I came across the first forest department Sign boards. I clicked all of them and put them here
Beware Wild Animals. Wonder why they put the squirrel in the picture They Forgot to mention the biggest badass animal in there wearing Khakhi Shorts
Saturday : 27/1/2007 11:00 (T +13:30)
After some time I walked a little and came across a small radio tower. Some people at the base were talking about a ham radio setup so i guess this was it.
Right after the hill with the mini radio tower I found the valley where a few palms are growing. This area is called the something in Kannada which translates as "butler's hut" in english.
I took a half an hour's rest at the Butler's Hut and asked the butler to keep food for me as I planned to return by 9 PM the same evening to the place. I also found a Huge Butler's chopper and decide to click a pic with the thing.
Moving on I reached the forest department guy's hut. A bill is made for 70 bucks and they go through my bag looking for booze and camera. Both things safe in my Short's pockets The dumb idiots didn't know my experiences with law enforcement guys. So after I sneaked my stuff along I started walking again. The slope slowly began to rise to around 40° - 60° I came across the last source of water now which is hidden slightly off the path but you can hear the water flowing. Here I found a group of more then 10 people having lunch. They Invited me to join for the food and I obliged sharing vodka with them.
After some fifteen minutes I said good bye and started climbing. The scenery here is increasingly beautiful as you climb higher and higher.
Me looking Back at the way travelled Sitting along the Cliff
Few hours later I reached the peak just before KP Peak. I had finished of the last pack of Tigers in my pocket by now.
After the second last peak the dense growth of forest abruptly returns and you find your self walking along a narrow path along a cliff. I hate to admit it but it scared the holy crap out of me. After some time I came across another small stream and then limbing up a few rocky boulders i came across a stretch of rock a few 20 meters high. i climbed up the rock holding on to the fissures. i noticed this rock is strewn with love messages form some frustated guys who came here to die(suicide) I picked a pebble and scratched one for myself (S♥S) (Shag Loves Shag).
Saturday : 27/1/2007 17:10 (T +19:40)
Reached the peak and clicked the pic of the second last mountain which on the side looks like a man with an oblongated nose
Saturday : 27/1/2007 17:30 (T +20:00)
Started the climb back as the original objective of Op Devirginize was to do this fast. this was relatively easy and it was still not totally dark till i reached the forest department office. where I switched on my torch and headed the rest of the way down.
Saturday : 27/1/2007 23:30 (T +26:00)
Back to base.
Effective Time Taken :
* From bangalore : 26 hours
* Time for climb : 17 hours
Other places to visit nearby:
* A small river junction where people go for swimming.
* 2-3 Temples in the area
* Try fresh Fish from the streams in the area in the small hotels at sakleshpur.
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Last Updated on Friday, 19 September 2008 18:15 |
