Trekking is one of my hobby.. kudremuka is one my fav trekking place..
Every year started from 2013 i m visiting kudremuka..
Everytime we start from Bangalore night and reach Kalasa next morning. Kalasa was pretty much deserted, with a few shops selling tea/coffee just opening up. We contact Arun Mullodi everytime , a trek organizer cum home stay owner who stays on the fringes of Kudremukh Wildlife santuary. He had given the directions to reach his place , the first stage of which was to catch a bus to Balagal which was around 15 kms from Kalasa. The first local bus was at 6.30 am.
Light and Shadow Landed at Ballagel to continue towards Arun home at Mullodi, but now the route was through rough terrain and the means was a 4x4 Mahindra Jeep. Reached Arun's home, which was a traditional village home (guys u wont get network there so no calls from ur gfs :-p) Finished our morning chores and had out breakfast for the day. Unlimited pundis ...
Peak In the Background After that we started the trek at around 9 am. Loaded with water and our afternoon lunch. Since this was a protected forest, one needs to take prior permission from the forest office at Kudremukh town. For us this was arranged by Arun himself, but unfortunately we dont hve permission to camp overnight. Hence one has to trek the entire 20km or odd km in a single day, even then this trek can be termed as an easy one. Initial part of the trek was alternating between grasslands and shaded forests. Within the shaded forests we came across quite a few water bodies , so I guess water wouldnt be a problem even in the summer seasons. The name of the peak was kept so, since it supposedly resembles a Horse's face, but to me it resembled more of a human's nose... a very big nose indeed :P.
After spending 15 mins near the peak we started descending and our guide took us on a detour to have our lunch. The lunch spot was a cozy place in the afternoon sun, with trees for shade and a stream gurgling beside it. We spent close to an hour having our lunch and relaxing under the shade. After resting we descended the peak pretty quickly and at around 5 pm we reached back to Arun's home, taking 8 hrs to complete the trek. We then went to a small waterfalls nearby (Somavathi Falls), spent some time having a dip in the chilled water. Later v finished our bath and by that time camp fire was inviting us as well as soft drinks :-p