Kurinjal Peak: A peak over the Sahyadri mountain range

 

Kurinjal Peak, Kudremukh

Location: Bhagwati Nature Camp, Jungle Lodges

Date: Oct 2nd, 2024

To get there: From Bangalore via Hassan or Sakleshpur on the Mangalore Highway. Buses are also connected. Resort does not have phone connectivity so you have to plan the last mile connectivity before hand.

Distance: Apprx 350km, 7hrs by car.

Kurinjal Peak Trail type: Initially flat, then moist rain forests, opens into shola grasslands for a bit. Final ascent is on a rocky trail which needs some scrambling. 7km from trailhead to peak.

Facilities: None. Carry all the food and water you need. Permission to trek is mandatory from the Karnataka Forest department. Pass has to be picked up from the checkpost morning of your trek. Guide is compulsory and provided by KFD.

Map: Kurinjal Peak. Trail head is from the Kalasa main road. Detailed trail infromation from Indiahikes.

Kudremukh (Malleshwara Mining Town for me), influenced my formative years the most making me who I am today. My father worked at Canadian Met-Chem, consulting for KIOCL to set up the infrastructure for mining Iron ore. Our family relocated for 2 of those years and I did my 6th and 7th standard at Giri Jyoti Convent there. It was always my desire to go back and see the town where I first learned to converse in English, appreciate nature, aped the kids in Enid Blyton in the forests around us, had a diverse set of friends ranging from smart city kids to tribal kids, and just grew up into the awkward teens!

River at Bhagwati

So it was, 45 years after those carefree days, my wife and I booked to stay at Bhagwati Nature Camp, Jungle Lodges. It is about 8 km from Malleshwara which we were told had become a ghost town. We drove past it to reach the camp, a typical Jungle Lodges setup with cottages and tents surrounded by Kudremukh National Park and a river flowing by it.

We had not really planned any activities other than exploring the abandoned town. But when the other guests, a young couple and four engineering students, started planning a trek to Kurinjal Peak, we joined enthusiastically. It checked off a long-standing box for us to trek in the Western Ghats shola forests, after several treks overseas and in the Himalayas. They helpfully took care of getting the trek permit from Karnataka Forest Department that required a drive to the checkpoint early on the morning of the trek.

Shola Grasslands

Kurinjal Peak Trailhead

The trek is 7km each way with some elevation gain and usually takes about 5 hrs. to complete. Our assigned guide Kumar was ready to start around 7am which is ideal as it was predicted to get hot and humid later with chances of heavy rain with lightning by late afternoon. Crazy change of weather from cold to hot/humid to monsoon. However, we decided to have breakfast before the trek which pushed our start to nearly 10am. It meant we would be under a time constraint and could not go slow or rest in between or on the peak to avoid getting caught in dangerous weather conditions. Of course, the abundance of leeches in the rainforests ensured we were not tardy anywhere! 

Bridge at start

We parked our vehicles at the Bhagwati Nature Camp turnoff on the main road and walked a few hundred meters to the Kurunjal Peak trailhead. After crossing a bridge across a scenic river, the trail winds through rainforests and shola grasslands. Birds were scarce but butterflies were plenty. I enjoyed and captured their images for later identification as best as I could, despite the fast pace we were maintaining.

Rain forests

As soon as we entered the moist forest trails of Sahyadris, we were greeted by leeches lying in wait for us on the ground, plants that we brushed, and one even dropped down from a tree, a la Mission Impossible style! Everyone was helping everyone else to flick the creepy crawlies which do a very quick downward dog asana climbing technique, to find a nice succulent spot to latch on and suck blood. They anesthetize the spot so that we won't even feel the bite until they drop off, belly full of our precious blood and the wound starts bleeding heavily because they also inject something to prevent clotting! Like they were vampire insects. By the end, we had all contributed to their meal for the day in spite of the precautions we took. 

View point 1km before peak

Good place to relax

After about 6kms which took 2 hours, we reached a lovely viewpoint. Here we could see the majestic Sahyadri range with its rolling shola forests covered in low clouds. Finally, had a breather, and took some nice photos, before we started the final ascent to the peak towering about 200-300 meters above us. Here we had the option of scrambling up a narrow trail or walking on a road that led to an abandoned house midway. 

Go pro leading the way up

Final ascent

A quick rest at the house and the final ascent to reach the peak with its magnificent 360-degree views. I found myself more tired than usual for a moderate climb. Maybe it was age catching up or the fast pace without breaks or just one of those days. I also felt quite nauseous and nearly threw up. This was because of eating the excellent but oily Mangalore Buns for breakfast. Lesson learned. Avoid oily food before any serious treks.

Kurinjal Peak conquerors

Tailed Jay

Some rest. Obligatory photos. Phone calls as this was the only spot where we got a signal. Group shot. And down we started to avoid getting caught in the lightning, rain, or mist. Guide chose a shorter route but steeper descent which supposedly was 2 km less but felt same for us. After an eventless trek down, with beautiful butterfly sightings, we were back in our camp for a well-deserved lunch and a relaxing afternoon nap. 

Kudremukh View point

Overall, Kurinjal Peak is a wonderful beginner trek, easy to moderate level of difficulty, that lets you enjoy the lovely Sahyadri mountains. We were quite disappointed with the lack of any avian activity but the views, butterflies, and wildflowers made up for it. Another activity offered at Bhagwati is a landscape Safari to the Kudremukh view point. It is worth doing as jeep ride and views are very fun and enjoyable.

Abandoned Apartments

Of course, I didn't miss out on visiting my childhood home in Kudremukh town, about 8kms from the camp. On our way back to Bangalore, we drove around it for a couple of hours visiting the Helipad, the apartments where we stayed, and my school Giri Jyoti Convent. All were still standing but dilapidated. They did jog my memory and I enjoyed the wave of nostalgia leading me to share some inane events from that time of my life with others who listened patiently and hopefully enjoyed too and did not get bored. The town did give us a sighting of the Malabar Barbet and Malabar Giant Squirrel, which was a bonus.

Click here for some more images from the trek and trip.

A look into the rainforests and home of its King

Kalinga Center for Research and Ecology

https://kalingacre.com/

Since our friends had given high praise on their visits to the center, it was on top of our list when a short vacation opportunity arose. Many excuses made us put it off like the long drive, leeches, monsoon, etc. One fine day it just clicked and we were on our way for a 2 night stay. Later, we were left wondering why we had postponed this trip for such a long time!

It is indeed a long drive from Bangalore about 7 to 8 hrs. There were no leeches or monsoon in March but rains are always fun here. We drove leisurely planning to reach KCRE for lunch. But a stop at Kuvempu Kavi Mane in Kuppali, a lovely tribute and museum dedicated to the poet, took a couple of hours. So, we had lunch at Theerthahalli and reached KCRE late around 4pm.

We fell in love with the place, as soon as we reached the welcome arch amid thick rainforest and walked down the steps to their dining/lounge area. It's like you are in the middle of the western ghats with views of trees all around you wherever you are. Lovely ambiance if you like nature in its purest form.

As soon as we settled in, there was a call to rescue a King Cobra, ie Kalinga!, at a nearby village. To our surprise, the whole team started getting ready in perfect synchronization. We were invited to join if we were interested. Of course, we were! As we drove out, a call updated us that the snake had gone up a tree, so rescuing it at night would be difficult. We chose to wait for future updates in a lovely hilly area with great views. Finally, any possibility of a nighttime rescue was called off and we drove back to the center in the dark with some unexpected but thrilling encounter with wild Gaurs that crossed our road.

After dinner, one of the interns took us for a night walk. There was hope of spotting some snakes or nocturnal animals. But we were unlucky. However, walking in torchlight in the forest even on the broad path was exciting. We switched off the torch a few times to experience what it feels like if you were an animal in the forest. We spotted a nightjar, several spiders, insects, and moths.

Mornings are our time to just bird around wherever we stay. At KCRE, we didn't have to go far as we were already in the middle of a great birding spot. So, we just ambled around the place and enjoyed relaxed birding. Yellow-browed bulbul, Crimson-backed sunbird, Black-naped monarch, and Black woodpecker, were some of the beauties we spotted. Later a student researcher working on Malabar Pit Vipers took us on a short walk and gave us sightings of the beautiful snake. It is so well camouflaged that it took us several minutes to spot even with him telling us exactly where it was resting about 10-20ft away!

Can you spot the snake?

For an afternoon activity, there was a natural pool nearby. We followed another student intern who volunteered to take us there. It was a serene and peaceful spot in the middle of the rainforest. My wife who loves water immediately waded in while I walked around hunting for frogs, butterflies, odonates, and anything interesting. Our guide, settled down with her laptop to get some work done.

We had hardly spent about 30 minutes when her partner came running up to our spot from the center (about 1km away), yelled out that a rescue call had come, and promptly ran back. Of course, we wanted to be part of it too! So, we headed back at top speed and found that everyone had left already except for the intern who had selflessly informed us. We were instructed to head out as soon as possible. And we did with some adventurous driving, and many calls in between to the lead group to guide us on the rural roads, we managed to catch up just as they were about to enter the small village. whew!

All the running, driving, and hullabaloo to join the rescue was worth it as we watched enthralled Dr. Gowrishankar execute a perfect King Cobra rescue in difficult circumstances. The large adult snake had found some cozy accommodation in the external bath area which also doubled as a storage for this home. Gowri had to coax the snake out of that space and get it into the open area along a narrow corridor. After that risky maneuver, he guided the snake safely towards the prepared sack into which the 8 to 9-foot-long King Cobra happily slithered inside. The sack was then safely carried to the vehicle and released within hours at a suitable distance from the village into the forest where hopefully it will find a more natural home. Before heading out, Dr.

Gowrishankar spent some time with the villagers answering all their questions and allaying fears of the snake. Such debriefing and assurances ensure the villagers will reach out to KCRE whenever they encounter snakes rather than take dangerous risky solutions themselves.

Too soon our wonderful 2 day trip was over. We managed to do some morning birding before heading back to Bangalore. A wonderful trip that we hope to repeat sometime soon or as often as possible!

Selected images from our KCRE adventure.

Manjarabad Fort

This was more of a family social trip than a nature or bird watching trip to Sakleshpur over the last weekend of Dasara. My sister has lived here for the past 25 years or so and we usually plan a trip during Dasara. However, since her house is at the end of town close to where the forest cover again starts, one can just do birding around the house itself. This time we also planned to visit Majarabad fort more for something to do than for hope of spotting birds.

On way to Sakaleshpur, we found couple of very good lakes, one 5km after Hassan and the next a few kilometers further. We were able to enjoy Bronze-winged Jacana's, Coots, Moorhens, Kingfishers and other common birds here. Our hopes to do much bird watching in Sakleshpur got a setback as there was incessant rain all through our stay. That still did not stop us venturing out with Umbrellas and jackets couple of times. The birds which also decided to ignore the rain and fly about were: Red-whiskered Bulbuls, House sparrows, Oriental Magpie Robins, White-browed Wagtails, Couple of Purple-rumped Sunbirds, a lone Grey Wagtail and a Long-tailed Shrike. Several Dusky Crag Martins were the most active doing fast low flights repititively in the same pattern as if on a race-track. My guess is that they were catching insects in the air.

As planned, we drove up to Majarabad fort in the rain saturday afternoon. It is only about 5km from the town. Look for a huge board with the name and some shops on the left at a hairpin bend. You need to park here and walk up a little and then climb 250steps (my daughter Nithila counted it!) to reach the fort. The fort itself is fantastic apparently built by Tipu Sultan in 1782 as per a ASI board at the start of the trek up. Some of the watch towers are in good condition giving good views of how the soldiers would have scanned the horizon during those times. Birding was tough due to rain. There was a raptor which disappeared too quickly. Many Dusky-crag Martins gave us company though.

On the way back, just a km before Sakaleshpur town, we stopped at the road side to scan some paddy fields. This was under a Ficus tree. (F.virens?). Looking up we noticed a lot of barbet activity and could easily spot the white-cheeked ones. I noticed a flash of red on one which was smaller in size and assumed some coppersmiths were also there. Tracking it on the binoculors gave me a flash of blue also and I knew we had something else here. It started to rain heavily and we had to reluctantly return home. We came back again to the tree in the evening about 4ish hoping for a better look. This time, the bird liked our determination and came down the canopy to the lower branches to feed on the white fruits. No doubt now. It was the Crimson-fronted Barbet(Magalaima rubricapilla), our first time ever! A truly beautiful bird to watch scampering around the tree most of the time high up in the canopy. We spent quite some time enjoying it. I made one more trip back to try and get a few images even though light was fading fast. The bird again rewarded me by coming down once helping me get some record shots. It made our trip memorable.

We were on our way back to Bangalore early next day morning. There was morning sun at the lake near Hassan for us to observe a Pheasant-tailed Jacana family with 2 really cute chicks. One final note, if you happen to breakfast at Mayura Hotel (best with a family as it has a spacious play area) near Belur Cross, check out the trees for lot of Tickells (Pale-billed) Flowerpeckers.

Courtship dance of Red Rumped Swallows

After our Muthodi trip we spent a couple of days at Sakleshpur where we went around birding both mornings and evening. I happened to notice this behaviour of the Red Rumped Swallows which were doing flying acrobatics with each other which I can only assume to be their Courtship Dance. They would sit on the electric wire couple of feet apart. Then move towards each other in short movements. Nuzzle each other and then both would fly high and do some acrobatic moves. Eventually one would settle down and watch the other continue this show. Then it would also sit down, move closer, nuzzle and repeat it all over again. This went on for about 5 minutes. Then they just flew away, interestingly in opposite directions!

No confirmation as yet from experts in this area on whether this is a courtship dance. If you are one please do leave a comment! :)

All good images that I captured are on Picasa in the same sequence that I shot them at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/naturerambles/CourtshipDanceOfRedRumpedSwallow#

Enchanting Muthodi

Date: Oct 9th-10th 2008



Every year we have a family get-together during Dasara usually at my sisters house in Sakleshpur. This year we decided to change it a bit and meet at some place around Chickmagalur first and then spend time in Sakleshpur. My brother-in-law was able to book 2 rooms at the forest bungalow in Muthodi through a friend of his in the DFS. It is called the Sighekhan Estates and is open for all public for booking as well as a vista point during daytime. Muthodi is one part of the Bhadra Wildlife Reserve which I believe is spread over 492 Sq Km. Other parts are Lakkavali and Hebbe.



We left Bangalore around 6.30am, planning to reach Belur via Kunigal, Chanrayapatna and Hassan by 11am where we hoped to connect with my sister. But Bangalore traffic thought otherwise and it took us more than an hour just to get out of the city itself even at that early hour and it was past 12 by the time we got to Belur. Sister couldn't wait and they proceeded to Chickmagalur and then Muthodi while we followed at a much leisurely pace looking out for birds. My daughter was thrilled to get a count of close to 30 on the drive. The best was a wonderful lake and swamp just before Chickmagalur where we got to see Purple Herons, Spot Billed ducks, River Terns, Grey Herons and a Bronze-winged Jacana (our first time). The road from Chickmagalur to Muthodi is quite tough going and took more than an hour before we drove the 30km to he Bhadra Check post. From there the Sigekhan Estates was a steep climb up the hill, 1st gear all the way! The thick forest was a welcome relief. My wife spotted this Giant Wood Spider web as soon as entered.


The bungalow is nicely located on top a hill with a wonderfull view of the Bhadra Valley. As soon as we settled in, the meti (man-in-charge) suggested that we could go on the Safari at 4pm as if it rains during the night the next day safari's will be cancelled. The reason being we need to cross a river to enter the forest. So, we immediately drove down to the pick up point. As the river was already swollen we had a squeeze into a Jeep. It was also getting dark forcing the driver to get through fast. The most exciting or rather scary part of the safari was the realization that leeches were everywhere! You could hardly step down for a minute without a leech scrambling up your leg. The mystery to me is, where do all these leeches find the food (blood) required to survive?

Next day morning, I was up before dawn hoping to catch the sunrise. It was indeed a good decision as the valley is almost magical with layers of clouds in between green covered hills slowly becoming brighter as the dawn breaks. The cloud or mist on the group is very fast moving and changes within minutes climbing up and with the dawn breaking into its orange and red colors, it is too beautiful to describe in words. Instead I tried to capture it with my camera and ended up moving my tripod from on end of the balcony to the other unable to decide what I wanted to click. It may have been better to just pull up a chair and soak it in. I think that way this langur had the right idea using a branch for a chair! :)

Once the sun brightened and it was truly morning, we were greeted by much activity and calls. That is when I wished we had few veteran birdwatchers to identify the calls. Instead, it was sighting a bird and trying desperately to find it in our Grimm Skipp. :). The most active early morning birds were the Scarlet Minivet, Racket-tailed Drongo, Small (Crimson-backed) Sunbird and BulBuls. The minivet was my first time and its colors matched the dawn. The male and female pair of Crimson-backed Sunbird had a nest just off the balcony and was very active trying to feed its young. After few minutes we could understand its routine. Get some food, land on bush in front, then high up on a tree next to the nest, wait for few seconds, then dive quickly into the nest opening. It stayed on the nest for less than a minute before starting all over again. The male visited maybe once for every 10 visits by the female. A giant Malabar Squirrel became very active on a tree close by. Its call is loud and ferocious coming from a squirrel. We got to watch it quite nicely though it was difficult to get any good photos.




We then walked on the road which continues around the hills. We saw lots more drongo activity and calls. Another bird that we spotted and were finally able to identify was the Malabar Parakeet. We also got to experience what Mr Subramanya termed as a “fashion show” on bngbirds. That is sudden burst of activity where we get calls from all sides and at least 4 to 5 different species of birds seem to be on the move around us. It lasts for about couple of minutes and things become quiet again. Under the thick forest cover we were not fast enough to spot and identify most of them but the experience is quite exhilarating. I realized that taking shots of these colorful spiders was much easier than that of birds.







Afternoon was spent lazily on the balcony where we managed to spot a Gold fronted leafbird. The sunbird was also actively feeding its family and I was able to get few shots of its home from the balcony itself without disturbing it in any way. Later in the evening, unfortunately some guests arrived to take the single room left Since they seemed to be in the party mood we decided to return to Sakleshpur in the evening itself and avoid any incidents. That spoilt our plan for the evening and the next day morning rounds. We did a quick round before departing and saw some Ashy Drongos and Black lored Tits. On the drive back it got dark before we left the forest area and though we hoped for some tigers, you can always hope :), we didn't encounter any mammal.
That ended my first trip to Muthodi. It is indeed a very beautiful place and the experience is quite different from Kabini or Nagarhole due to the majestic Baba Budan Giri range.



For booking this bungalow or the cottages you can contact the Forest Offices at: 08262 234904


Other birds we were able to spot and identify (click on the links to see the image):

Malabar Parakeet
Racket-tailed Drongo (silhoutte)
Ashy Drongo
Black Drongo
Female Scarlet Minivet
Female Small (crimson-backed) Sunbird
Gold fronted Leafbird


Other articles on Muthodi/Bhadra:http://westernghats.blogspot.com/2006/03/wildlifing-in-indias-youngest-tiger.html
http://www.wildwanderer.com/journal/muthodi-and-coorg-a-trip-report.html