Brahmagiri is a hill range in western ghats on the border of Kerala and Karnataka. The hill range is a trekkers paradise. There is a peak in these ranges known by the name Brahmagiri.

It’s surely one of the lovely hike and the last 300-meter ascend is one of the toughest hike I’ve seen in western ghats.

We reached as early as 6 o’clock and waiting at Forest Office, to get brighter for the trek:

Besides, Irupu falls goes the treacherous trail, the ascend hike beats down all sweats out of the tribe !

Morning so refreshing, and we gasped as much as fresh air possible, as it’s dearth in Bangalore :)

Stop over fun & Jyo is my fan in this pic !

Nikki and me, relaxing in the wilder-rough-dried-up elephant grass :

Posing with dead-bulls skull :

It’s a green beauty around hillocks !

Towards conquering Brahmagiri:

There comes the real hard last 300 meters of Brahmagiri, I love that touch peak ! The lines shows that the border between Kerala and Karnataka, runs through that :

Finally we reached the top with all that hiking efforts !

Time for a group to rejoice. Heavily roaring wind waves, cold breeze and all that lovely topography of coorg can’t be summed up in words :

One of the most favorite photos of the trek, Merry and Jay relaxing midst dried grass. So mystical, and un-fathomable elegance added to the trek !

lovely evening sun painting his orange tinge all over !

Back to Bangalore. Our bus broke down and helped us to grab some quick coffee near by:

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People had told me that the best of trekkers had given up and this was one of the toughest treks in Karnataka. Amedikallu is considered to be one of the toughest in Karnataka and is a two day trek if one wants to make it to the peak comfortably.Adivaas planned it really well with end-to-end travel facilities & with utmost care.

 

I had heard about Amedikallu when I first started trekking. It’s well nestled at a height of 1300 ~ 1500 Mts ( above mean sea level) in deep jungles of Western Ghats. Amedikallu, near village Shishila in Dharmasthala(Karnataka/India) is one of the significant peaks of Charmadi range and there are three approaches to this peak.

The name Amedikallu is a combination of two words: Ame – Turtle and dikkel – Tulu word for Stove. Amedikallu has a huge monolith at the top which appears like a giant turtle and 3 huge stones which give an appearance of a stove. This peak is surrounded by many other important peaks of Western Ghats.

Everyone was advised to carry liters of water; ready to eat meals, sleeping bags, tents and sleeping mat. The start of the trek was about 4 km from Vishnu Gokhale’s house where we had breakfast and packed food. The steep climb, grasslands and paucity of water make the trek arduous. We camped on the top of the most mesmerizing peak with dream landscape. I some how felt, Amedikallu has one the most unique grass and topographic texture v/s any other western ghat’s hillocks.

This was one of the most memorable treks that i had till now.A journey filled with unexpected twists ,mesmerizing landscapes and some delicious food to go with in the middle of a forest; A journey which i will cherish for the ages to come.

A quick visit to the Shishileshwara temple (Fish temple) and the lovely stream of the kapila river leading to Dharmasthala gave a fantastic feeling to the most tiresome trek. Had to limp while walk and taking staircase for few days was strictly avoided :)

Don’t know if I would do this massive trek again in lifetime, but all in all it was a good trek after a long time.

At an altitude of 4,200 m Dzongri is among the best trekking destinations not only in Sikkim but also in India. The sights of the milky white peaks all around Dzongri are bound to keep you gazing with awe.

The view from this place has too much to be recommended : a patchwork of green and gold streaked with blue – reminiscent of an abstract etching, framed by the majestic snowcapped peaks shining not very far away.

Sikkim’s most popular short trek to Dzongri Ridge in the Kanchenjunga National Park.

Trek through virgin rhododendron forests and experience the native culture of Sikkim. Climb Dzongri Top at sunrise to enjoy spectacular close up views of Mt. Kanchanjunga, Kabru, Pandim and many other snow capped peaks.

 

Best treks always start with a perfect trail So, we started trek from Somwarpet.

Kumaraparvata hillock is next to Pushpagiri peak which we ascend from Beedhalli, Somwarpet taluk side. This route is thrilling, more fun and frolic with a dash of heavy adventure filled.

The glimpse of Pushpagiri from Beedhalli forest office -

Fine morning, lovely weather coupled with enthusiastic team. We got a company of local guide as well -

Awesome jungles of Pushpagiri hillock -

The trek just goes up & up with high adrenaline filled ascend. There’s nothing called a stop for the hike! That’s the beauty of this lovely trek !

And again, just climb. Beat that heat baby !

Stop over, to wipe never ending sweat and already we realized, morning breakfast has gone for toss :)

These rock surfaces are the most unique dark textures I’ve found in Western Ghats. They look damn different & gives a feeling that, they don’t belong to this age !

Lovely flora & fauna. Variety is the buzz-word of this terrain !

Finally, we were at South Coorg’s famous peak Pushpagiri. That’s the bird’s eye-view of  the forest-office where we started the trek -

At the narrow pass off Pushpagiri. This is one lovely place, showcasing small hillocks and green pastures all around. Nature is wow-rsatile !

‘Vinni-the-poser’ inside lens hood -

Pushpagiri peak conquered!. Unknown deity with a recently found bhaktajan !

Here comes the real stud beauty : The Kumara-parvata peak. Isn’t that slope awesome !? If you’ve not been to this peak, I’m sure you greatly wasted your youth !

Never-before in my life I’ve seen such an mesmerizing beauty of rock formation inside thick jungle ! I strongly suspect, and hedge-hammer comet may have rammed earth here or may be an volcano eruption zillions of years ago. Imaginations run soar here  !

Peace at its peak. Time for some Nirvana !

Some bachpana still left inside, to try this dangerous stunt at the edges off the peak ! This point was the scariest with the dead drop right at our feet-

Pulling ourselves down the Kumara-parvata. It was difficult to leave that place !

The lovely trail takes down to Kalmane-mantapa. The popular stop-over for many trekkers -

We found a small water body and camped near by.

The next day descend took us down to Bhattra-mane. One and only house inside curves and slopes of Kumaraparvata hill -

We had a tummy-tight veg food there and it was all nice to spend few hours at their hospitality -

Our final stop. The abode of Kukke Subramanya. Took a refreshing shower at Kumaradhara River !

After a short darshana of God Subramanya & delicious temple food we made an exit with a tired-but-alive & kicking bodies -

Bye bye, Kukke & Kumara Parvata.

Ever since I’ve heard these lovely lines, I’ve been yearning to be in that lovely place !

ಕಾವೇರಿಗೆ ಕಾಲುಂಗರ ತೊಡಿಸಿ
ಕೊಡಚಾದ್ರಿಗೆ ಕೈ ಬಳೆಯ ಕೊಡಿಸಿ
ಮಲೆನಾಡಿಗೆ ಮಲ್ಲೆಯನು ಮುಡಿಸಿ
ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುವೆನು ಈ ಜೀವ ಬೆರೆಸಿ
ಓ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಹೆಣ್ಣೇ ನಿನಗೆ ಕೋಟಿ ನಮನ !

Kodachadri is a trekkers paradise with adventurous trekking routes through the waterfalls to the peak. Early in the morning, we started off from Nittur.

Packed with enough mineral water, chocolates and energy drinks:

It’s an awesome hike, cutting across green fields and sweet cold water flowing through paddy fields:

Team was so enthusiastic. It was a mix of experienced and first time trekkers.

We crossed tiny village house holds along-the-way. Some trails go through gardens, gates of some houses. Loved the courtesy; they have not fenced their gardens, though lot of trekkers cross-by.

Nicety of the trek is, one gets to experience variety of myriad flora beauty all along !

Some sugar-cane fields midst of jungle !

 

Kodachadri is a place of beautiful flora & fauna. We came across chilled water stream giving us an indication that our tired soul is soon reaching a source of water near by !

Our guess was right. We were there in the most needed place : a super cold  : Hidlumane water falls. Guys were super thrilled !

It’s like a dream come true. The hot sun was hitting his anvil on our scalps. Tired soul was badly in need to get drenched. We got into water in no time. This waterfall is quite unique and its like  a wall with minute stream flowing down like sharp ice-dagger !

After quick cold shower, we were on mission to conquer Kodachadri. The trail was tough cutting across waist-high elephant grass and ascend all through.

Even smallest of the object over body feels like an heavy object in continuously going up slope !

Vast green-blue-tinged vast canvass in the foot-hills of Kodachadri :

We finally made it to the top, but the pinnacle is still to go :)

Resting tired souls !

Finally, with never-ending bent-walk, we finally were made it to a place, where divine Shankarachaarya meditated.
Kodachadri is famous for its wonderful sunrise and sunset.

I believe I can fly
I believe I can touch the sky
I think about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away

Pitched tents for the night and night-fire to beat that heavy cold waves :

Slept with enemies; considered to be weapons of mass-sleep-destruction !

It was one of the most beautiful & warm morning I’d seen in years.  My heart tempted to reach out to those soul stirring lines …

अनजाने रहो में क्या ढून्दंता फिरे
दूर जिसको समझा वोह तो पास है तेरे..
सांस में हवा जान में ज़मीन…
दिल में कुला आसमान….
प्यार है खुदा, प्यार है ख़ुशी प्यार से है दोनों जहाँ
तेरा ये आशियाना….
मेरा भी आशियाना….

After a short breakfast at Kodachadri guest house, we started downward trek towards Kollur :

The descend towards  Kollur is quite exciting. It’s a variety in its own trait ! Steep curves, edges, narrow plateaus, dense forests, flat lands…it was an awesome trek !

Posing with botanically important peeps.  The Shola Forests spread over the surrounding hill range as well as on Kodachadri hill range is unique. They are life of steams and rivers of such hills.  | via

Kodachadri is home to many endemic and endangered species of flora and fauna. Our DSLR cams ensured they did just what they paid for by nicely capturing many interesting parties of the hillock !

Continuous descend trekking is quite hard.  Descend from the peak, is all about rigorous weight on legs. We allowed they to party with chilled-absolute cold stream waters of the hillock !

Arashina-gundi falls is a famous waterfalls inside the forests of Kodachadri valley. This is the source of the majestic, mammoth water falls !

The star attraction of this region is the Arishina-gundi Falls. If you’ve trekked to Kodachadri and not made it to  Arishina-gundi Falls, you’ve not lived your life amass !  Till date, Arishina-gundi Falls swim is one of my most memorable experience inside my memory-box !

We headed back to Kollur with painful legs and tired body, but with lot of excitement.

Some how, Nittur-Kodachadri-Kollur worked out real adventurous for us. Thus the rocking  Kodachadri Trek became most desirable memory in my peregrination diary.

Lohagad Trek was one of the best and amazing trek I ever had in my life.

A beautiful fort in a beautiful location, good roads to the base and an easy climb make Lohagad fort one of the more popular destinations to visit close to Pune.

Lohgad is situated about 5 Km. from Malavali station. We have to get down at Malavali station near to Lonavala. After crossing the Express-Highway & reaching Bhaje village we get straight route to Lohgad. 1½ hours walk from Bhaje will lead to Lohgadwadi.

In 1670, Shivaji Maharaj won Lohgad fort and in the year 1751, Gaikwad and Dabhade family were incarcerated in this fort.

15 min walk from Lohgadwadi will take you to the top. We can reach to the top of fort by stairs.

Many of the structures on the fort are still intact and climbing the fort would give you the feeling of actually climbing a fort rather than walk on “made in 21st century” concrete steps!

For trekker’s Lohgad should be a real treat to visit giving a wonderful view from its top.

Today, most of the forts are in dilapidated states, however Lohgad is still in much better condition.

 

To the western side of the fort is ‘Vinchu Kata’. It is 1500m long & 30m wide part of the mountain, separated from the main part. This is most fascinating spot on the top of the fort. Viewing from the fort this portion looks like scorpion’s sting and hence it is called ‘Vinchu Kata’. This ‘Vinchu Kata’ was used for keeping a watch on the nearby area. We all spent a nice time over there having photography sessions, etc. There is also a flag post at the end of Vinchu Kata.

As we climbed up, breathtaking views would unfold in front of our eyes.  The natural beauty on the way was simply amazing.

Excerpts – Amit kulkarni + Anup Kumar + Rajaram + others