Kudremukha, literally means 'Horse-Face' and refers to a spectacular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that looks like a face of the horse. It is a small town in Chikmaglur district in Karnataka and situated close to the mountain range with the same name - Kuduremukh. On clear days, Mangalore city is said to be visible from the top of Kudremukh.
Trek Details:
It all started with a mail from my colleague about trekking to Kudremukh with "Bangalore ASCENDers". With the images shown in the mail, I was thrilled and Joined immediately for the expedition. On 5th March 10, about 13 BASC members (including me & my colleagues) met @ Majectic and started for the Journey after brief introduction.
Day 1 (6th March 10):
We reached Kalasa early morning. On the way to Horanadu to visit Annapoorneshwari temple, we halted @8.00am near a river bridge to freshen up. Since, the river didn't seems to fresh, someone suggested to walk Upstream to about 1Km. We followed the suggestion and soon seems to be in different world. The entire place was covered with FOG...
It was perfect start to Trek. We refreshed/rejoiced ourself in the cold water and headed for temple. Next we headed for Hanumanagundi falls. We packed our lunch over here only.
The falls were heavely guarded due to Naxal threat. Anywayz, we went down, some took bath and after that we had our lunch. After a nice bath, showed some concern to the stomach, emptied all our lunch packets . Then we headed back towards kudremukha, en route covered Gangamoola & lakya dam. Gangamoola is few kilometers from Hanumanagundi falls & it is said to be the birth place for river Tunga, Bhadra & Netravathi. A kilometer walk from the road we reached Gangamoola, as it was summer the place was totally dry. Then we reached Lakya dam by 4pm. This dam was built by kudremukha iron ore company (KIOCL) to collect the waste materials from the mining operations and it is a dam of silt not water. From far the view of dam was just like a desert & it is surrounded by hills. The view just seemed like all the hills are holding together & hugging this dam. It was time now to head towards for what we have come for, to conquer kudremukha peak. We parked our vehicle(TT) in Balagal and after some refreshments & tender coconuts, started our trek to by 5.45 pm & reached Mullodi by 7.15pm. There our guide was waiting for us. We took bath over his place, meantime he prepared pain-relaxing tea for us. After detailed into, we went for sleep with the enthu to conqure the Horse-Face mountain.
Day 2:
It was a starry night. After freshen up, we started @6.30am.
Just a Km after we saw the cloud cover over distant hills... It was an awesome sight, still fresh in my memory. The trek distance was about 10Km and was mostly through Jungle & open grassland. It was up...down...a few walk along the ridges with a view of valley on one side...and good source of water @alltime whenever we were short of it.
@9.00am we halted for breakfast. Our guide carried the carrier with Idly/Dosa which made the way to our hungry stomach. We resumed @9.45 am. After a km, there was a steep climb (40deg, considering my 1st trek), water source and few 250meters later an awesome panoramic view. We sat at this place for quite some time; everyone had their personal photo session.
Then, again a steep climb of about 60deg and the final one. After this climb, just before few hundred meters from peak, there is an old church. Few of us (Not ME!!) ventured there for photo-shoot suddenly someone told that there is a Brown Beer near by. They came back immediately. We reached the top @12.00pm and njoyed the sceneries...
For most of the Trek, we wondered why this is called Kudremukh (Horse Face), everyone giving their way... and trying to convince the other about the same. Well, few members Saurab, Rajesh, Sridhar Srikanth & Satish headed towards the other peak in curiosity. On the way to the other peak, in the mid they just turned back; We could not believe what they were seeing. It was actually a Horse Face to be seen from the other end though... In fact, BASC is the first trekking group to find the real Kudremukh, I am happy to be part of that group :)
During the trek, few of us (including me) saw 2 Brown Bears, 2 Deer & peacocks roaming in their natural habitat. If any willing to trek.. Do trek ASAP, heard trekking will be banned in the following months!!!
Happy Trekking...
Nearby Places to Visit: Horanadu Temple
Day 1 – Kalasa – Horanadu – Hanumanagundi falls – Gangamoola-Lakyadam – Mullodi(home stay/Night camp)
Day 2 – Kudremukha peak – Mullodi village water falls & river
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