Oct 26, 2013 – My first hike 🥾 – Kudremukh National Park, Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, India ⛰

This has got to be the most treasured thing I did in 2013. The funny thing about this trip is that I did not even plan a single thing. I was just tagging along a couple of my friends. They had already made all the arrangements, so it was a win-win situation for me, and I am so glad I did this trip. I learnt and discovered many things about myself during this two day trip.

The trip started with a bus journey to Chikkamagaluru. For those who do not know about Chikkamagaluru, it is one of the districts in the state of Karnataka, India. This district has been blessed by many sacred temples. It is also famous for its mountain range and waterfalls. I was excited for this trip, because, it was the first trip I was going on after joining Cognizant. I had my single backpack for this trip. I had managed to cram my supplies for two days in a small backpack. I was so proud of myself.

We reached Chikkamagaluru district early in the morning. Got freshen up and headed to the place where our guide was supposed to meet us. It was very thoughtful of my friends to book a guide, because, you can easily get lost in the thick mountain range of Kudremukh. Apart from guiding us to the summit, the guide has one more job to carry supplies for us, especially the food. I remember stopping at a place to have some Idli and Vada brought by our guide, and us making fun of those because they were so stiffened, we could barely eat those. Alas, we did not have a choice so we quickly finished those, had some much needed rest and started heading towards the summit.

If you have never been to Kudremukh, you must keep this in mind that the place is filled with leeches and other bugs. Our guide told us in advance to bring leech repellent oil, which we forgot 😟. This is where both the guide and the local vendors helped us a lot. There was a local store at the beginning of our hike. We bought a couple of bottles from them to share among five of us. We should have bought more. Anyway, our guide has some extra oil with him, so he lent us a little bit to fight off those leeches. Even after that, we had a few leeches penetrating our shoes and toes. It was nothing short of Mr. Simpson below.

It took us more time than expected to power the summit, but the moment we did, every step we took to accomplish the summit, felt worth it. I could not describe my feelings in words. Every one of us were silent for good five minutes, soaking in the moment and just relaxing. We were literally above the clouds. We took off our shoes and just rested there for a few minutes before clicking a few pictures.

This is me having a break after climbing the summit. You can see (or maybe not) the feeling of accomplishment on my face. It was a big deal for me. The soothing calmness in my heart made the four hour strenuous hike worth it. You could witness it from the top of the Kudremukh mountain. I realized having grown up in a small village helped me a lot both physically and mentally to finish this hike. I was so happy at the end of the day, that I could not feel any pain even after walking for more than seven hours that day. 

The next day when I woke up, I could feel a little sore from the hike the previous day, but it quickly vanished when I had some idlis for the breakfast. Soon, it was time to go home.

I was taking many memories with this trip. I was more deterministic and decisive than three days ago, all because of this trip.

Till then, Sayonara!