Kumara Parvatha, Karnataka

After all of my obsession with dreaming and planning, the day has finally arrived when I have decided that I should go now, Kumara Parvatha, regardless of others. I was literally ready to go solo, but my friend joined me. We reached Bangalore station evening (Train announcement)… The train leaves at 9:00 p.m. from bangalore towards Mangalore. Later, after some chat, laughter, and listening to music, we deliberately let the time pass.

The time is 6 a.m. The train came to a screeching halt... Arrival at Subramanya station, and we became a pair of mad monkeys with monkey caps to tackle the cold weather filled with mist. We took a bus and went straight to the Kumaradhara River, which runs through Kukke and Upinanagadi. The water was very clear and cold, filled with fish having a party with soap water. It was a perfect holy bath before going to the temple, and I thought it was a lovely way to begin our journey. The temple was so beautiful, with a belt of mountains guarding behind it like a snake's hood; it was named Kukkesubramanya, Lord of Serpents. We went inside the holy temple and attained peace. Outside the temple, there was a water stream flowing, and people were rock-stacking in the stream. It is believed that making a wish and stacking rocks will make it come true. We spent some time and started executing the trek itinerary. We had a delicious breakfast of Mangalore buns and tea, followed by piping hot Annaprasadam in the temple.

Finally, we were ready for one of the toughest treks in south India. We walked to the base forest office where checking was taking place; each and every piece of plastic was checked and noted down. Ahh!! There it was, the big entrance welcoming the Pushapagiri peak. We tightened our pants and gripped our shoes, and we started the hike around 12.30 p.m. The trail was filled with thick roots spreading all along the path like a red carpet under the red soil. It was a good, adventurous welcome from nature's side. After one hour of hiking with many tiny breaks in between, I could hear a sharp disturbance of a river stream from far ahead, so I made up my mind that would be our next pit stop.

River Stream The smooth laminar flow getting turbulent after colliding with rocks, the cold, sweet water along with a chill breeze where dried leaves were falling like angels made it so natural. She was elated with the scene, and I believe these kinds of moments are never captured but are just observed and fulfilled. There were leeches all around, as the place was moist and cool. We filled our water bottles, spent some time there, and resumed the journey. The trail was gradually becoming more difficult; red soil roots were being replaced by rocky stones with a steep incline, and step by step, we started clearing all those hurdles. There were many different trails ahead, but we chose the challenging ones because, as young people, we love those adventures. We reached the top very fast, but it was just the beginning of the mountains. Noon 3.30 After three hours of hiking, we were finally getting nearer to the base camp of Bhatara Mane, where the last pit stop of the day would be. Bhatara Mane is the only place where food and shelter are available, where one has to rest and continue the remaining trek the next day; these were the rules given by the forest office.

Bhataramane the old house on top of the dense mountains, approximately 900 meters above sea level, is where the Bhat brothers lived to provide hospitality for trekkers. We were fully tired and went directly to the house. I presented my booking ID for tents that I had reserved previously. They treated us very warmly and arranged the spot for the tent. We spent the evening sitting on the bench; basically, it was a vantage point. We had bread, peanut butter, and chocolates, and then listened to the music calmly. We watched the clouds disappear into the horizon; unfortunately, the sunset was not visible, but we spent that moment happily. Morning 4 a.m Huge droplets of rain were pitching all around the tent with popping sounds, and the speed of the wind increased. I got a little tensed about the rain because we were not prepared for it, not even with raincoats. I started doubting about the summit of the main peak—are we even going to make it? Or will all this fail? Because the climate here is very volatile, you cannot expect anything. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, keeping all of those thoughts in mind.

Morning 5 a.m We got freshened up and packed the necessary gear: a torch, hoodies, food, and bottles. While I was stretching my body for warmup, here comes a disproportion, a big twist, and suddenly I got a really bad nerve catch in the lower back that was so not good. I was unable to bend even a slight degree; it was so unexpected and painful, and due to this cold weather, there was a probability of this happening. But I was not ready to give up, no matter what. We started the trek around 7.05 a.m. in the morning; the view was mesmerizing with fog. We could see clouds slowly ascending the mountains and birds heading out for a morning hunt. As a pair of monkeys, we were doing absolutely well, even though my back was not supporting me while I was managing. We had our breakfast of peanut butter and bread on top of the hill along the hiking trail. We sat there, and we could see a line of people coming from down and a current of cold, fresh air washing all over us. Our target was to reach Sesha Parvatha, which was the peak slightly shorter than the main peak, Kumara Parvatha. This was going to be the next milestone and pit stop for us.

After 2 hours of hiking, we came across a place called Kallu Mantapa. It was such an attractive Mantapa made up of rock and stone pillars. Kallu Mantapa is a delightful scenic attraction in the middle of the mountain ranges. After standing on top of that hill, we could see the base camp far ahead and realized how far we had come. And there it was, Gigantic Sesha Parvatha behind us. The altitude was increasing, the clouds were gathering around us, and some of the rapidly moving cloud mist was hitting us as white packets of energy blasting through us. It was around 1 km to Sesha Parvatha, and we set our time by a 45-minute target to reach it. My back was still hurting, and we came across another big, steep incline; my heart was working hard to pump every ounce of my blood, ensuring it reached every part of my body and lungs, with the inflate and deflate process supplying oxygen to the brain, and all of my body organs except my back were supporting "you can do it, there is no room to give up.” We finally reached Sesha Parvatha; we sat there on the rock, and the wind was extreme. The newly harvested breeze washed our warm eyes with all the water, dust in the form of tears came out of the eyes, freshening the eyeballs, and cones grasped all that greenery from everywhere. We ate something just to be energized, The main summit, Kumara Parvatha, was one kilometer away, but the upcoming trail was very challenging because we had to descend from Sesha Parvatha and hike through the thick, dense forest, then again ascend the peak through slithery rock mountains to reach the final summit. The corridor of the forest is haunted by thick branches and roots tangled along the trail as the path leads to mysterious woods. The surrounding area was filled with mist under the canopy of giant trees. The darkness of the forest was thickening, and the layer of grass and algae was spreading. I wondered how many undiscovered millions of species of plants and insects could exist here. As we were walking, I could see trees shivering and some insects shouting in fear, and when I turned back, everything went dead silent. We captured some good photos and videos of the forest. We followed the path into the unknown, and the phase was finished, but the feeling never left us.

The ascending part was ahead. There was a line of people waiting for the climb, as it was very slow and more risk was involved. We took the help of branches and twigs to complete the most difficult part smoothly. Our skulls would be crushed to the rocks if we made a slight mistake; it was an adrenaline rush. The rock-and-stone trail was coming to an end, but there was one more elevation to climb. I said let’s finish what we started "for the greatest climb." She chanted "for the greatest climb." As we were getting closer, we could hear the sound of a ringing bell and people celebrating. Yes! The final summit was a massive rock stack structure atop which was a small board with the name Pushapagiri Peak / Kumara Parvatha Peak, at 5600 feet. She thanked me for bringing her, and I thanked her for accomplishing my dream. I felt very proud that, even with my condition, we successfully did it. All the dreaming and planning from a year ago finally got accomplished with my favorite person; this could have been the best thing to happen in that year 2022. There was a small Shiva temple we visited, and we rang the bell, making it a memorable moment. Time was running out; we had only 20 minutes to spend there before we started descending back to the base camp. We sat on the rock; it was getting chilly along with the flurry of air.