Thadiyandamol Trek
It was early October, we were looking for places within 250 Kms from Bangalore for trekking, after spending a fair amount of time on research, we chose Thadiyandamol and planned to get there on the last week of Oct, 2011.
So, in the previous paragraph I mentioned about We, let me introduce my peers, we were a team of 8, referencing the picture from left – Subish, Myself, Mohan, Prasanna, Jamsheer, Alok, Harish & Muthu.
Information about Thadiyandamol:
Thadiyandamol is the highest peak in Madikeri at an elevation of about 1908 mts situated in the Western Ghats. More info below:
So, in the previous paragraph I mentioned about We, let me introduce my peers, we were a team of 8, referencing the picture from left – Subish, Myself, Mohan, Prasanna, Jamsheer, Alok, Harish & Muthu.
Information about Thadiyandamol:
Thadiyandamol is the highest peak in Madikeri at an elevation of about 1908 mts situated in the Western Ghats. More info below:
- Distance From Bangalore: Bangalore ---260 Kms---> Madikeri ---40 Kms--->Kakkabe (Starting point)
- Difficulty Level: 2.5/5
- Water Source: Near the base camp & a couple of streams before reaching the base camp.
- Things to Carry: Salt to beat the leeches & Food/Snacks.
We packed our stuff on a Friday and got to our Satellite Town Bus Stop at 6 am, we got into a KSRTC Bus which started at 6.30 am. Most part of the roads were good and wasn’t tough to manage (Thanks to Karnataka Road Transport). We reached Madikeri around 1 pm (7 hours Journey), we grabbed some food from a local restaurant and left to our homestay which we had it already arranged. We had plans of partying the night & having a camp fire, luckily the Homestay had a backyard & a place to have campfire within the compound. We partied really hard (***Not advised especially when we go on a trekking trip) and slept late night around 1 am. We had plans of leaving at 5 am, but as you know we were late as a result of our party the previous night and we could leave only at 7.30 am.
We had a jeep waiting for us, (Jeep for a team of 8 costed us Rs. 2500, anywhere between 2000 to 2800 is a fair deal) we boarded the jeep and left to Kakkabe, in between we stopped at a place to grab some breakfast and also planned to get some food stuff parceled as well (We only PLANNED, none of us got it assuming that the other person would get it). We reached the start point around 9.30 am and started the trek.
We had a jeep waiting for us, (Jeep for a team of 8 costed us Rs. 2500, anywhere between 2000 to 2800 is a fair deal) we boarded the jeep and left to Kakkabe, in between we stopped at a place to grab some breakfast and also planned to get some food stuff parceled as well (We only PLANNED, none of us got it assuming that the other person would get it). We reached the start point around 9.30 am and started the trek.
The initial part was a flat land within the forest, which was mostly walking for an hour, let me tell you something about the bad boys there, we have leeches which I was experiencing for the first time and those were real nightmares, we had our pants tucked in our socks to make sure the leeches don’t sneak into your pants and we had deodrants, salt & Tobacco to protect us from them, since it rained the previous day, we knew that we are going to encounter a number of leeches, but the number was considerably low compared to what we thought. After an hour, we reached the base camp where the actual trekking starts.
There is no water source once you cross the base camp. There is a stream when you get around the base camp. We quickly emptied the water bottles and filled water in them. One of them figured that we have not carried any food with us, WTF!!! We were already hungry and we are left with 8 small oranges & small chocolate bars. With no options left other than managing with them, we started moving forward……:(
There is no water source once you cross the base camp. There is a stream when you get around the base camp. We quickly emptied the water bottles and filled water in them. One of them figured that we have not carried any food with us, WTF!!! We were already hungry and we are left with 8 small oranges & small chocolate bars. With no options left other than managing with them, we started moving forward……:(
As in when we were trekking, we had a professional photographer with us (Muthu) who was capturing the moments and the scenic beauty. After an hour or so, we received a message “Airtel welcomes you to Kerala”, Subish and Jamsheer being from Kerala were kind of excited to know that the peak is in Kerala. We took some breaks in between and started sharing 1 orange at a time just to make sure that we have enough stamina to move forward. The best part about this 4.30 hours trekking is that, there is a Shola Forest which takes about 30 mins to cross, this forest is considerably dark and it is surrounded with dense forest with Purple Wild flowers all over. Alok saw the Bamboo shoots and figured that these are edible; we grabbed some bamboo shoots and started chewing them. I stored some of them in my in my backpack since we had a good distance to cover (This point of time, I was muttering to myself – What kind of shit have I got myself into.... :(
The trekking goes on for the next 2 hours with a panoramic scenic beauty around. Just before reaching the summit, we reached a flat land, the view from there just made the entire effort worth it. We rested there for some time & took some photographs. Another 15 mins trek from that point, we reached the most waiting Thadiyandamol Summit. WOW!!!!
Though the view was just out of the world, the hunger was killing us. We had 3 people who were already on the peak and were having food, we asked them if there is any food left out that we can have, those amazing guys came up with a varieties of food/snacks like Parota, Pork fry, peanuts, Rajma Malasa, Vada, Chicki and other sweet dishes. We hogged the food which they gave, rested in the peak for about an hour enjoying the scenic beauty and took some photographs as well.
The trekking goes on for the next 2 hours with a panoramic scenic beauty around. Just before reaching the summit, we reached a flat land, the view from there just made the entire effort worth it. We rested there for some time & took some photographs. Another 15 mins trek from that point, we reached the most waiting Thadiyandamol Summit. WOW!!!!
Though the view was just out of the world, the hunger was killing us. We had 3 people who were already on the peak and were having food, we asked them if there is any food left out that we can have, those amazing guys came up with a varieties of food/snacks like Parota, Pork fry, peanuts, Rajma Malasa, Vada, Chicki and other sweet dishes. We hogged the food which they gave, rested in the peak for about an hour enjoying the scenic beauty and took some photographs as well.
Since it was already 2 pm, we had to reach the base within sunsets since it makes it difficult to trek down in the dark. Getting down didn’t take that long, we took just 2 or 3 breaks and kept moving. We reached the base at 6 pm and left to our homestay. We quickly took bath, had some amazing food at the local restaurant and got the bus at 10.30 pm from Madikeri to Bangalore.
Overall, this was one of the best trekking that would stay in my memories for ever.
Overall, this was one of the best trekking that would stay in my memories for ever.