Mukruthi - A path which goes deep in my Heart....

It was Dream come true, I was planning for this trek past 6 months & permission required from the forest department to reach the place. The park is characterized by montanez grasslands and shrub and interspersed with sholas in a high altitude area of high rainfall, near-freezing temperatures and high winds. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife, including Royal Bengal Tiger and Asian Elephant, but its main mammal attraction is the Nilgiri Tahr. The park was previously known as Nilgiri Tahr National Park.

The D day arrived, Thanks to srini Sir Helped me  to visit such beautiful place. Myself & group friends ( Shankar, Karthikeyan, Ramesh Muthiyan, Karthik, Madhav, Aravind, sudhir) All of us from Bangalore and Ramesh alone from Chennai.  Saddiq from Kerala my friend who is good photographer joined us for the trip.
The plan by srini sir was well jotted out.

1^st Day - Pandiar – Devarbetta - Mukruthi Peak  - Kolaribetta-  Camping in Mukruthi River Bed  - 13 Kms

2^nd Day – Mukruthi Camp Site –Pichkalbetta  – Western Catchment – Bangitapal Road – 27 Kms

The highest mountains inside the Park are Kollaribetta 2630m, Mukurthi 2550m and Nilgiri 2470m.

We Reached Gudalur pick up point & got pick up by the forest department – The mind started saying lets drop mobile, Dump the office memory log.. The Heart started pumping fresh air, The Jeep entered a no man’s land which en route to Pandiar. Shankar “Let’s call Ramesh and check where is now as the group was worried”. Jeep stopped at last signal point for Airtel. Ramesh States he on the way to ooty crossed conoor .  Post which  we started traveling towards  Pandiar, entrance to guest house covered with huge trees and  back drop is shola forest. We meet Srini sir and got introduced to the group. Group had a good breakfast and started packing things to start the Trip. Time clocked 9:00 AM as were already late and need start climbing.

The group climbed the Kolaribetta – as we climbed the Peak, we can see the clear skies around with water table in front of us. “The blue skies reflection falls on the lake and the banks of the lakes are reflecting with orange sand both sides” as we reached a point the trail started going flat and lot marsh plants that keep the area green. Time was 11:30 Am we crossed cloud traffic. “You would cross a road with heavy traffic, thy trail walked us through the green & gray grass painted and suddenly you see mass of cloud crossing you and you can feel it”. The group in front of vanishes and you alone walk inside the clouds………