TREKKING EXPERIENCE

CHOKRAMUDI & MEESAPPULIMALA

We;Prakash ,Rajesh and myself reached Munnar town by 6.30 am in the morning.Had our Breakfast from the office of Kerala forest development corporation(KFDC) .From there we started our trekking towards chokramudi (from trekking point,gap) ,by 9am.It was a delightful experience.After two hours of climbing we reached the top of the mountain.Several other mountains can be viewed from the top.Climbing down took one and half hours ,we covered almost 13 kms in our to and fro journey .chokramudi is having a height of 8900 ft

IN MEESAPULIMALA

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Meesappulimala is of 8333 ft above the sea level.After having our lunch from munnar town we started our journey to Silent valley in the jeep provided by the forest officials.By 5 pm we reached Silent valley,a beautiful place surrounded by hills on all sides.We stayed in the new cottage of forest Dept: (Sky Cottage),well equipped with room heaters and high quality blankets.View through the glass windows in the room was exceptionally mind blowing .

The next day by 8am we started our trekking to meesapulimala .After 2 hrs we reached 'Rhodo valley' It is a base camp for meesapulimala.Rhodo valley is partially occupied with Rhododendron trees .From there it took about 15 mts to reach Sylvan valley,after taking rest for ten mts we continued.At about 12.15 noon we reached the top of meesapulimala ,after climbing all the nine hills.View from the top cannot be expressed in words .We were lucky enough that there was no fog to disturb our sight.Our tiredness jumped away by breathing fresh cool air in the top.Spent there almost one hour ,took our snacks and drank water .1.15pm we started our return trip by another way stepping down through steep mountains for kilometers, was really fearful.4.45 pm we ended our trekking in the base camp at silent valley after covering a distance of 25 kms.


Enjoy the photos below

Garden in KFDC Office.

Plant nursery in kfdc

A beautiful garden in front of KFDC office.

Prakash climbing through steep

Varayadu- Chokramudi

Top of Chokramudi

Rajesh and me near a small check dam in rhodo valley

This dam has been constructed as a measure to quench the thirst of
wild animals during summer.We can see the foot marks of
elephants and tigers.

Sky cottage , ......... lonely in the midist of huge hills

Sky cottage -you can view the sky through the glass roof by
sitting inside .

Prakash and Rajesh -Fire place at base camp

Inside Sky cottage

Base station of KFDC,Silent valley

Sky cottage of KFDC- view from the top

Me..........
A small river on our way

Me inside pine forest

Prakash and Rajesh watching (Rainbow trout) fishes in a small pond at Rhodo valley.
These fishes can survive even at minus degree.

Rainbow Trout:
They are members of the salmon family and, like their salmon cousins, can grow quite large. They average about 20 to 30 inches (51 to 76 centimeters) long and around 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms), but can grow as long as 4 feet (1.2 meters) and weigh up to 53 pounds (24 kg).

They prefer cool, clear rivers, streams, and lakes, though some will leave their freshwater homes and follow a river out to the sea. These migratory adults, called steelheads because they acquire more silvery markings, will spend several years in the ocean, but must return to the stream of their birth to spawn.

Rainbow trout survive on insects, crustaceans, and small fish. Their populations are healthy worldwide and they have no special status or protections. However, they are now considered a non-native pest species in some areas where they have been introduced.