Few months back received a forward about the nice treks organized by Tamil Nadu Forest Department. They take us inside the Reserved Forests – which are out of bounds typically for us.

When the opportunity came – I grabbed it – and here is the story of how the trek went.

https://trektamilnadu.com/trail/avalanche-cauliflower-shola-kolaribetta

Here is an animation  by Trek Tamilnadu on the trek.

2024 Year end we had planned a couple of days stay in Nilgiris.  We wanted a pet friendly place and found one in Kothagiri. However Kothagiri to Avalanche – from where the trek starts – takes around 2 hours. Free tip – stay in Ooty if you are planning this trek.

We woke up at 4:30 AM and started by 5:30 AM towards Avalanche.. The reporting time was 7:30 AM.  The drive was magical – empty roads and the sun was just rising. As we neared Ooty we could see the clouds on top of the town. We took photos but the eye camera can never be replicated.

 

There were around 20 trekkers. From the Avalance trekking point 3 treks were starting. There was some confusion – as there were 2 treks from Avalance to Kolaribetta – one longer – entire one on foot and one shorter called Avalanche – Cauliflower Shola to Kolaribetta were the jeeps takes you to Cauliflower Shola and then we go on foot to Kolaribetta  – which was the one we had signed up.

The organizers – all youngsters in their 20s – got some disclaimers signed and gave each one of us a kit with some snacks and poha for breakfast.

Some facts

Aanaimudi in Kerala is the highest peak in South India – 2,695 meters.

Doddabetta in Nilgiris is the 2nd highest peak – 2,637 meters.

Kolaribetta in Nilgiris is the 3rd highest peak – 2,630 meters.

We were trekking to the 3rd highest peak.

We were accompanied by 3 guides – those 20 year olds – they carried hot water in a flask. After we reached the peak they emptied poha into a cup – poured some hot water and asked us to wait for 10 minutes –  and we could eat hot hot poha – which was quite delicious as I had not eaten anything from morning the climb was done on empty tank.

There were some difficult uphill climbs. It had rained the previous day – so it was a bit slushy and slippery at places.

After the initial tough uphill climbs – the climb was not hard – as we were just following a dirt road that takes us to the top.

At the top we were greeted by this herd of Nilgiri tahr’s.

It was a beautiful site to see these animals in their wild habitat. They hung there for sometime and then they all disappeared.

 

View from the 3rd highest peak of Tamil Nadu.

 

On the way back I took a selfie. You see that small building at the top – that is the Microwave station – the British choose this as their location in 1940s… at Kolaribetta. It is still operational.

The entire trek took around 6 hours.

The one in Mufti is the Forest Ranger behind all this. San was very proud of this trek – the way it was planned and executed.

Here is some of the video I shot in Cinematic mode.  Nature is best experienced in 1080p.

 

 

Some tips :

1. Just carry an empty water bottle – there is a stream on the way and we can fill fresh clean water

2. The trek page asks us to bring a t-shirt change. Not needed for this trek.

3. This was in December so we needed a warm jacket – but once we started climbing and also when we reached the top we did not feel cold.

4. There is a restroom at the starting point – better take a dump before the climb.