Ramnath Kamat

Top Station is a hill in the Kanan Devan Hills of Tamilnadu. Top station was the uppermost railway station in this region which was used to transport tea from Munnar. From Top station there was a ropeway to transport tea to Kottagudi.

We had booked return ticket from Munnar and hoping to book a tatkal ticket to Dindigal. But the tatkal tickets got booked in a flash. So, as a quick reroute, we booked KSRTC bus tickets to Theni. We gathered as much information as possible from Pavan who had been there before. He told us that he will join us at the top station in the evening.

The Rajahamsa bus left one hour late from Shantinagar but reached Theni on time by 7:30 am. From Theni to Kurangani(Trek starting point), the distance is about 30 kms. Vadya spoke to a rick in his broken Tamil and the rick guy agreed to take us to Kurangani for 500 Rs. He also agreed to stop for breakfast at point. After breakfast and the diesel rick which was climbing the hills at 10kmph, we reached Kurangani by 10 am. 

Top Station starting point

We got the information from the people at Kurangani and they showed us the starting point. They also told us that if you dont wander off the trail, its hard to get lost.

We started following the trail to be welcomed by much graciously by colorful butterflies  on the way.

A well defined trail

The Common Fivering (Ypthima baldus ) mating

Blue tiger

View on the left side

The lemon pansy.

Common jay

Stone Gods at the waterfall After the waterfall, there is a well laid stone path which will go through endless zig zag turns before you reach the middle station. One thing about the Top station trek is that there is no plains to walk unlike Kudremukha or Kumaraparvata treks. Here, you will always be climbing slowly steadily from 800 meters to 1800 meters.

The zigzag path to Kolukkumalai

Trek path to middle station

Few beauties I found in between..

Common tailorbird

Red whiskered bulbul

The Common Sailer

Nilgiri laughing thrush

We met many villagers who on the way were coming down from the middle station. When asked how far is the middle station their answers were just 2 more turns. But those two more turns turned out to be more than 2 kms and after a while when we had given up hope we saw a temple. The temple had water tap. Finally we had water to refill in bottles.  Soon after the temple is the middle station where there are around 10-15 houses and a shop where he sells only some local drink(sharbat) and nothing else.

After the middle station you will find a big water tank which is used to supply water to the village. You need go around this water tank to climb a pretty steep hill before you see the first glimpse of Top station.

On the way to Top station from middle station. You can see dam in the background.

Spotted dove

After 1km of walk from middle station you can see the top station and get excited that its just half an hour away but its not. It takes about one and half hours atleast before it drains out all the energy you have until you start to listen to vehicle noise. That means you are nearing the top station.





We had food at a hotel at the top station. It started raining. We had to find a place to pitch the tent, so we quickly moved out in search of tea estate  which Pavan had recommended.  After walking a mile in the tea trail we found a place which was cement floored. That was it, it was a perfect camping spot. We pitched tents quickly before one more round of shower poured in.

That's all of us. Pretty still for a long shutter

We put out a campfire cooked food and went to sleeeeeeeeep...



Day 2:

Woke up at 6 am but the sun was already up. Moreover, we couldnt see the sunrise as we had camped in the valley. I climbed a nearest tea hill and took some pictures none the less. 

Thats the cloud covering the whole mountain the background

We packed our tents and put off the fire and walked to the Top station. Had bread omelet and tea there. We enquired about a jeep there to Munnar. One guy agreed to take us for 700Rs. Sounded like a good deal. We hopped into it and drove to Munnar. On the way we had elephant sightings as well.





We reached Munnar by 10 am. Searched a hotel and crashed for the day. Our bus to Bangalore was at 5 pm. The bus was on time and so were we back to Bangalore by 5 am...


Trekking details:
Base camp: Kurangani
Connectivity from Bangalore: KSRTC goes to Theni. IRCTC goes till Dindigal. 
Bangalore - 370Kms -> Dindigal - 74Kms -> Theni - 15Kms -> Bodi - 16Kms ->Kurangini
From Theni you can go to Bodi in Bus or hire a auto directly to Kurangini
Trekking distance:
Kurangani --- Middle station - 6kms
Middle Station ---- Top station - 6kms
Trekking time -- 6 hours
water availability - Available at waterfall, middle station and inbetween middle and top station.
Food availability - There are restaurants and lodges as well on Top station. One can book lodge if don't want to camp.
Camping - Camping is allowed at top station but there is a camping fees around 1000 Rs per tent which is provided by them. You can camp in a tea estate as we did for free :)



Trekking season:
August- March

Difficulty level:
Difficult for amateur trekkers.
Moderate for frequent trekkers.

Must carry:

• Tent, sleeping bag and mat.
• Good trekking shoes.
• Water(1lts). You can fill it up at waterfall or the middle station
• Leech repellent if you are going before november( Iodex spray, salt). Leech socks are the best options.
• Flashlight, First aid kit, Knife, rope, energy drinks and food items.

 Important guidelines:

• Reserve your tickets in advance.
• Start trekking early in the morning, sooner the better. Try to reach the summit by eod.
• Stay with the crowd always. 
• Keep your backpack as light as possible. Dont carry too much of food. 

  Total trekking time:

• If you are a frequent trekker, you can reach the summit  in 3 hours.

Tips for photographers:

• Dont forget to capture the macro beauties of the jungle.
• View from the mountain gives a perfect landscape.
• Get up early to capture the beautiful sunrise.

Trekking rules:

• Do not carry alcohol. Do not smoke in the jungle
• Do not throw anything during the trek. Dustbins are seen at many places. Keep the trekking place clean for the following trekkers.

Ramnath Kamat's Happiness Index for the trek: 7/10

ಆ ಮುಂಜಾನೆಯ ಚಳಿಯಲ್ಲಿ  ಕಣ್ಣು ಬಿಟ್ಟಾಗ ಕಾಣಿಸಿತು ಕಿಗ್ಗಿಸಿ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದ  ಚೂರು ಬೆಳಕು. ಮೈ ಕೊಡವಿ ಎದ್ದು ಮೇಲಂಗಿ ಧರಿಸಿ ಡೇರೆಯನ್ನು ತೆರೆದಾಗ ಜುಮ್ ಅಂತನೆ ಅಪ್ಪಳಿಸಿತು ಆ ತಂಗಾಳಿ. ಪ್ರತಿ ಪರ್ವತಾರೋಹಣದ ಸುಂದರ ಸೊಬಗು ಅದರ ಮುಂಜಾನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಗಿದೆ. ಸ್ಥಳವನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಪೂರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ನಭವನ್ನು ಗೋಚರಿಸುತ್ತ ಆ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳೆದು ಹೋಗುವುದು ಒಂದು ಸುಂದರ ಅನುಭವ.

Anthargange is a small hill situated in the Kolar district of Karnataka, about 60kms from Bangalore. Hill is basically formed of Volcanic rocks which creates some small caves kind structure amid rocks. The place is famous for rock climbing, hiking as many adventure groups in Bangalore often carry out their activities around the area.

Planning of the Camp:
We were a group of 14 from my office, the main idea of this outing was to camp somewhere in the night. Lot of googling answered  this place as suitable for the night trek and camping. We had all the basic accessories like tents, required for the camping .One of us got bbq stand for making barbeque at the night.

Camp day:
We all got together at a common place in Bangalore on the camp day and left bangalore by 4pm in the evening. Madrass road gives you a pleasant journey as the highway is too good for driving. At the Kolar bridge you hav to take left turn, which intern taken you to the Kolar city. The road to Anthargange crosses next to the new KSRTC bus stand. We stopped there for snacks and collected some required things. Drive along the way for 2kms, you reach a big arch. You can park your vehicles there for the night. Place seems safe to park your cars.

Trek starts:

We distributed food, camping luggage equally among us and started trekking. Steps are neatly maintained and continue for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, you reach a temple which is the anthargange temple. Walk around the temple and you find steps to go to the top. At some places steps are carved on the rock while at other places you have to walk through the rocks to reach top. It took us 1 hour to reach on the top and we found a plane place for camping. We put  tents, some guys collected woods from the bushes. And finally tents, campfire,  bbq stand were ready for the nightout.

Next day morning:
Nightout went well and next day we got up early in the morning to see sunrise. But the place was completely immersed in fog and the visibility had dipped to 5 meters. We couldnt see sunrise. Then we started hunting for caves. We walked along and found some villages on the top. Those villages had electricity and are well connected by road. We finaly found a cave which was just a small place amid rocks. We took some early morning photos and started climbing down. Climbing down was quite easy for everyone and we were down at the parking lot  within half an hour.

Trekking details:
Starting point: 2kms from Kolar town.
Endpoint: Summit of Anthargange
Connectivity from Bangalore: Well connected by bus and train
Journey hours: 2hours from Bangalore
Trekking distance: 3-4 kms

Trekking season: All time

Difficulty level:
Easy

Must carry:

• Water
• Good trekking shoes
• Food
• Sleeping bag or tent if you are planning for night trekking
• flashlight, first aid kit and knife

Important guidelines:

• You can take help of locals to explore caves on the top.
• The summit is also connected by road which goes around the hill. So, walking is not the only option

Total trekking time:
  1hour to reach summit

Trekking rules:

• Do not throw anything during the trek. Keep the trekking place clean for the following trekkers.

Happy Trekking :)