Ooty Day Trek: The Scottish trail in the blue mountains
The Ooty Scottish trail is a lovely weekend trek out of Bangalore. This is an unexplored part of the Porthmand ranges of the Nilgiris and has a lot going for it. The changes in scenery on this trek are dramatic. Every hour on the clock a new vista opens up. Picture this: on the trek you run through Scottish like meadows, dark eucalyptus groves, acres and acres of perfectly pruned tea gardens, views from the summit where the eyes stretch far beyond the Bandipur forests to Kerala. And when you thought that the trek has shown you all, the descent through the deciduous forest to Mudumalai surpasses all your expectations – the trail winds down through a mixed forest before entering the darker forests, clear streams run through the forest, wild elephants roam on the slopes and near the end you pop out of a Bamboo forest that is so dark that at places sunlight never touches the floor. For a weekend trek near Bangalore, the Ooty Scottish trail is almost perfect.
Note: The Ooty Scottish trail requires an overnight’s camping at Kokkal, a small village near Sholur 14 kilometres away on the Ooty Gudalur road.
How to reach Sholur, the trek base:
Take the night bus out of Bangalore to Ooty. As your bus crosses Pykara, prepare to get off at Sholur, an uninhabited village 14 kms short of Ooty.
The trek starts right off the highway, past the pond with wild ducks and starts to climb gently skirting around a few administrative offices.
The scenery immediately opens out to your first view of the meadows. Ten minutes later spot the first of the picket fences that take you through a private sheep farming land. Cross the dirt track and head out on the wide trail that rises towards the meadows. As you climb out of the trail vast stretches of green meadows studded with clumps of green trees roll out in your view stretching for miles until they meet the blue mountains of the Nilgiris. In between pretty farm houses dot the landscape completing the Scottish setting.
The trail takes a long U-turn and heads towards a small cluster of huts of Thalaikunda. The meadows still stretch in every direction. Half hour later break for a while at a sudden explosion of forest on your right. Skirt around the outer edges of the forest and descend to a large farm. Across the farm, a little distance away the road to Kokkal snakes through the hills.
Past the farm, the trail veers to the right and climbs gently to the tribal settlement of Thalaikunda. Walk through the row of huts, and at the last hut take a sharp left around the fence towards the eucalyptus grove. Even before you enter the grove the faint smell of eucalyptus permeates in the air.
The shade of the grove is welcome from the long walk in the sun – though the cool Ooty air hardly makes you feel it. The trail gradually descends through the grove until you get to a cross road on the trail. At the crossroad take the trail on your right and ascend gently until you reach a tiny hillock.
The scenery changes to the natural Shola forests -- the landscape covered with small tree like shrubs. From the top of the hillock the trail descend down magically into rows of tea plantations.
Acres and acres of rolling hills covered by neatly planted tea garden – the greenery so soothing and refreshing that it takes time to for your eye to get used to the new setting. Adding to the magic silver oak trees sprout through the tea gardens their tender leaves glistening in the sun.
As you get to the road, spot the forest worker’s quarters on your left and a road passing through the plantations in between. Take the muddy trail that runs between the tea estates opposite the quarters. Spot the BBTC (Bombay Burma trading corporation) and Denzel Estate board on the road and you’ll know that you are on the right track.
Walk on the tarred road for about half an hour until you spot a small river running to your right, a hundred feet or so below you. Cut across the tea gardens and take the mud road that runs in the opposite direction.
On your left spot a small dam which the locals call the check dam. Descend to the lower part of the dam and cross a small wooden bridge that runs across it. The path is a bit slippery so hold on to the rails. Cross the dam, turn right and walk along the canal that emerges out of the dam. The walk along the canal is for about kilometre and almost always under the shade of trees.
Look for a tiny village perched high on the hills on the left – the villagers call it Netaji Nagar.
Continue to follow the path along the canal. Cross the bridge towards the end of the canal and the trail switches to the left cutting through a Christian cemetery. Colourful farmlands with a variety of crops swoop down for a fair distance. Cut through the farmland and continue on the trail that gradually ascends to the tribal village of Kakanji on your right.
Cross the village and continue through the grasslands till you spot a pink and green house -- the Geethalaya. This house is signals the start of Kokkal village. Follow the alley next to Geethalaya and descend to the main market street of Kokkal village.
This is a good spot to take a break for lunch at one of the small eateries of Kokkal. Kokkal has some lovely camping grounds just out of the village on the way to Thiruveri betta. They belong to friendly villagers – so talk to them first. Most oblige. A parting gift or a small fee is an ideal way to repay the hospitality.
Set up camp and attempt Thiruveri summit for the sunset or hike up to it to see a sunrise over the Nilgiris. Both are exciting and it is hard to choose one from the other.
Trek to the Thiruveri summit
At Kokkal bus stop, cross the road and head upwards on the cemented path till you reach the Ayyanar Kovil on your left in the village of Doobakandi (it is an extension of Kokkal). Just after you cross the last of the settlements on your left, look for an abandoned stone quarry. Cross the quarry and take a sharp left on the rocky path that continues further.
There is no marked trail here and you need to find your way over the rocks to the top. The summit offers panoramic views of the Porthmand mountain ranges all the way up to Mudumalai, Bandipur national forest and Kerala. It is a sight that lingers for long. Almost three thousand feet below are the villages of Bokkapura and Masinagudi – your destination after tomorrow’s trek.
From the summit take the same path that you took on your way up. An alternative route to go down to Kokkal is to descend via the south-west face of the hill.
Day 02: Kokkal to Bokkapura. Trek 7 kms. Time: 4½ hours.
Wrap up camp and descend back to Kokkal village until you get to the bus stop. Head back on the road that goes past a Kannada speaking village Kannarimuku. At the start of the village, just before the road takes a turn to the left, a dirt road leads off the road leading towards the open end of the valley. Take the dirt road with tea plantations lining either side of it. On your right the summit of Thiruveri betta soars above you.
The tea plantations gradually give way to a mixed forest and the dirt track narrows to a broad trail hugging the true left of the valley (to you it would appear the right of the valley). The trail descends rapidly through a series of switch backs getting into a thick deciduous forest. The vegetation is dense and sometimes the trail wet.
In the spring and autumn the tress shed to leave the trail covered with a layer of fallen leaves to tread on. At the other times the trail is mostly in the shades of trees and green. Losing height rapidly the trail suddenly emerges at a stream in the fold of the mountain.
A cement bridge spans the stream. The whole place under the cover of giant trees is just the right spot to take a break. The water is clean and cool.
Continue on the trail now emerging on the other side of the valley. This is elephant country and elephant dung line the trail. It is common to spot wild elephants on the trail or on the slopes above the trail. So keep a sharp lookout for them.
