We just spent 4 days in Avalanche which is a reserve forest (Kundah RF) area at 2036 m AMSL, about 30km from Ooty. We were picked up from Coimbatore Airport by our friendly taxi driver Jagadeesan - (we have used his taxi before and recommend him highly for his safe driving and thorough knowledge of the entire Coimbatore Erode Nilgiri Palani Top Slip region). In fact, thanks to Jagadeesan who hails from Nilgiri Distt, we first discovered Avalanche in Jan 2007.
Our route took us via Karamadai then to Geddai, Manjur, Yedakadu finally reaching Avalanche Forest Rest House. The jungle route between Geddai and Manjur is full of hairpin bends and very scenic. We were thrilled to spot the iridescent Malabar banded peacock butterflies on the way. By the time we reached Avalanche it was around 6.30pm just in time for the fading sun, quite spectacular at these altitudes. The first thing that hits you at Avalanche is the palpably pristine fresh air. That night the minimum temperature was -4C, anticipated and welcome compared to grotty Mumbai!!
The next morning we went up to the terrace of the Rest House to watch the sunrise over the mountains behind. In front was the emerald colored Avalanche lake and shola mosaic grassland covered hills across. A family of Nilgiri black langurs occupied the trees of the resthouse. Such beautiful, gentle, shy creatures. They were busy eating leaves and never came near us for tidbits unlike their Matheran cousins!
We spotted a herd of feral Toda buffalos on the meadows across, so we quickly ran there to get some photos. After a sumptuous hot breakfast, we were taken by Jagadeesans brother Ramesh who works for the Avalanche Power House , to the Avalanche Valve House. This is about 300m higher (2347m) at a 70 degree gradient! Our route was initially through the dense shola forest behind the EB colony. The jungle was dripping with epiphytes - ferns, orchids, mosses, lichens literally falling off the trunks and branches. Pristine mountain streams were everywhere, and at parts the shola was dense, dark and seemingly impenetrable (had Ramesh not been there). The shola forest is what we had really come for and we were not disappointed.
After about 2/3 the way up, we emerged at a patch of grassland from where we had a stunning view of Avalanche and Emerald lakes. We huffed and puffed the rest of the way on the steep staircase along the penstock, stopping every now and then to take photographs (actually to catch our breath). The cold temperature combined with strong sun shine - high altitude / low latitude, ensured we never felt tired, however we did get sunburnt. Lesson No.1 - always wear a hat. From the top near the valve house we had breathtaking views of the Nilgiri ranges, the lakes, Kolaribetta peak behind us, and a herd of Nilgiri tahr high up on the rocks behind the valve house.
A recent landslide had destroyed the road leading to the valve house, and we were thrilled to see huge pugmarks in the mud which Ramesh assured us were of a tiger - quite possible given the size. Elephant pug marks were also to be found. Lots of little white and pink wild daisies (?) were growing everywhere including on the broken road and alongside the penstock. We could have sat there enjoying the views forever, but after a couple of hours we descended, discovering some more new ferns and orchids in the shola forests.
By this time it was around 4pm, and we decided to drive to the Upper Bhavani reservoir about 30km away. The very bad road passes the deep Thai Shola valley, Lakkidi peak and a small Bhavaniamman koil. This time we did not see the civet cats, Nilgiri martens, wolves and elephants we saw the year ago, but we were privileged to see a nilgiri pipit, herd of bisons and scores of sambar and barking deer, all coming down to the lakes around sunset.
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We just spent 4 days in Avalanche which is a reserve forest (Kundah RF) area at 2036 m AMSL, about 30km from Ooty. We were picked up from Coimbatore Airport by our friendly taxi driver Jagadeesan - (we have used his taxi before and recommend him highly for his safe driving and thorough knowledge of the entire Coimbatore Erode Nilgiri Palani Top Slip region). In fact, thanks to Jagadeesan who hails from Nilgiri Distt, we first discovered Avalanche in Jan 2007.
The next morning we went up to the terrace of the Rest House to watch the sunrise over the mountains behind. In front was the emerald colored Avalanche lake and shola mosaic grassland covered hills across. A family of Nilgiri black langurs occupied the trees of the resthouse. Such beautiful, gentle, shy creatures. They were busy eating leaves and never came near us for tidbits unlike their Matheran cousins!
After about 2/3 the way up, we emerged at a patch of grassland from where we had a stunning view of Avalanche and Emerald lakes. We huffed and puffed the rest of the way on the steep staircase along the penstock, stopping every now and then to take photographs (actually to catch our breath). The cold temperature combined with strong sun shine - high altitude / low latitude, ensured we never felt tired, however we did get sunburnt. Lesson No.1 - always wear a hat. From the top near the valve house we had breathtaking views of the Nilgiri ranges, the lakes, Kolaribetta peak behind us, and a herd of Nilgiri tahr high up on the rocks behind the valve house.
By this time it was around 4pm, and we decided to drive to the Upper Bhavani reservoir about 30km away. The very bad road passes the deep Thai Shola valley, Lakkidi peak and a small Bhavaniamman koil. This time we did not see the civet cats, Nilgiri martens, wolves and elephants we saw the year ago, but we were privileged to see a nilgiri pipit, herd of bisons and scores of sambar and barking deer, all coming down to the lakes around sunset.
