Keerippara Trekking, Silent Valley National Park Kerala
Silent Valley National Park recently launched a monsoon package to Keerippara . A day trekking to Keerippara was available for a long time, in between it was off-limits for sometime due to Maoist trouble. Earlier i had tried unsuccessfully (twice) to go on the Keerippara trek, but this time successfully booked the new package (we were the fourth to take it since launch). We started around 3 p.m. from Mukkali. Shibu (a 21 year veteran Watcher) and Sudheesh our guides for the trek, purchased provisions for our food at a local grocery and we're on our way. The trek route starts on the Mukkali-Anaikatty highway close to the bus stop. It was a kucha road, fully motorable and was easy to climb. The mist had also descended and it was a pleasant start. Keerippara Trek Route Slowly it started drizzling and later became a bit heavy. We stopped in between to wear rain protection and unwittingly became easy targets for the leeches. Before we realised, they wer...