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| Musattu Malai Trek |
- Place: Musattu Malai Trek
- Difficulty: Easy.
- Distance: 110 km x 2 = 220 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Hosur > Krishanagiri > Musattu Malai
- Krew: Anwar (Bhai), Ramkrishna (Rama), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Fz-16, Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Mutturayaswamy betta trek
- Budget: Rs 292/head (Petrol = 700/3; Breakfast = 175/3)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, Musattu Malai is a pleasant trek in Tamil Nadu offering some stunning summit views. The difficulty of the trek can be chosen based on one's fitness, there are two routes to the summit. One is a gradual ascent via the forests and the other is a shorter fun rock climbing one.
And this marked 43 weeks, 44 treks, ~10 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 32nd trek in 31 weeks for 2026, with 29 first ascents. :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full roar (Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, Periyamalai , Virabhadra Fort, Maharajakadai Fort Trek).
To the streak active, we decided to add one more to the list. With the last trip to Mutturayaswamy betta, Madhu (a sleeper cell) had been activated. This time, another had to be - It was Rama. Rama is always a green card holder with theloapers.With Rama, no tree is merely a tree. His knowledge of the trees, shrubs, fruits, berries brings in a totally different layer to the entire trek. So with Rama confirmed and Obviously Bhai for all grand TN expeditions, the plan was ON.
TIME: 20:00 (24 July, 2026)
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| Rama and Bhai at Musattu Malai Trek |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah I was up by 3am. Did a few stretches and had a sip of coffee. Woke Bhai up and by 4am I was out. Gently wiped my bike, kissed her on the dome and asked if she was ready for the day. The city was still in dark and air felt good. Searched my playlists, there was Heavy metal, Grunge, Thrash metal, Doom metal, Stoner Metal, and don't judge me one this one Alia Bhat hit songs, Shahrukh Khan songs haha. Stoner Doom rock it was :) Gliding past city traffic, head bobbing and singing aloud with a few abuses here and there being a must. Hypes me up for the trip haha :)
Covering 30km met, I pulled over at Attibele to pick up Bhai. Then we crossed stopped at the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, where Rama arrived. It was good to see him back. After a formal greeting, we hit the road.
TIME: 05:15
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| A beautiful sunrise |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Krishnagiri > Musattu Malai)
Well, with the strict NO GOOGLE MAPS rule in place, we were gliding in the darkness like two ninjas. Jibing between the trucks and heavy cars. Slowly the air started feeling cold, we knew the sun was coming up. And boy was it a good sunrise. The sun looked extra orange and orange hue just lit up the entire sky. I had a hard time looking at the road and skies simultaneously. Then Bhai asked me a question which almost made us laugh to a point we fell of the bike, Bhai asked "Did Rama ask you where we were going?" I turned around and looked at him and said No, then we burst our laughing. Rama who following us looked confused.
Post Krishnagiri, the breakfast hunt began. Searching 6-7places, we could not find any hotels open yet. Then towards Kuppam route, we pulled over at the Shri Muruga Bhavana (12.535457642516569, 78.24928511185526) and boy did we chow down.
TIME: 06:45
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| Awesome breakfast at Shree Muruga Bhavana |
As we were the first customers and they were yet preparing the dishes, we ordered 12 idlys and one pongal with some awesome sambar and two types of chutneys. The hotel people were so happy to see us chow down with unadulterated enthusiasm. The hotel guy asked to return any time when again on that route :)
Continuing further, digging deep into the brain and recollecting landmarks, we entered the country road. And the views just lifted. Coconut trees on either side of the road, the air was as clean as it possible can be, the hillock was in our sight. To get the start point, we confidently started asking the locals in broken tamil (with confidence) - haha, we know our limitations but we make an attempt :)
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| The beautiful ride to Musattu Malai |
The guy was so moved, he actually came running and ran up to a mud path and pointed us in the direction of the start. The ride was such a nice off road through fields, with cows, goats just sitting. I tried making faces, picking conversation with all the animals. The mud road kept going and few boulders didn't stop our bikes. We almost rode to a place, where the path split two ways at a water tank.
TIME: 07:45
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| The water storage where the path splits and the trek begins. |
MUSATTU MALAI TREK
ASCENT:
Well, while going up we took the right path. This path is shorter but the gradient is steep. It is fun. We thought we would take the shorter difficult path up and return back via the forest less gradient route. This way we would be covering more skin of the mountain :)
It took us about 30min to reach the top. I have divided the trek into phases, so LETS go \m/
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| Rama packing groceries for the kitchen haha :) |
Phase 1: The Initial Trail
The initial trail runs through a forest. And with Rama around, no tree or shrub was just a tree or shrub. It was like, he knew every plant that existed on the trail. He was teaching us which of it can be used for what. And everytime he told something about a tree, all I did was put it in mouth and chew it down. And a few times when the leaves were not meant to be eaten, Bhai had to intervene and stop me putting it in my mouth :) And then Rama spotted a tree, where explained how it used by mixing it with rice flour and making rotis. Then he plucked a bag full of worth and stuffed it in. Such a natural this guy is :)
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| The forest trains opened up to a rock face with stunning views |
Phase 2: The Rock face begins
When the canopy lifted to a rock face. The views we got were stunning. We could spot Maharajakadai Fort Trek, just sitting there happily basking in the sun. I yelled at the top of our voice jumping around and waving at her. Rama was busy picking up berries, and Bhai was trying to pull me back from the cliff edge haha. The second face gives you a slight introduction. And to our surprise had some boulders, it was fun jumping around them.
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| The summit push |
Phase 3: Vertical grind to Summit Push
Now, the gradient got serious and we were having fun reading the cracks. But some portions had huge holes offering very good gripping points. I used to lead with some maniac energy and when I found a nice place to perch and looked back. Rama and Bhai were sitting on a steep vertical just imbing the views. Haha, these guys are something else I thought. Finally pushing through the final stretch we made it to the top, and boy did we get a view :)
TIME: 08:15
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| The summit of Musattu Malai |
TOP:
The wind speeds picked up. And view from the summit was jaw dropping, we could spot every major hill of Krishanagiri from here. I was so excited, I was jumping around like a kid pointing fingers and each one (Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Periyamalai, Maharajakadai Fort Trek) Bhai was having a hard time trying to keep my wild child energy in check. Rama was picking and collecting flowers explaining how a garland made out of those flowers are more important than any gold in a Sri Lankan wedding. I slowly tried to put the flower in my mouth, Bhai had to rush and hold my hand and stop me.
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| Real duo these two :) |
Then we hydrated ourselves and I took off my jacket, weighed a ton like Gokus. Allowing the winds to caress our faces, we just sat admiring all the hillocks, mentally marking a few of them for the upcoming months :)
After a solid 1hr at the top, we hydrated again paid respect to the Rama temple at the summit and then decided to leave back via the other route.
TIME: 09:45
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| The easy long route via the forest |
DESCENT:
The descent was an easy one and took us another 30 minutes. It was clear trail with steps. So if you wish to climb Musattu malai for first time and like low gradients this is the route you pick (Left from the water tank spot)
As the route dwindled through the forest, we were just gliding and running around like little kids. Rama picking some some seeds which looked very red with black dot. It looked like that poison frogs you get. Bhai was carefully watching me this time haha. The forest route was longer and smoother. We had a discussion about different types of elephants, about Arjuna and Abhimanyu the mighty elephants of the Mysore Palace. Rama showed some photos of his recent trip to Sri Lanka where he had spotted 40-50 elephants in the wild. We sat and saw it in awe. Before long we reached back our bikes and were all set to head back.
TIME: 10:15
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| Welcome back Rama. |
RIDE 2: Musattu Malai > Krishnagiri > Bangalore
As we reached the bikes, we looked back at the hillock, thanked her for providing a playspace and also, more importantly, for LETTING US GO BACK. The ride back was a smooth one. And surprisingly done at a single go. We cruised as a single entity. Rama the calm glider and me abusing a few drivers here and there Bhai tapping my helmet now and then haha. We pulled over at our regular dhaba at about 1:30pm for some ice-cold beers. Finally after 4hrs of non stop taking and chaos, we left to our respective homes at 6pm.
TIME: 19:00
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| Rama jumping to grab the flowers :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this was such a light hearted and fun filled chapter. Musattu Malai is no doubt one of the key vantage points to have a glance at all the hillocks of Krishnagiri. Adding to this, Rama got in the layer of the shrubs, berries and leaves which really elevates these treks to a completely different level :)
Past 43 weeks, we have pulled off 44 treks, ~8820 kms in total, 10 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Sippy: Maniac and chaotic, very happy with the sleeper cell Rama joining. Thanks to Bhai I didn't end up green like piccolo. With 44 done, lets go towards 52/52 on the FLYING NIMBUS \m/
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
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| Sippy and his Spine haha :) |
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