Mookanur Malai Trek in Tamil Nadu ⛰️| Chap 259 (Sep 5, 2026)

  

Mookanur Malai Trek in Tamil Nadu

• Place: Mookanur Malai Trek (Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu)
• Difficulty: Difficult - Endurance and Trail finding.
• Distance: 175 km x 2 = 350 km.
• Directions: Bangalore > Krishnagiri > Dharmapuri > Mookanur Malai.
• Krew: Anwar (Bhai), Karthik (Sp).
• Bikes: Pulsar.
• Previous Visit: Aadinagudde Betta Trek.
• Budget: Rs 435/head (Petrol = 726/2; Breakfast = 85/2; Extra water bottle + Sting = 60/2)

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, with two treks for the perfect 52, we did not slow down. We chose Mookanur Mali, which would turn out to be the toughest of 51 treks. Mookanur Malai shattered us as we lost the way to the summit, and on the way back down were stranded in the forest for 6-7 hours. This is not going to be pretty. And the people of TN, you were already up there; the care and warmth you showed us post-descent took you to a place where no normal humans can ever enter. Writing this post with 22 thorns in hand, severe dehydration and 1 thorn halfway inside my earlobe - not joking, guys!)

And this marked 327days, 51 treks, 11 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 39th trek in 37 weeks for 2026, with 36 first ascents and zero repeats :)

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, Musattu Malai Trek, Saanarappan Malai Trek, Sanjeevarayan Malai Trek, Arulagiri Fort). 

To feed some fuel into the expedition, have a grand closing, and to feed Bhai camera some good food, we chose a scenic massive grinder - Mookanur Malai. In most martial arts, the hardest worker is always the "red belt", not the "black belt". Being second best requires even more perseverance. So, the 51st consecutive trek had to shatter us, and shatter it did. 

TIME: 18:00 (4 Sep, 2026)

Happy Sippy before the forest put him down

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yeah, was up by 02:30, stretched out a little, got ready, and left my home by 03:45, listening to some heavy, slow doom metal. Rode the first 35km solo in the darkness, knowing it was going to be a hard, long day. Made it to Bhai's place in Attibele at about 04:30, and then, after formal greetings, we left Bangalore.

TIME: 05:00

View of Mookanur Malai from Dharmapuri

RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Krishnagiri > Dharmapuri > Mookanur)

Well, with the strict NO GOOGLE MAPS rule in place, we cruised comfortably in the dark, chatting about office, about how the Grand TN expedition had changed our lives, etc. We kept taking breaks for every 50 km, whether it was needed or not.

We rested at Krishnagiri, then cruised to Dharmapuri, and the hunt for breakfast began. The first glimpse of Mookanur Malai made our jaws drop. It is a massive range; the scale of this hillock is something we hadn't attempted earlier on the GTN expedition. Looking at the sheer magnitude of the hill, we decided to have breakfast and only then attempt.

Massive Mookanur Forest Range

Many of the breakfast hotels were not open; hopes were dwindling, finally found an open place. We belted 4 idlis, 2 dosas, 2 omelettes, and felt fueled up for the trek. Finally asking locals for directions, we made it to a Perumal temple at the base of the hill. A person there quipped at us, "ok, go try". 

There are two routes to the summit. One is the easy and normal route. And the route we were about to enter was the tough one. (The third route by which we eventually came down is pure madness) 

Smiling back at the person, we awoke the "lizard's spirit" within and were all set for the trek.

TIME: 08:15 

How the hell do we climb that?

MOOKANUR MALAI TREK

ASCENT:

Well, this is the hardest trek done in the Grand TN expedition. Yes, it is a bold statement, and I stand by it. We took about 3hrs to ascend and 3 hrs to descend. We took the forest route, and it is heavily infested with thorns. So, if you are not used to bushwhacking in the forest, please take the normal step route and return back via same. (Co-ordinates: 12.129221463225749, 78.24287429596481)

Like always, have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/

Initial trails are easy :)

Phase 1: Initial trails

The initial route is fairly simple and well marked. But it is long, and we were prepared for it. We enjoyed the grind and bantered all along the way. The sun rose steadily, and the temperatures went up. The massive green of the forest prevented our sweat from evaporating, making us like walking Saunas within our jackets. One draining thing about this stretch is that you can see the summit and, faintly, the temple as well, but the height at which it sits and no matter how much walking, it never appears to be closing. SO, yeah, this is mentally taxing. 

The X-traverse / Bridge section.

Phase 2: The Bridge

So, "the initial trails" help you get onto one of the mountains in the range. "The Bridge" helps you get to the base of the actual mountain. This is actually very pleasant, as the walk is almost horizontal. But the heat from the sun baked us up real good. The sweat kept dripping, and we were feeling exhausted minute by minute. The trail markers end at the end of this phase. Next - madness begins. 

First part of the summit push :)

Phase 3: The Summit Push

The push to the summit has two sub-phases. The first one runs through huge, tall grasses. This was really beautiful. The winds had picked up, making us feel cool; this was really enjoyable. The trail then entered the forest; this was the second phase. Now this was really claustrophobic as it grew dark, giving it the illusion of a cloudy day, and the terrain became steep and infested with dried leaves. Over all this, the view of the summit was lost, which made us lose all our bearings. 

The dreaded canopy push :)

We sat down, took a breather; we had done such a stretch at Thattakal Fort, so it was a matter of staying calm and figuring it out. We calmly tried to figure it out; nothing worked out, hehe. SO, the wild child in me awoke, climbed up a tree, got onto a boulder and got rough bearings. Then came the massive push through the forest twigs and shrubs. We kept pushing until we hit a boulder. As we made it out of the canopy and onto the boulder to get another check on our bearings, we could spot the summit temple a few meters above :)

TIME: 11:00

Finally at the summit :)

TOP:

The view from the summit was mind-blowing. But we were very dehydrated. We first hydrated and paid respects to the temple at the top. Then found shade under a tree and slept on the boulder below it. And sleep came on us fast; we were knocked out in minutes, but then a few rustlings in the trees woke us up; there were a few monkeys. So, looping the bag around our hands, we slept back for 30minutes. We took a call to return within 30minutes, as the markers we had made would be fresh and every minute of daylight was precious, as we had to ride back on a motorcycle 175km back to Bangalore. 

TIME: 11:30

View from the summit :)

DESCENT:

Well, the descent, we thought, we could figure it out. But this is where we went massively wrong, and it almost took us to a point of collapse. And hence I suggest everyone take the normal, easier route for this hillock. As we had our bikes at the base, we had to return to the same place. 

As we began the descent, things took a horrific turn, as we missed a turn in the massive forest hill. A slight degree off at the summit will set you off in a totally different direction. And suffer we did; with the canopy above us, we could not figure it out. Finally, we decided to take the water pathway, as it would lead us to the bottom and from there we thought we could figure it out. And this was not easy. 

Rest on the way back :)

The tall grass stretch was covered in jiffy, and the bridge section too. What seemed to be a formality again took a very wrong turn. Suddenly we started feeling the newness of the trails in a dreaded way. We had lost our way in the simplest of the sections. And this led us back into the forest in a very very wrong way. Thorns began to infest the path, and we were totally out of water and dehydrated to the bone. We were like slow-walking zombies; the strength in our legs was totally zapped out, and the forest was still unforgiving. The breaks became frequent, and we were on the verge of collapse. At one point, I slipped, twisted my knee and was about to fall off a cliff; somehow, I rebounded back and stood up. Not even sure how to explain how i got that burst of energy at that moment. 

We were still following the water path down, sticking to the original plan, but running very low on energy. We could see the base, but it seemed miles away due to lack of energy. Strange and unhelpful thoughts started occurring in our heads, and that was not useful. Slapped ourselves a couple of times, and we kept pushing. 

Winds and Grass :)

Finally, after the final push, infested with thorns all over our bodies, we made it to a base temple. And it was not the same base temple. We had taken the water path, which had not led us to the easier route temple. We had ended up way far, roughly 15km away from the starting point. But that was okay; we were on flat ground, and that is what mattered. 

We walked up to some people; they looked at us with concern. Our pants were completely ripped, and we were walking like zombies. They gave us some water and helped us regain composure. Another person, realising we had lost our way terribly, asked, "Had you gone up there to paint the temple, thinking we were painters?" We laughed, but our stomachs hurt, and we had no energy to complete the laughter fully. Realising the sad state we were in, he was kind enough to take us on his bike (triples) to the base about 15- 20 km away, where my bike was. Caught the person's hand and thanked him for the GOD he had been to us. Wiped the bike and kissed her and asked if she was ready for the ride back :)

Just before we left, we looked back at the hillock, thanked her for the experience, and more importantly, "LETTING US GO BACK". We promised her we'd return - yes, that we really did. And we will return to Mookanur Malai. 

TIME: 15:00 

Bhai's new camera had to be fed well on its maiden voyage :)

RIDE 2: (Mookanur Mali > Dharmapuri > Krishnagiri > Bangalore)

It was 3 pm, and we had 175km to go. We were dehydrated and dried to the bone. We stopped at some local taps and had some water to feel our skin stretch again. Then asked Bhai if he wanted to belt some biryani. He asked if I would eat; I refused as I had to ride. He said he wouldn't as well. We rode to a bakery nearby and bought some sting and water. We could literally feel our energy reserves replenish. It had been some years since we felt this. We were broken, beaten and scarred. We regained some energy to laugh about the whole experience. IT was pure survival, nothing short of it. 

The ride was surgical: ride 50km, pull over, stretch. And with fluids back in the body, the ride seemed like a piece of cake. I asked Bhai, "Is the traffic light today?" and Bhai replied, "No, we are full". The cruise was well structured as we didn't want to mess up the last part after having survived the gruelling trek. Dropped Bhai at his place, and the final 35- 40 km was done solo. With pants ripped apart, people stared at me; I just looked ahead at the setting sun, which had turned the road orange in colour and with a heart full of memories, cruised decently to reach back home, broken and beaten to the bone. 

TIME: 18:30

We love you Mookanur :)

CONCLUSION:

Well, Mookanur shattered us to the bone. There is no denying it. Partly due to reasons that we screwed up. But it is what it is. And we enjoyed every bit of it. Loved the experience. And I highly recommend taking the normal route with 2-3litres per person and the water ration. No compromises. 

It is generally the coldest just before the sun rises. Similarly, just before the historic 52nd trip, Mookanur showed us what a mountain can do to us. More to come, and more to live.  

In the past 327 days, we have pulled off 51 treks, ~10,275 kms in total, 11 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/

KREW:

Bhai: I could not think of anybody else, with whom we could pull something like this. He saw literally collapse to the forest floor. Provided that calm factor amidst all the chaos the was descending from all around. It had to be BHAI. 

Sippy: Beaten to bone, rode back flawlessly. Dehydration level - pro max. Drank four litres of water with salts, a good sleep and rest for a few days and we are back  on the FLYING NIMBUS \m/ 

Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/

Just one more to go, guys - 52 treks.