Arrive at Hosur Station on your own. The drive from Hosur to Kodakarai takes about an hour and a half without any stops. You drive through a few towns before entering the village lanes.
The roads on the last stretch to Kodakarai are not very smooth. Expect a few potholes and vehicles taking mud trails in between.
Kodakarai is a small village with about 100 families staying there. Most of the people living here are occupied with farming. Your trek starts here.
Start your trek by navigating through the lanes towards the south. You will go through the village houses and follow a trail towards the forest region. There are stone walls to your left on this initial walk. About 10 minutes into your walk, you have a gradual ascent.
The trail now leads between a thick lantana thicket. During the season of bloom, it feels like you are walking through a flower bouquet or a canopy of flowers. A few more minutes of your trek, and you are now entering the forest region.
This dense forest is a beautiful setting. You can hear many birds chirping in the background while butterflies are fluttering around as you are trekking right from the start. This pattern follows throughout the trek.
The trail is well laid, and there are not many chances of you going off the trail. Watch out for the trail boards with information on the birds one might spot. This is set up by the forest department, which acts as a waypoint to indicate you are going in the right direction. It is still advised to carry a GPX file with you for reference.
Intertwined between the roots of the tree, stones along the trail of the forest floor are a charming experience. And in this lovely setting, you are treated to some delightful clearings.
After the second clearing, you have the trail getting a bit steeper in gradient. This section will test your fitness.
Continue your trek further to find the last clearing before the viewpoint. Sit down to appreciate the forest cover and hydrate yourself. Another 10 more minutes of ascent, and you are approaching the first viewpoint out of the forest region. You get the first sight of Gutirayan Peak.
A few minutes later, from this clearing, you have a small descent towards Gutirayan Lake. This marks the halfway point of the trek. Ideally, if you are a fit and prepared trekker, you should be able to reach the lake within an hour of your start point from the village. Otherwise, it would take you an hour and a half or more.
Gutirayan Lake is a big one for trekkers just to sit and take a break. Under the shade of a tree, you can have your packed snacks taken in your dabba or some dry fruits to get some energy back. The lake is around 350-400 meters in area, and the locals worship in this region. The natural spring water also doubles up as a big source for running water down at the village and for household purposes.
From the lake, you will see two trails going. You need to take the trail in the leftmost direction, towards the South. The one on the right, towards the west, along the bank of the lake, takes you towards a different forest region.
You first come across a clearing with a rock bed. Look out for the Mahadeshwara sculpture, this is the 1st out of the 3 kept in the entire taluk. The trail is towards your left, entering the forest again.
The trek is again filled with a thick forest setting. In the next 10 minutes, you cross a couple of small streams flowing in the jungle. In the diversion, take the trail on the right, which leads you to a good clearing suitable for camping. However, due to wild boars and elephants, camping is not allowed here inside the forest cover.
The trail from here is a mix of forests and clearings. You have 3 clearings separated by forest zones. The first clearing comes after a gradual climb. It is a bouldery patch and a different contrast to the trek so far. Your leg feels nice to have a harder surface, and with the change. You can even have a look at the view if you go ahead further, near the opening of the hill.
From the first clearing, you enter the forest filled with evergreen trees. This may be one of the thickest sections of the entire forest, with sunlight hardly falling to the ground. The climb gets steeper from this point until the summit.
Proceed ahead to the second clearing. You might get a Jio signal in the next two clearings if the weather is clear and if you are lucky.
Even though it's about 800 meters from the first clearing to the third one, it will take half an hour with the incline. The peak seems like a touching distance now if you go straight. However, you need to take a small diversion towards the right from the last clearing, and you are very close to the summit point now.
You are welcomed with a big rock cairn before reaching the top. There is a small shrine set up to mark the peak.
The summit has winds blowing at high speed. So trekkers need to be mindful and not lose their balance or try anything mindless.
Spend some time at the summit, taking in the views of the entire region. You get to see the forests of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri from the top. It is a pleasing experience with the winds blowing. If you are trekking during the winter season or early mornings, you get to witness the magical sight of mist rising from the valley and the hillocks encircling Gutirayan Peak.
After taking photos from the top and having some water, and dry fruits, it would be time to head down. The trail and trek take the same way back until the Gutirayan Lake. Keep your Turn Around Time (wherever you are on the trek) at 2 pm. Otherwise, there are chances of you getting lost in the forest with sunlight dimming towards the evening.
It would take you an hour to get down from the summit to the lake.
From here, you have two routes that can be taken back to the village of Kodakarai.
One is the same trail on the right that you would have taken to climb up through the forest section. The other trail is through another route, which the villagers and shepherds take to graze their animals.
The second trail on the left also takes you through the forest setting. However, the canopy is less thick and more open compared to the trail that you took to climb up. If you want to experience a different trail, then you can choose this option. There are a few viewpoints to get a bird's eye view of the entire village of Kodakarai.
It would take another hour from the lake to reach the village.
