Rockford Travelogue...

Kumara Parvatha

2011-10-21T18:18:00.001+05:30

Intro:

KumarParvatha trek was alwayz on my mind since I started trekking. It is often referred as one of the most challenging, adventures and beautiful trek... In all "A Trekker's Paradise". Kumara Parvatha is a mountain located in Subramanya (village) of Sullia taluka, Karnataka. The village is known for the Hindu Kukke Subramanya Temple.

Preparation:

When Girish (Organizer with Naveen & Prabhakar) called me on 7th Aug, I said "YES" without any hesitation. Soon, the mails where exchanged and a total of 11 Member gang was finalized to go the paradise. It was raining so we needed "Poncho". I thank Prabhakar who personally went to bring 5 Poncho for the team members including me. In addition, since we had to put up @Top we needed Tent. Naveen took the responsibility and rented only two tents for 8People at Rs150/- per day since organizers had their own tent. Prabhakar brought the "walkie talkie" for the communication within the team.

Day - 0:

I had been a member of BASC and my other best friends where going for Green Route trek with them. I started with them and reached Majectic by 2100hrs. Chatted with other known BASC members like Abhi, Shiva etc and soon by 2145hrs received a call from Prabhakar that he has reached. Soon, others reached and we boarded the bus by 2300hrs to reach...

Team: Girish, Naveen, Prabhakar, Sandeep, Navneet, Kanta, Tanoy, Rohan, Lokesh, Shivpraksah and Pratap

Day - 1:

We reached the Somvarapete by 0500hrs in the morning. Our next task was to board the bus @0720hrs to reach 3km from Pushpagiri forest office. We used the time available to fresh up and have breakfast. The bus took about 0100hrs to reach the point mentioned before. Here, a mini trek through road starts... and goes on for 3Km. Not an easy one with some down and lots of UPs!!.

This the place where bus dropped us and hence, starting point of the trek to reach the forest office.

On the way to Forest Guest House..
Girish & Prabhakar in front with their Tent... Rohan and Pratap with other Tent.

Butterfly captured on the way

Thts me stretching my arms..

At the entry of Trek from Somvarapete

Anywayz, we took the permission from the forest authorities and started for the trek by 0930hrs. The first step was to cross a slippery bridge due to heavy rains. We were warned that more than one person cannot go.. In addition, heavy weights should avoid. Who cares!!

We crossed it smoothly except Rohan whose right leg got struck on the side-fences.

Here, the trek starts..

The road to dense forest starts...

The dense jungle, leeches waiting for sweet bloods and un-known animals roaming around. The plan was to reach the top by 4.00pm max.

We started well with leeches plunging onto our shoes/legs.. There are sign board after every 1-1.25km about the more distance to be traveled. Navneet & Naveen were leading and Myself, Prabhakar and Girish (Sweeper) were at the end. After crossing few streams, the ascend started. Soon, it was come to known that Pratap has hurt himself via cramp. He was moving slowly... We were moving smoothly when suddenly rain started and leeches became more. The poncho activity started here. We also had Glucose and other stuffs here.

Girish crossing one of the Stream..

At around 1300hrs we stopped for our lunch near one of the stream. It was still raining. Here, we had query on going ahead as we saw a large monolith in front of us from which water was flowing down vigorously. We were not able to see any other path. Also, due to passing cloud the visibility was at minimum. Anywayz, we started climbing from left side of the BIG ROCK by holding the small trees nearby, struggling to get in place our feet.. And somehow, everyone with few challenges was able to reach the top of the rock.

We started again with Naveen, Prabhakar in front, (as I can recall). In order to go fast Prabhakar slipped and hurt himself in his leg. But, as TIGER he roared again and started with same pace. From here the actual ascend to the peak starts. After a half-n-hour, again a big monolith arrives with lots of water flowing down making it slippery and challenging.

One more monolith followed, but we were there to accomplish the task with gr8 excitement. After finishing the 3rd BIG Rock, we can see the a notice stating "Pushpagiri" is a kilometer away. But, we were amused to the fact that we are still trekking upwards and there are no grasslands. We rested for half-n-hr just 500mts away from the peak, working on leeches and eating the stuffs. After charged up, we started again and reached the peak by 1545hrs therby achieving by time bound. It felt awesome to be at top of one of the tallest peak in western ghats. We were able to view NOTHING!!! Thts because we were in the Heaven. The cloud were kissing our body and removing the tiredness literary speaking.

Then, we started assembling our tents.

Myself, Navneet and Kantha organizing the Tent

We are at top of KP!!!!

Soon, we went into our tents after washing ourselves from greedy leeches. Soon, we had our dinner and went for sleep. There were 3 Tents.
Tent 1:- Girish, Prabhakar, Naveen - Discussing about future plans and to go back successfully to Bangalore

Tent 2:- Myself, Naveent and Kanta - Myself & Naveent were buzy in listening to songs whereas Kanta was in Tent 3 discussing.

Tent 3:- Rest people - They shared crazy stories before going for sleep.

Day 2:

I woke up around 0500hrs just to realize its still dark outside and visibility down to 10mts literally. I woke up again by 0630Hrs to find improved visibility. Soon, others joined and we packed to move to Base i.e. Kukke Subramanya. Well, here was the challenge.. we didn't knew where to head!! Prahakar as usual spotted the route by seeing the arrow markings on the rock. We had to go back in the same route for about 500mts before taking the diversion for reaching Kukke Subramanya base.

Now, while going down we were at the top of the waterfall and with cloud/mist we didn’t knew how to proceed. We were even un-certain about the route. We were at the top of cliff and a wrong step would have send anyone of us directly to Heaven. I thought of taking that route but restricted myself as others may envy of me for reaching the Heaven so early. Anywayz, there was a point when Sandeep, Lokesh shouting while standing on edge to go back the Day 1 trek route while taking conformation from Girish & others. But... then all of sudden Navneet shouted "I got the route, we have the route here..." But where... he was Invisible to us. He came back and took us to that path. In the mean time, Prabhakar was wandering for search of route. We soon proceeded with the route and found a dustbin, proofing ourselves that we are in right path.:) I felt so happy.

We were @Top of this BIG ROCK and our view was covered with Clouds. We are in Cloud Nine but a wrong step anyone of us would had been Heaven/Hell. This pic was taken exactly after 1week by other trekkers.

This is the Base of that BIG ROCK when we trekked. You can see the path forward is covered with fog. It was worse at top

The next few Kms were through thick forest and then through open grassland. The view from the top of other mountains was majectic to say the least. Though, the cloud was blocking the view again & again.. we could get the glimpse of the beauty of KP.

The Three Muskerters of KP; Girish, Pratap and Myself

Check the Fog and Greenary...

While going down we met few members of other group who were ascending. We shove them away by stating the TRUTH that the there is simply no view from the Top of KP. They went upwards for few Kms before coming back again and meeting us while we were having our breakfast. Girish was telling "The First Aid never comes to use". Well, soon it came .. but not for our team. One of the person from the other team had a cut on his back due to a loose knife coming out from his bag and scrapping his back. It was dreadful. Anywayz, He got well soon and he started our descend.

Team having Breakfast.. Myself missing :)

In the meanwhile, during breakfast one of our member (Name Hidden to Protect Identity) had went for doing "shit" in the leech infected zone. Well, the result he had leech bites near his private parts. He was in real pain when we saw him in next pit-stop, which is at the view point.

The view from the breakfast point... The bridge is @Kukke Subramanya Temple

At view point, we met some local person who was in search of a missing person. It was a team of two people with one of them missing. The searching person went to forest checkpost where we took the permission (on day 1) and sent a message to the other forest check post near Bhatra Mane. We didn't heard further on this issue. We hope the person was traced in good health.

Navneet @Viewpoint

Anywayz, after shots at this place we packed ourselves. And here the Indra god opened his arm and it rained cats & dogs for next 20min. We waited at the same place like statue!! Then, we decided to start by measuring at the probability of rain stopping very soon. I thought it would be tough.. but literally speaking it was a smooth ride. We next reach forest guest house where we act fresh guava before starting again. After 1Km, we could see "Bhattara Mane". We moved on...

As we started to descend into the forest, pace slowed down. Few peoples without the tents went ahead. In between while coming down Sandeep lost his cool for only the person to carry the tent for his team. With Rohan down and myself also in carrying the tent & walking. it left with last bunch of peoples. I here thank Kanta & Navneet who carried the tent whole way. I carried only for few kms only.

Nothing special here after for me.. Just kept moving and I & Kanta reached the Base by 4.00pm to find other members. Soon, others including Girish reached by 4.30pm. Later we visited "Kukke Subramanya" temple, had our dinner and boarded the bus to reach home.

Here is the view which we missed, captured by one of the BASC team members.:

Leech Bite counts:

Myself : 28

Girish : 35

Naveen : 3

Katha : 10

Sandeep : 15

All I can say.. its truly a TREKKERS PARADISE....
Love to visit you again.

Pic Gallery:

Girish: KP Conquered
Tanoy: KP Tour
Naveen: Pushpagiri Trek
Rohan: KumarParvatha Trek

Summary:

- Bangalore to Somvarapete via KSRTC.

- Camping at the Top

- Get Down to Kukke Subramanya

- Kukke Subramanya to Bangalore via KSRTC.

Munnar Treknic

2011-10-03T17:27:00.001+05:30

Munnar is an incredibly beautiful hill town positioned at a height of 6000ft in the Idukki district, Kerala. With an extensive stretch of tea plantations amidst the high mountains and unspoiled valleys, Munnar gives a very pleasant feeling. The scented cool air is filled with the aroma of spices. The rising and falling terrain of Munnar is covered with forests and grasslands.

Day 0 - Preparation & Meet Up

Munnar has alwayz there in my visiting list. All friends occupied themselves for Rakhi & Independence Day weekend and I was going through my options. However, nothing seems to be finalized until I received a mail from BASC regarding Munnar Trip. After few dropouts, I was accommodated.

We met on 12th Aug @7.30pm. A total of 20 BASC Members few known, many unknown started for the Journey.

DAY 1 - 13th Aug

When I woke up in the morning, we were in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. After some time we saw many windmills across the road... we were in Pollachi. A few hours later, the dry forest started with monkeys around :) and later we reached "Cinnar Wildlife Sanctuary".

Pic 1: Cinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

After sorting, the permissions and taking pics of few monkey families around, a forest guide took us for a trek inside the sanctuary.

Pic: Start of Trek inside Cinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

During the initial 150mts, we spotted some animal “pichvada”. I can only remember "yellow tail" :). The forest was full dry and we spotted nothing after day. The guide took us to a small river flowing down from Thoovanam waterfalls with a caution. We relaxed ourselves @river, doing eating / brushing / extra... (The other way around literally speaking). I also see "Tiger" (Nickname of My friend), doing monk eying around. Anywayz, it soon ended and we started back. In the mean time, we visited a watchtower, took some snaps and went back to sanctuary base. We finished our lunch and started forward to Munnar our main destination.

View During the Trek

View from the Watch Tower

Watch Tower

Group Pic at the Top of Watch Tower

On the way to Munnar, we visited Lokkam waterfall. Chk the pic to read its story :) Here few of us had "teetar" bird egg bhurji. It was OK, a litter bitter to my taste. Soon we started and we were presented with majestic tea garden across. A road in the middle, surrounded by Tea Garden.... It was beautiful to say the least. On the way, Jinu enquired about the timing of "Ernakulam National Park". He mentioned it as 7.00am. Anywayz, through the scenic beauty of tea garden we reached our accommodation at AIDA by 5.30pm. We accommodated in three room. Few of the members opted to stay back and relax, few took their cameras and headed north/south/east/west.. I don't know the direction as I was buzy sleeping. :)

Hang ON!!! Day 1 is still to be closed. My roommates and I started around 7.30pm for the dinner. In the market, we can see only Tea Shops... not for drinking but fresh tea for taking home. Infect, there are hardly any tea stalls. Ok.. Moving on.. we had our lunch in the outside dhaba (others No idea) and came back move to play cards. We played cards for 2-3hrs ... having blanket maar for winning/forcing others to loose. Thts it.. we retired for the day after spending not so amazing time outside as most of time we were in the bus :P

DAY 2 - Munnar Visit

The day started with the visit to "Ernakulam National Park". It opened @8.00am and we were the first batch to reach there. We were taken to the park base and left there to enjoy the scenic. We already knew there were no Animal sightings. Hence, we wandered through and came back with good pics.. thts it. It is told that blue blooms happens once in 12yrs and is worth a visit. During this visit, few of the members started proposing there places to visit but they themselves delayed and hence more places were not explored.

Nilgiri Thar Spotted by Me :)

Hmm.. we then spend half-n-hour roaming around the market near the national park until Jinu figured the bus. In the mean time, we had fresh carrot, green mangoes, buttas to name a few. There were truly delicious :) Tht contributed to good breakfast since we were further delayed due too traffic jam. Anywayz we reached Munnar by 11.00am, had our breakfast/lunch, and headed to Mattupetty Dam. The dam was crowded. We parked our vehicle after few knots and headed for the river. Few clicks and again the journey started. This time to 'Kundala Dam'. Here, three of the gates were open however, there was hardly any water flowing through it. We thought of boating but being a Sunday, it was too rush.

Then, through "Lock Heart Gap" we traveled to the "echo point" and "Top Station". The trip through "Lock Heart Gap" unveiled the breathtaking panorama of evergreen tea estates, undulating valleys, a spine of hills in the horizon and streaks of cloud drifting over tea gardens. We traveled to "echo point" and then headed to "Top Station" for the final visit of the day. Some of the members decided not to visit the "Top Station" viewpoint because of Fog (better to say passing cloud), Rain and Crowd. For others those things contributed to disappointment especially there was hardly any view and they decided to stay back.

At View Point

We came back and struck in traffic in crossing ourselves not bus (it was far ahead). On the way we stopped near Kekan Deva tea plantation and posted for pics :). Soubrab was left when we started from this place. In addition, here we saw Mandir, Majid and church location within 5KM giving the prospects of communal harmony.

Thts the end of Day 2 with more visits but for less time :( since the traffic was eating up the time. Similar to Day1, we had our dinner, cards playing and rest.

DAY 3 - Kolukkumalai Tea Estate

The initial plan was to keep our language at the hotel and come back for lunch & vacate it. However, Team decided to check out the hotel @morning only since checkout was possible within 12.00pm.

Anywayz, we started for Chinnakkanal by 7.30am. On the way we halted near periyakanal waterfalls. It was one of source of drinking water for Munnar. He had our photo sessions before proceeding further. Here again Sourab and other person was left behind. Jinu had to go back around 500mts to get them... They didn't knew & were still buzy photographing. Crazy guys!!!.

Next, we suddenly stopped somewhere and Jinu went and came back with three Jeeps.

Well.. It was to take us to 'Kolukkumalai Tea Estate', the highest organic tea garden. The ride to the estate about an Hour was one of the memorable experience to say the least. I definitely recommend a ride here for those think they are the best drivers. The road to/from this tea estate is unpaved and very uncomfortable... It like getting free massage for your leg, body, silence mind. It was a horrible drive. I guessed I would have trekked in less time. Anywayz, the view from the top of the estate was zero for the fact that huge cloud cover. We later went to estate tea estate company for a demo of the tea preparation. The tea factory is about 70+ old and still uses traditional method for tea preparation. Later after purchasing tea we came back to base where our bus was parked, again via un-describe road. My mind was roaming like anything once we came back. I had to take instant food & water to get going.

Thts Western Ghats Highest Peak

View from Top of the Tea Plantation

Anywayz, we started back to Bangalore via Body-Theni-dindigal route.

Summary:

Day 1 - Cinnar Wild life Sanctuary

Day 2 - Ernakulam National Park, Few Dams, Top Station

Day 3 - Kolukkumalai Tea Estate

Pics Courteousy: Tanoy, Girish, Deb, Pratab

Jog Falls

2011-07-01T23:53:00.000+05:30

Well, we have been trying to go out from quite a sometime. And someone suggested to go Jog Falls, the highest untiered falls in India. My colleague, Santosh arranged the transport for the event and we total of 9 Members started for the trip.

Team: Santosh, Vineet, Sushil, Snehal, Jitu, Gopi, Raja, Natraj and Tanoy.

Date: 12th September 2008

The journey started on Quallis from ADA.. the office of the team. We started by 9.00pm after waiting for Natraj & Jitu for a while and had to pick Santosh on the way. We picked him... and then the crazy journey started.

Time: 11.30pm to 12.00am

The vehicle was low of fuel, we halted and @same time conveyed our best wishes to Snehal on his B'day. After 20 minutes we started again. Santosh & Vineet occupied the front seat followed by Myself, Snehal, Jitu & Sushil. The last seat was for other foursome.

We were following a TRUCK & was unable to view WTF is ahead. The driver thought of overtaking and within milisecs moved back!!! Reason, a fast racing Truck coming from other side. I guess everyone had closest their shave with Death... Thank GOD!!!

The rest of journey to Shimoga bus station went cautiously. We reached early at morning .. refreshed and started to the Jog falls. On the way to jog falls we halted for a while for breakfast, tea and personal/group pics at various scenic spots. :)

Date: 13th September 2008

We reached Jog falls by 10.00am. After top view we started for base. The water was less and hence it provided us with the opportunity to go down & have fun in water :).

Forget to mention.. Our Jitu went down with medium level of fever. Even, then he came along (Ofcourse..Had no other choice). Me, Snehal and Jitu were slowing moving with others started with brisk pace... We were moving slowly njoying the sound of the fall.. the views which were opening before us. :) When we reached down, the other gang had reached too near to the falls. Thr we found Gopi wandering & wondering about how to reach that very spot. After few shots, analysing..we figured out how to reach the spot.

Well.. does tht sound easy!! Well not.. It was too slippery. First Gopi went ..he slipped.. followed by Snehal & Jitu also. I tried not to follow them.. but had to and I also slipped. we all slipped the very spot!! Soon, we reached the place were other gang was thr. After refreshing bath (expect Jitu). We headed back to Bangalore. On the way we decided to visit "Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari". We headed back and after some time the tire got busted!!! That 2nds time we were struck.. The tire was not coming out.. But Sneh, Sushil, Natraj helped to get it done to start up.

We reached the safari by 4.00pm .. it was about to close however we managed to get it and Njoy the ride. The tiger/lions were slepping like anythg after their heavy lunch I guess!!. Anywayz, we had good time thr at Safari and started back. We decided to visit the Sacred Heart Church, 2nd largest crutch in India on the way. We reached by 5.30pm thr.. offered our prayer to Mother Mary & Jesus Christ.

Then we again started and had our dinner. Since, we know we will be reaching 2maroo... we had gr8 dinner.. heee :)

The back home journey started with "Santosh" on the driver seat as the driver wanted to sleep. Well.. he was driving like crazy.. few of us were really scared and then suddenly after 20min.. a burst sound came & few minutes later we found ourselves parked in the corner of the State Highway. Yup.. tier got busted once again and since we were out of spare tire.. we r like had no destination. After few discussions, we decided to spend the night in the forest keeping the driver to take care of the Quallis.

Date: 14th September 2008 00 am Onwards

Well thts the night was sure to be remembered by all of us!!!

I guess Snehal had this in mind.. be'coz he brought the "Kambal" (Blanket). Sushil as alwayz was carrying a small chadhar which we used to lay down & sleep. We decided to lit the fire to keep us ALIVE from animals, cold and ghost (if any). The Raja and gang (Raja, Natraj & Gopi) lost their senses as soon as they laid.. . (Too Tired or ..Guess). Anywayz Sushil / Vineet / helped by others (including me) kept the fire alive the night.

We used to get up time & again be'coz of truck loud horns or due to some unpleasant sounds. Around 3.00am, (I guess) I got some sleep.. soon to be waken by Jitu .. "Vineet Bhaiya.. Bhaiya!!!". He also pushed me & Snehal (who was in the middle of kumbkaram sleep).. to wake up. WHYY!!! Well.. he heard some beautiful lady with candle in her hand & payal on her leg calling his name romantically to meet her...

We told ...."Yaar.. tho mil kar aa na.. hume tho koi aawaz nehi aayi waise". We slept.. but he cannot haunted by her presense. Soon... Vinnet wake up (to kick his ass literally) and he became quite. After 15-20min all wake up one by one!!!. It’s very difficult to express the night in words.. but this was how it unfolded.

The morning was good as we soon came to know by passerby that we are near one of the bus stop. Santosh with driver went to repair one of the tires. For the time being we photographed ourselves and it was good. After an Hr, they came back with tire and we started our journey. We halted near the bus stop to repair our other tire. In the meantime, we freshened ourselves. And finally after an Hr stop we again started for our destination Bangalore. We reached outskirts of Bangalore and dropped Santosh and soon started...to be again struck with puncher tire!!!. Again replacing the tire started. My colleague & friends Snehal / Vineet / Sushil / Natraj seems to be having alternate career option due to experience gained in changing tire.

Finally, at 12.30pm I reached my place and was told other also reached safely without any more surprises!!.

Kodiakanl Trip

2011-04-28T20:08:00.001+05:30

Well.. it wasn't supposed to be the Kodia Trip rather it should have been Kodia-Munnar Escape route trek. But, due to factors beyond our control.. the trek cannot be progressed. The DFO was unavailable due to Good Friday National Holiday and hence, we didn't receive neccsaary permission to trek. :(

To make this as an oportunity "Mr. Mani" the local guide contacted us & told us that he is willing to take us for few treks across Kodia.. but will be charging Rs2000/- per person!!! We were like ... HOLD ON!!! Anywayz, after long discussion we decided to go ahead with Mani but @Rs800/- per person. He promised to take us for trek on Sat & Sun and asked us to spend the Friday in the village. Though initially we agreed but after reaching the village we were reluctant to go ahead with our proposed plan and hence abandanded the plan & cam back to Bangalore. We did spend some valuable time thr.. and the following are the shots from that place.

Summary:
> Bangalore to Kodiakanl Direction: Bangalore – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Salem – Namakkal – Karur – Dindigul – Batlagundu – Kodaikanal.
> Places Visited: Kodiakanal Lake, Kookal Lake

Pic 1: Kodiakanal Lake Dark Hrs

Pic 2: Morning Blue!!

Pic 3: View of Indian Agricultural

Pic 4: KooKal Lake

Pic 5: Alone!!

Pic 6: Kookal Lake Mirror Image

Pic 7: Kookal Lake Mirror Image

Pic 8: Kookal Lake Mirror Image

Pic 10: India's Agricultual View

Pic 11: A way Ahead

Jenkal Gudda / Deepadhkallu / Missed OG

2011-04-27T16:25:00.001+05:30

The trek mail started with a say "What’s special for this valentine day? Here is the chance to touch “4” girl friends Ms. Ehina Buja, Ms. Ombattu Gudda, Ms. Jenkal Gudda and Ms. Deepadhkallu in 2 days. (Feb 12th & 13th)" Hmm.. Tht got me excited and I registered for the trek. Further, it was informed due to restriction from forest dept for trekking in Ethina Buja (EB) range it will be skipped.

Anyway, we started on 11th Feb night after being delayed by an hour due to Bangalore Traffic. Everyone, reached their pick points well in advance but had to wait. Satish the team leader/organizer joined at the last stop. So, a team of 14 members (All Boys) started to meet their girl friend(s) on the eve of Valentine's day.

Team: Satish (Organizer), Prabhakar (Tiger), Allwyn, Dipankar, Sowrish, Kumar MP, Harish, Girish, Bharath, Naveen, Tanoy, Gurva Reddy, Debashish and Dr. Ravi Shankar.

We reached Hanbal in Sakaleshpur by 4.00 am and waited for Tiffin center to get open. We parceled our breakfast/lunch and got started. We halted nearby small stream to freshen up…

Figure 1: Day 1 Morning Refresh

We tried to find "Lakshmi Estate" by vehicle for the driver and we got Lost!!!.. But, we were able to find it within an Hr and hence, we got delayed by 3hrs from our proposed schedule.

Proposed Plan

------------------

Day 1: To cover Jenkal Gudda and Deepadhkallu. If things go well & could cover good distance, then will reach lakmshi estate at the end of the day or will be camping in the grass land.

Day 2: Move to Estate & OG.

Execution:

-------------

Day - 1

The trek started from Betta Bhairaveshwara Temple @ 3470 ft altitude (With BASC one can alwayz have God blessings before/during the trek) and we can see a path already exist (Satish initially thought of making a path from here itself, I guess so). The path was through thick forest and after few decisions; we were able to reach a good distance near the Deepadhkallu peak. We decided to leave our baggage near the tree shade and carry only the essentials for the peak. It was up-climb of about 60deg with NO SHADE. All of us reached the Deepadhkallu peak by 1.30pm. From, here we can see the Ehina Buja and very reason we were not allowed to trek over there. There was thick forest fire, which we can see all throughout our trek.

Figure 2: Bettada Byraveshwara Temple

Figure 3: Deepanakallu from base

From, the Deepadhkallu we can see "Jenkal gudda". The shape of 'Jenkal gudda' is interesting as its round and as said by Satish it requires equal amount of stamina from any direction you try to climb it... The round shape was indeed the difficult one to trek in Hot Sun @ 2-2.15pm. Harish & Naveen decided to skip the climb.

Figure 4: Forest Fire in EG Range

Figure 5: View of Jenkal gudda from Deepadhkallu

We reached the JenkalGudda peak by 2.40pm. The ascend had steep climb with no shade… infact there are no shade from Deepadhkallu peak to Jenkal Gudda peak which was difficult as we were climbing in mid afternoon beneath the HOT sun. Jenkal Gudda has ascend of 70^odeg with no place to hold up to. It was roughly 700m up climb from the base, which we reached from Deepadhkallu. Well, the view wasn't too magnificent as I expected due to approaching summer (it was more dry than my expectation). Here, we found a Deepak and wondered how the Deepak of Deepadhkallu came to this peak :?....

Figure 6: At Jenkal Gudda peak

Figure 7: View from the Peak of Jenkal Gudda

After group pics we started our decend down (a tough one)... While going back from Jenkal Gudda to Deepadhkallu, I had dizziness and needed the rest immediately. With encouraging quotes from Satish, I finally reached the shade near the Deepadhkallu. The descend to base where we left our bags took me quite a time and all reached by 4.30pm. After 5 min break (Considering me coming @end, others had quite a good break) we started for next destination…. But where ???? Estate or BASC peak (where BASC team got lost during OG2, hence referred as BASC peak by lost members)

Well, the idea was to reach the Estate that is visible from the point we started. It seemed to be just next to one of the peak, 2Km away and hence we can make it. So, started the journey to that peak and soon when we were just about to descend into virgin forest we Halted!!!. Reason: Don't know how deep is the forest and hence how much time it will take for the team (Yup Team, since many people are traveling like Cheetah and few Lions :) were still behind). Therefore, we decided to Trek Up, reach the Top and have camping there.

Figure 8: Lakshmi Estate.. Too Near Too Far

Hmm.. this is where I went down. While, going Up..Up Up… because of dizziness, lack of rest & no food, I fall down!! Hee.. only literally just causally at the same place. Here, Reddy and Allwyn carried by baggage up (Thanks a Ton guys) and with more encouraging quotes from Mr. Satish/Allwyn/Reddy/Sowrish I finally made it to Top.. Yupeee!!!! Later, I realized there were other casualties also….. Sowrish and Harish. We saw the Sunset and it was quite stunning view since the trek we started.

Figure 9: Sunset @ OG Range

Then, barring few members (5 of them) others went for Water hunt and found it. Then, as routine we camped at near mid-peak so as to be more close to water. We had our Dinner, BASC Intro round and then sleeping. Prabhakar and other tried keeping the fire ON till 3am before going for sleep. We wake up @ 4.30 am with strong breeze blowing and everybody started becoming SUPERMAN!!! All were good and no injuries!!

DAY 2:

Hmmm.. The Day 2 started with our breakfast and starting for unknown trail. We had Map, GPS, Water and an adventure was waiting for us. Satish and path finders decided to reach the BASC peak initially and then find the Jeep Track. So, the journey filled with adventure started. Satish, Dipankar, Prabhakar led the team. We traveled from one peak to another (descend peak) and started finally into the dense forest. When we were just about to enter the forest, the path finder found that due to big rock ahead we cannot go down the proposed way. Hence, we climbed a bit and then again started to get down after roughly 400m. And here the difficult part started as we didn't knew how deep the forest.. well it was infact quite a deep 1.5km as per my estimation. At one place during forest descend there was nothing to hold up to.. The ones in front of me (Dr. and Harish) managed to get away but I lost it. I lost the branch which was to hold and suddenly started sliding!!!!!! .. I, then somehow managed to hold onto a rock which was also about to break. So I left it and slided further and hold onto one tree root. Harish got panicked and so am I & others (Sowrish, Deb & Kumar) following me!!!

Harish shouted and soon we had our rescue. Mr. Girish..... He saved my fall and made me to right path. Then, Reddy came from nowhere (He was behind Me & others).... and with Girish he saved the fall of others. And finally we reached the down.. Yupee!!! Into the Virgin forest and with water source. So, whts NEXT!!!

Figure 10: Into Virgin Forest and stream (Still Chking the Maps!!)

Satish told that we are going to follow the up-stream as he was sure down-stream will lead us to OG our 3rd lady though our current target was to reach the estate. I asked Ravi... So how far is it?? He said "We are lost and just hoping this stream to lead us some place".

Well... we started upstream and after about 400m he halted again as stream was on right side and as per our GPS we are supposed to go left side. Dipankar went further to find whether it is taking some left turn.. but signs were negative. So, we started up-climb into the dense forest. Leading the way was Satish & Tiger. After few decisions on the up-climb based on GPS position finally we were about to find an abandoned Jeep Track. Everyone was thrilled to found it. However, this one Satish was no expecting but it was reliving. Then, with all of energy we started to reach estate ASAP.. But hang ON!!! We are again got into two dilemma.

Figure 11: Which Path to Take ?

Satish & Tiger went right And Reddy & Bharat went Left.....

No on came up with satisfying result. But, since we had to go left as I said earlier we headed left and soon able to find the coffee plantation.... and after 10min walk we were near the estate. We freheshup near the waterfall and then went back to Estate. We had our lunch and since, no one expect Satish and Reddy was interested to trek OG we cancelled the same and started to Bangalore.

Path Finders: Satish, Prabhakar, Dipankar

Sweepers: Reddy and Girish

Casualties: Tanoy, Harish and Sowrish (Day 1, Mind IT)

GPS Man: Dipankar

Kalhatti Falls / Hebbe Falls / Mullayanagiri

2011-03-30T10:02:00.004+05:30

My last trek was a difficult trek and hence wanted a leisure trek. Well… there were three leisure treks planned on same day by BASC and hence, which one to opt for was a difficult proposition.

I had contact with Priyanka… She opted for Mullayanagiri trek.. and hence I also registered for the same. The BASC organizer this time didn't reveal the names and hence, no idea who all the coming. On 25th March, I reached the Majestic bus stand by 10.00pm found Priyanka roaming :). After few chat, Ambareesh(BASC Organizer aka AK) asked us to come @meeting place and we reached by @10.30pm. Well.. I found quite a old trek mates thr.. Rajesh, Sourish, Tiger, Girish & Saurabh Thapar. Saurabh boarded the wrong BASC bus (1^st time Lost!!!). Rajesh called him to join us. Soon, he arrived and we started @11.10pm.

DAY 1:

After refreshing and breakfast @ Chikmagalur Bus Station, we headed for Mullayanagiri. Due to Ures Celebration, there were police restrictions. Rajesh & AK went for seeking permission. Initially they agreed on to allow us to walk/trek to the top with parked TT @entrance. However, they opposed the same later. It can be described like initially, **star policewala “granted” permission. But, later *** & **** star Policewala(s) rejected the offer.. :(. We satisfied ourself by clicking pics of Mullayanagiri from the entrance.

Pic1: Mullayanagiri frm the entrance

Hmm.. running shot of what to do..AK decided we head for Kalhatti Falls. Still with low spirit we headed for the falls. The route of falls was through Coffee Estate Jeep Route + easy level of trek. We reached small stream @12.pm coming from Kalhatti falls...

Pic2: Small Stream on the way to Kalhatti Falls

Pic3: Coffee Estate Route

Pic4: Small waterfall.. Meet with other BASC team

While, we were having lunch & looking for next stop… Other BASC trek team organized by J² reached the place. They, told further up is the Kalhatti falls and is must watch... Well, with new regained energy we started for the falls. It is a cascading waterfall, flowing through the grass, crashing on the rocks and falling with tranquilness on the rocks...

Pic5: Kalhatti Falls

Most of us energized ourselves at the falls and then decided to move further Up… to reach the base of WaterFall and then trek to reach Kemmannugundi (KMundi). Well.. tht means we need to find a way to reach up.. Abhi with his torn sandal (Well Done!!!) lead the group through the ascend of 70deg and finally reaching the top.

We njoyed reaching the top, took beautiful snaps… but our final destination of the Day to reach KMundi was halted by forest watchers who said we are in "Bhadra Tiger Reserve" and hence we have to move out. He guided us into the village. We halted @Village, had cup(s) of tea before heading to KMudi by our TT.

Pic6: View from Top of Bhadra Tiger Reserve

Pic7: View from Top of Bhadra Tiger Reserve

We reached KMudi RajBhavan by 6.15pm. We did missed the sun-set view but the color of the sky due to the sunset was left us amazed. As usual, members with DSLR started there pic session (even me with my Point-N-Shoot camera).

Pic8: Senset @Kemmannugundi Raj Bhavan

Next -> Camp site ?

J²(Other BASC Team) had occupied the rooms in the Raj Bhavan. They said they have occupied 3 rooms and thr is big verandah outside there house. We went to saw that and was rejected within seconds as thr was no ventilation & was bit smelly. In the mean time we ordered for the food in the canteen & decided to have combined intro of two BASC team…(It didn’t happened).

Rajesh & AK headed for night halt spot search on the way to Z-Point & came back successfully. We had our dinner and proceeded to @Rock Garden for night halt.

Day 2:

Everyone woke up by 6.00am (again missing sun-rise frm Z-Point)… Someone, said an abandoned Tiger came @night to Rock Garden but the ROAR of so many sleeping animals scared him (Must have thought, what will happen if they woke up :P) & hence he/she left us unharmed. Well Done Team…

Pic9: On the way to Z-Point

Pic10: On the way to Z-Point

Then, we headed for Z-Point to capture the Sun-Rise. Rajesh, Abhiram & Saurabh reached 1^st to capture the moment. They are bit disappointed as thr was no Sun..LOL. But, its rays through the clouds was captured. Soon; myself, Karthik, Priyanka & Sourish joined them. We also captured the sun-rays moment..

Pic11: View from Top of Z-Point

Pic12: @Top of Z-Point.. Analyzing next Trek Opportunity.

While analyzing the sceneries around Karthik / Rajesh / Abhiram pointed out a L-Shaped school which was also visible when we were @Bhadra Tiger Reserve Top. Hence, we were on the right path may be two peak behind… Rajesh thought of exploring but since AK was not thr and considering this as leisure trek he dropped his plan. While we were returning, other members (Mahesh, Guru, Apoorva, Arun & Isabel) were going to Z-Point.

Next -> Breakfast and Hebbe Falls.

Hebbe Falls:

It was inside the coffee estate can be accessed by Jeep Route.. It was 8Km trek. There is shortcut just after the place where 1^st glimpse of the fall can be seen while going by Jeep route. Everyone trekked with thr own pace to reach the fall. Rajesh reached at brisk pace to astonish the Jeep Driver who started after 5min of we started for the trek. Well… Saurabh was missing after last set of people (which includes me) arrived at the falls. The falls was mesmerizing, gushing down from a height of 551 ft. There was a kinda swimming pool where the water falls… Everyone had refreshing dip in this herb-infused water.

Pic13: Hebbe Falls

Soon, J² BASC team reached & Saurabh was still missing… We started our trek back and shouting “Saurabh , Saurabh ”.. But no +ve response (We did received fake response). We hoped to see him @base.. we were again disappointed. At this moment we were literally thinking of all possible thgs tht might have happened to him (He was having head-ache the day before & also didn't halted with us in the forest). We were just not able to figure out where he might have taken wrong turn... since it was completely through the Jeep Track. We were abt to go for search via Jeep and then halted for while.. Well, tht was good decision as after few minutes we saw Saurabh climbing back fast…..

Missing Link -> Well, just before the fall someone guided him to follow the straight path rather than taking the left towards the fall. The path led him into dense forest. He saw fresh Elephant dung and soon realized he is in deep shit. He prayed by sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream. Soon, his prayed was answered and Estate GM reached the spot with his Jeep, dropped him nearby. To reach fast he decided to take Jeep instead of trekking.. Well, his luck was not with him. The jeep had tire burst and he came back running. We left him un-hurt (Lucky Guy)

Then, head for Lunch @ Kemmangundi and then started for Bangalore… In the meantime, we also received permission to visit Mullayanagiri. The hill road to the Mullayanagiri was scary at times… We reached on time not to miss the sunset from the top of Karnataka’s Highest peak... :) There was small temple and also people living there.

Pic14: Sunset @ Mullayanagiri Peak

Pic15: Sunset @ Mullayanagiri Peak

Pic16: Sunset @ Mullayanagiri Peak

There was a small cave few notches below. It was my 1^st visit in any cave. While taking one of the pic, a bat came in front & was splendidly captured in the pic. (personal pic won’t be shared). Had dinner at Chikmagalur @Mayur hotel and reached 28^th morning by 4.30am.

Summary:

Day 1: Kalhatti Falls / Trek to Tiger Reserve / Kemmannugundi Raj Bhavan.

Day 2: Hebbe Falls / Mullayanagiri
Team: Ambareesh, Priyanka, Rajesh, Karthik, Abhiram, Mahesh, Guru, Apoorva, Arun & Isabel, Saurabh, Sourish and Myself :)

Kudremukha

2011-03-19T21:04:00.000+05:30

Kudremukha, literally means 'Horse-Face' and refers to a spectacular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that looks like a face of the horse. It is a small town in Chikmaglur district in Karnataka and situated close to the mountain range with the same name - Kuduremukh. On clear days, Mangalore city is said to be visible from the top of Kudremukh.

Trek Details:

It all started with a mail from my colleague about trekking to Kudremukh with "Bangalore ASCENDers". With the images shown in the mail, I was thrilled and Joined immediately for the expedition. On 5th March 10, about 13 BASC members (including me & my colleagues) met @ Majectic and started for the Journey after brief introduction.

Day 1 (6th March 10):

We reached Kalasa early morning. On the way to Horanadu to visit Annapoorneshwari temple, we halted @8.00am near a river bridge to freshen up. Since, the river didn't seems to fresh, someone suggested to walk Upstream to about 1Km. We followed the suggestion and soon seems to be in different world. The entire place was covered with FOG...

It was perfect start to Trek. We refreshed/rejoiced ourself in the cold water and headed for temple. Next we headed for Hanumanagundi falls. We packed our lunch over here only.

The falls were heavely guarded due to Naxal threat. Anywayz, we went down, some took bath and after that we had our lunch. After a nice bath, showed some concern to the stomach, emptied all our lunch packets . Then we headed back towards kudremukha, en route covered Gangamoola & lakya dam. Gangamoola is few kilometers from Hanumanagundi falls & it is said to be the birth place for river Tunga, Bhadra & Netravathi. A kilometer walk from the road we reached Gangamoola, as it was summer the place was totally dry. Then we reached Lakya dam by 4pm. This dam was built by kudremukha iron ore company (KIOCL) to collect the waste materials from the mining operations and it is a dam of silt not water. From far the view of dam was just like a desert & it is surrounded by hills. The view just seemed like all the hills are holding together & hugging this dam. It was time now to head towards for what we have come for, to conquer kudremukha peak. We parked our vehicle(TT) in Balagal and after some refreshments & tender coconuts, started our trek to by 5.45 pm & reached Mullodi by 7.15pm. There our guide was waiting for us. We took bath over his place, meantime he prepared pain-relaxing tea for us. After detailed into, we went for sleep with the enthu to conqure the Horse-Face mountain.

Day 2:

It was a starry night. After freshen up, we started @6.30am.

Just a Km after we saw the cloud cover over distant hills... It was an awesome sight, still fresh in my memory. The trek distance was about 10Km and was mostly through Jungle & open grassland. It was up...down...a few walk along the ridges with a view of valley on one side...and good source of water @alltime whenever we were short of it.

@9.00am we halted for breakfast. Our guide carried the carrier with Idly/Dosa which made the way to our hungry stomach. We resumed @9.45 am. After a km, there was a steep climb (40deg, considering my 1st trek), water source and few 250meters later an awesome panoramic view. We sat at this place for quite some time; everyone had their personal photo session.

Then, again a steep climb of about 60deg and the final one. After this climb, just before few hundred meters from peak, there is an old church. Few of us (Not ME!!) ventured there for photo-shoot suddenly someone told that there is a Brown Beer near by. They came back immediately. We reached the top @12.00pm and njoyed the sceneries...

For most of the Trek, we wondered why this is called Kudremukh (Horse Face), everyone giving their way... and trying to convince the other about the same. Well, few members Saurab, Rajesh, Sridhar Srikanth & Satish headed towards the other peak in curiosity. On the way to the other peak, in the mid they just turned back; We could not believe what they were seeing. It was actually a Horse Face to be seen from the other end though... In fact, BASC is the first trekking group to find the real Kudremukh, I am happy to be part of that group :)

During the trek, few of us (including me) saw 2 Brown Bears, 2 Deer & peacocks roaming in their natural habitat. If any willing to trek.. Do trek ASAP, heard trekking will be banned in the following months!!!

Happy Trekking...

Summary:

Nearby Places to Visit: Horanadu Temple, Hanumanagundi falls, Gangamoola, Lakya dam.

Day 1 – Kalasa – Horanadu – Hanumanagundi falls – Gangamoola-Lakyadam – Mullodi(home stay/Night camp)

Day 2 – Kudremukha peak – Mullodi village water falls & river

Dudhsagar Falls

2011-03-18T14:47:00.043+05:30

This transcendent fall is located on the Mandovi River on Karnataka-Goa border. It is listed as

India

's 5th tallest waterfall at 310m. During Monsoon, it is a sight to behold when it is in full & furious flow. From a distance, the waterfall appears like streams of milk rushing down the mountainside.

The Legend:

The legend tells the story of a powerful and wealthy king who ruled a kingdom in the Western Ghats. The King had a beautiful daughter, who used to enjoy taking a bath during the hot summers, in the picturesque lake near the forest on the edge of the King's palace grounds. It was her habit to finish her bath and have a Jugful of sugared milk in a jug made of pure gold. One day when she was finishing her usual jug of milk she found herself being watched by a handsome prince standing amongst the trees. Embarrassed by her inadequate bathing attire, the resourceful Princess poured the sugared milk in front of her to form an improvised curtain to hide her body, while one of the maids rushed to cover her with a dress. Thus was the legend born... The sugared milk (dudh) poured down the mountainside and continued to flow in torrents as a tribute to the everlasting virtue and modesty of the Princess of the Ghats. The Dudh Sagar (Sea of Milk) continues to flow to this day and attracts thousands of visitors to one of the most popular and famous tourist spots in the state of Goa.

Trek Log:

As mentioned above, the sight will be majestic during monsoon, I joined BASC team to visit the falls. The trek for dudhsagar starts from "CASTLE ROCK" railway station to "Kulem Station", while visiting Dudhsagar. The trek distance is roughly 25Km. (It is 10Km from Kulem station).

We a group of 30 started from Bangalore and reached Hubli Junction. We did some freshen up @Hubli junction. Then, we boarded the train for Castle-Rock. We reached by 9.30am and just then it started raining heavily.
Until rain became slow, common food (Apples, Chocolate, and Energy stuff) was distributed to us. After brief intro, we started for the trek.

The whole trek was on the Railway track and there are no Hurdles expect from rain that anyhow was the best part. As we go from one tunnel to another, the view becomes splendid. On one side, we have mountain and on the other side we have valley. We reached Caronzole station by 3.00pm. We halted here as it was raining heavily and we had to have our lunch.

At Caronzole station around 20 member boarded the mail train to reach dudhsagar station as they where not njoying the rain. While others (including me), started @3.45pm and reached Dudhsagar fall by 6.00pm. The rain didn't left us till we reached the falls. It was Love at first Sight. The "dudh" was pouring from heaven and it was roaring like Lion hungry for food.

Since, others members reached early, they were able to set-up the camp inside the small room. That room was insufficient to hold such a high no. of people we were, hence eight of us decided to set our base outside using tarpaulin. Thks to Sushil & Vinnet for setting up the camp with help from others. Sushil quickly made refreshing soup using his portable stove.

Next day, we refreshed ourselves and started for further journey. Again, those 20 members waited for mail train to reach the next station. We started 10.00am and reached Kulem station by 1.00pm (reached quite fast). There is a small stream of water, where all of us went to refresh ourselves. We started from Kulem station by 5.00pm to reach Hubli Jan, from there we had direct train to Bangalore.

Summary:

Day 1: Bangalore - Hubli Jn – Castle Rock Station – Caronzole – Dudhsagar Falls

Day 2: Dudhsagar Falls – Kulem Station – Hubli Jn - Bangalore