TREK TO CHENNAGIRI

This trek was done on occasion of Friendship Day. We just wanted to spend time somewhere outside the Bangalore. Hence we wanted to go to a place which should be nearer to Bangalore. Then this trek was planned.

ATTRACTIONS IN VICINITY:

This is 1 of 5 hills in Nandi hills range & is adjacent to Nandi hills. It is also called as Channaraya swamy Betta. There are 2 temples & a Pond on top of the Hill. Here one can feel pure air which will blowing at pretty good speed & this place is not much known to people. So one can enjoy the nature without much human intervene.

TREK DATE:

This was executed on 5^th of August, 2012

 Total trek length was 6 km

ROUTE:

 Yelahanka New Town >>> Devanahalli Road >>> Nandi hills Road >>> Karahalli Cross >>> Nandi Grama >>> Kanive Nandishwara Temple Road >>> Sultan pet Village >>> Channagiri Betta >>> Back to Yelahanka New Town.

THE TEAM:

Our teams of 6 members involved in this trek are:

Sridhar, Pandu, Narayan, Spoorthi, Viju & Me (Sandeep).

JOURNEY:

We started @6.00am in Bikes & headed towards Devanahalli airport road. Further we travelled towards Nandi hills road. In Karahalli cross we took right deviation towards Nandi Grama. This hill is in between Sultan pet village & Kanive Nandishwara temple. We parked our bikes near a big tree next to the Hill start point.

We proceeded trekking towards the peak@ 8 am. Initially there was a way, later on the way was closed by thorny shrubs. We cleared the shrubs and further proceeded towards the peak. We did chit chat, took snaps through out the trek length as it was an easy climb.Everyone was thirsty while climbing as we forgot to take water. After climbing an hour we took rest for half an hour & proceeded further towards the peak. Half an hour climb we were out of bushes and came to a clearing area. Here the wind was blowing very nicely. From here there were steps till the peak. We climbed the steps & reached peak.

It took almost 2 hours to reach the peak. After reaching the peak our thirst went off as the peak was covered with mist, clouds & greenery. One can see the fort construction of Nandi hills at one side & Skandagiri at other side. Below the hills one can also see Quarrying for boulders.

We visited the temple of Hanuman (Channaraya swamy) & Ganapathi. Near Hanumantemple the place was excavated by some greedy people in search of Treasure.

We had Chitranna near Pond which was cooked in our home & took rest for about an hour. Later we got down from the hill, drove our bike to Nandi Grama. There we had Nice Bajji, Coconut water & Ice cream. Further we traveled towards home, had lunch in a Dhaba on the way & reached home safely @ 5.30 pm.TIPS FOR TREKKERS:Carry water & food as water is not available on top.Initial path is full of thorny shrubs & Beware of Monkeys near the temple. Please do not litter the place.PERMISSIONS:Permission is not required. But do carry Local guy’s contact no. in case of emergency.
I will catch you soon with my next blog.Till then………………………………………Bye.

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Again we did same trek on 4^th of August 2013 (Friendship day). 

This time our team was of 5 members i.e.: Sridhar, Spoorthi, Nagesha, Viju & Sandeep (Me).

This time everything was perfect. We had plenty of water; Lunch (Ghee rice & tomato bath) was packed.

We met plenty of hikers this time at chennagiri. We enjoyed the trek as usually & concluded successfully. I Will catch you soon with my next blog.Till then…………………Adios.

BIKE TRIP TO BR HILLS

This is one of the mind refreshing trips that I have in my account. Because of heavy work load in office I needed a break from Bangalore. Hence this trip was executed.

MISSION:
Our plan was to visit Gaganachuki; Play in Barachuki waters; from their travel to BR Hills; travel towards K-Gudi; Visit Chamarajnagar & back to Bangalore.

Because of water level was low in Shivanasamudra instead of Barachukki we went to Talakad & rest of the plan remained same.

ATTRACTIONS IN VICINITY:

GAGANACHUKKI: Falls from a height of 100 meters or more and cascades with force and elegance on the rocks resulting in huge sprays of water dashing on the rocks on either side.  There is a watchtower on the eastern side of the falls.

Asia’s 2^nd hydroelectric power station was started here.

BHARACHUKKI: Falls is 3 Kms away from Gaganachukki falls.  Bharachukki falls from a height of 90 meters but the width of the falls is almost 800 meters.

TALAKAD: It is famous for Sand covered temples. More than 30 temples were excavated by archeological department. It is in the Cauvery river basin where you can play in water.

It has a curse called “Curse of Talakad” by Queen Alamelamma Talakaadu Maralaagi,

Maalingi maduvaagi,

Mysooru Arasarige Makkalagadirali.

BR HILLS: At a height of 5,091 feet above sea level, the hills are famous for the temple of Lord Ranganatha which is situated on the highest peak of the hill range, on the 'white cliff' which gives the hill its name Biligiri Rangana Betta.

Doddasampige (Michaelia Champaca), A sacred grove is a must see place. Soliga tribes stay in these areas. They offer a big leather slipper for Lord Ranganatha every 2 years once.

The BR hills links the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats.

K GUDI: This is located in the heart of the Biligiri Rangaswamy Wild Life Sanctuary. This sanctuary is habitat for a variety of wild animals and birds. India’s most wanted brigand Veerappan once used to roam in these forests.

TRIP DATE:

This trip was executed on 9^th and 10^th June 2012.

Total distance covered in the trip was 485kms.

Route: Yelahanka New Town>>> Nice Road>>>Kanakapura>>> Shivanasamudra>>> Talakad>>> Mullur>>> Yelandur>>> BR Hills>>> Kyathe devara Gudi>>> Chamarajanagar>>> Mullur>>> Kanakapura>>> Nice Road>>> Yelahanka New Town.

THE TEAM:

Our teams of 8 members involved in this trip are:

Ravi & Preeti  – Enfield 500

Shiva Kumar & Gangadhar – Pulsar 150

Vishwanath & Vikram – Discover 135

Sandeep & Viju – Pulsar 200 

JOURNEY:

Saturday early morning @ 6.00 we started for this amazing trip. Meeting point was Nice Road Bridge, Kanakapura road. Shiva-Ganga came first there followed by Ravi-Preethy, Me-Viju & last was Vishwa-Vikram. The clock was ticking 8.00am.  I filled my bike with 10 liters of petrol in nearby Bunk. All other bikes also got fueled up and started towards destination. The next stop was Kanakapura. We had breakfast there and headed towards Gaganachukki. It took almost 3 hours to reach Gaganachukki falls as we stopped few times on the way. The water level in the falls was very low & one of the dropouts was completely dried up. We took some snaps, spent some time there, discussed about next destination. As water level was low, our plan got changed. Instead of Barachukki we planned & headed towards Talakad.

We were in Talakad around 1:30pm. We did not visit any temples as most of us have seen this place earlier. So we directly went to river for swimming. We spent more than 2 hours playing in water. Then Shiva received a phone call from his father. He invited us to his native a village called Mullur which was near Talkad.

We went to Mullur where we had a surprise when we visited his home. His mother has cooked Holige, Bonda, Rice, Rasam & Palyas. Holige & Rasam was superb. We appreciated his mother for the super lunch which she had cooked. Then we met Shiva’s father Mr. Basavanna. He insisted us to start early towards BR hills as he said that the check post gate closes at 6.00pm, and after dark there will be plenty of elephants on road. So we started from there and were near check post at 5.15pm.

But on that day there was Police checking of vehicles. 2 of our vehicles Emission were lapsed. So we paid fine, took receipt & headed towards the hills. Our first priority was to find the room as there are very less lodges. It took around an hour and finally we got a room, we paid the rent & took the room. There is only one hotel which closes at 8:30pm. We had dinner in that hotel. As we paid the fine to police, we had very less amount in our pockets & there is no ATM’s in BR Hills.  After Dinner we went for a long walk. Came back to room & did chit chat & went to sleep around 11:00pm. Morning we woke up around 7:00am, got ready and went to temple.

We visited the temple, took snaps & went for Breakfast. We had dosa’s & headed towards K Gudi. The drive was awesome.Wherever you see there was green. Near KGudi we saw an elephant with mahooth. We stopped our bikes and took snaps. The elephant name was Balaram.

We stopped our vehicles in KGudi to enjoy the Nature. In KGudi we saw a spotted deer which was roaming near the vehicles.

We took snaps & headed towards Chamaraja Nagar. In Chamaraja Nagar we took money from ATM, had coffee & snacks & from there again we went to Mullur. On the way we saw an accident. Shivu was driving first, behind him I was driving. In front of Shiva’s vehicle a splendor bike was going. KSRTC bus smashed Hero Honda bike. Luckily both rider & pillion got escaped from bus front tyre. But the bike got fully smashed. We had a first aid kit. I & Shiva knew First aid (Thanks to Kennametal for providing First Aid training). We did first aid to them; one of the guy’s fingers had broken. We asked them regarding Insurance. They said insurance was not there. At the same time police came there. They said thanks for helping them & took them to Hospital. We went to Mullur. Again Aunty showed her extraordinary skills of cooking. We had Kheer, Kesaribath, Rice, Sambar.  We took rest in Shiva’s home for an hour & started back to Bangalore. Near Bangalore we went to a Dhaba and had our Dinner, Near Nice road we dispersed & headed back to our home.

 

TIPS FOR BIKERS:

Carry First Aid kit whenever planning for long distances.

Wear helmet, and carry rain gear.

Inform your friends or family members regarding the trip.

Carry route map so that road confusions can be avoided.

Check expiry of insurance & Emission certificate.

Carry vehicle documents & driving licenses.

PERMISSIONS:

There are 3 check post gates in BRT sanctuary. Entry is from 6.00am to 6.00pm. In 2 gates vehicles no. will get registered.

Do not get down in the forest, getting down & venturing in the forest is a punishable offence.

Hope I will catch you soon with my next blog.

……………………………….. Bye for Now.

TREK TO ETTHINABUJA-OMBATTU GUDDA-GUNDYA

This is one of the ultimate treks that I have in my account. Amazing & Unforgettable.

I would like to thank the trekkers who conquered this and keeping this one of the Mysterious route in Western Ghats.

MISSION:
Our plan was to conquer Etthina Buja, from their quest towards Ombattu Gudda & conclude trek at Addahole Bridge near Gundya check post.

ATTRACTIONS IN VICINITY:

ETTHINA BUJA means Shoulder of an OX. This hill is shaped similar to back of an OX. This comes under Charmadi Ghats’s section and is nearby to Mudigere.

OMBATTU GUDDA means NINE Humped Hill. The peak is 971m above sea level & one of least explored which connect Charmadi range with Shiradi range.

KABBINALE RESERVE FOREST is named after river Kabbinale. The forest is extremely virgin & dense and hosts to a range of wildlife.

The surrounding areas around these areas have innumerable unexplored small & large peaks waving their hands to humans to explore the nature.

TREK DATE:

7^th Jan 2012 to 8^th Jan 2012. But after getting lost in the Jungle our plan got extended to 9^th Jan 2012.

TREK LENGTH:

2+ km to Etthina Buja from Byrapura Temple;

12+ km from Etthina Buja to Ombattu Gudda;

18+ km from Ombattu Gudda to Addahole Bridge. Total stretch of around 32+kms.

ROUTE:

Bangalore >>> Hassan >>>Mudigere >>>Byrapura >>>Etthina Buja >>>Ombattu Gudda >>>Addahole >>>Gundya Check Post >>>Dharmasthala >>>Bangalore.

THE TEAM:

Our team of fantastic 5 who were involved in this amazing trek is;

 Naveen, Shiva, Vishwa, Viju & Sandeep (me).

PLANNING:

Ombattu Gudda was in our plan from a long time. We planned to do this trek on Christmas but got postponed to 7^th Jan 2012. Hence tickets were booked for 6^th Jan sleeper bus from Sugama Tourist for an overnight journey to Mudigere.

PREPARATION:

Food items like Chapathis, Avalakki, 2 types of Curry,Good Life Milk, Popcorn, Tomato Soup, Bread & Jam, Plum cake & cup cakes with plenty of Perk Chocolates were purchased.

5 members military tent got arranged. Medicine kit, Kerosene & Match Box for litting up fire, 2 small machetes, crackers & 5 torches were packed in the backpack.  Vishwa had GPS & Compass in his mobile. We took GPS co-ordinates of EB (12°58'49"N   75°33'56"E), OG (12°56'21"N 75°35'5"E) & Gundya Check Post (12°49'40"N 75°34'16"E) & downloaded Maps & Blogs for reference.

JOURNEY:

Trekking bags were packed a day before. After exhausting Friday’s work, we took our baggage and started to catch the 10.30 bus to Mudigere. Vishwa was the first to board the bus at Vijaynagar and rest of us boarded the bus at Jalahalli Cross. We informed the bus conductor to wake us near Mudigere and we slept nicely. Around 4.30am the conductor of the bus woke us in Mudigere. We got down there and there was a coffee shop which was open at that time. We had coffee & purchased water over there. Another team was also there for the same trekking intention. We took Auto for hire till Byrapura Temple which was around 45 minutes of journey from Mudigere. 

Trek to ETTHINA BUJA (EB): We were around 6.30 am at Byrapura temple. There was a tap which was running with water. We finished all our daily morning activities, got freshened up. We took some snaps and before starting the trek we prayed to GOD for safer and happier trek & started our trek at 7.00am towards destination EB. There was a path which was heading towards EB and we followed the path with fellow trekkers whom we met in Mudigere (10 of them from General Motors). After 15 min. of walk there was an intersection. One was heading right and the other one straight towards Khoday’s estate. We took right direction and continued our trek. The trek was for about an hour and we reached near Peak. The peak exactly looks like back & hump on the Ox. We were the first to climb the peak. At top of the peak there was a Karnataka Flag. The landscape from the peak looked awesome. Towards left we saw Byrapura temple and towards right thick lush green jungle where our next destination was lying. From EB Peak consider SNB Temple as reference towards left hand. Exactly 90 degrees towards right lies Ombattu Gudda.  We took snaps on the peak, got down from peak and had our morning breakfast i.e., chapattis with curry.

ETTHINA BUJA (EB) TO OMBATTU GUDDA (OG):

We headed towards our next destination OG. We ventured into bamboo forest which was thick and impenetrable. We made our way in the forest until the canopy got opened up. We found a trail and followed it. After an hour walk when we checked with compass & GPS we headed in the wrong route. Later the maps & blogs downloaded came to our help.

We followed the trail in reverse direction which led to a Jeep track which was heading towards OG and luckily we found some men who were cutting trees, we asked them for direction and they informed us the way towards OG. We also came to know that there was a fest in Byrapura Temple the next day. We further followed the track for about an hour and we crossed a small stream. The sun was burning and we got exhausted quickly. The time was 1.30 pm; we took a long break for Lunch & to avoid the midday Sun.   We had chapatti & Avalakki and slept for about half an hour. We started again at 2.30pm. Water bottle got filled up with stream water and preceded towards OG.  This was a long walk of about 3hrs on the Jeep track and final we saw a way showing towards OG. We followed that path and finally we saw the glimpse of Ombattu Gudda.

By viewing itself we knew why it is called OG. The Nine humps were clearly visible. It almost took half an hour took reach the Ninth and biggest peak of OG for day’s halt. View of OG was awesome. Tent was put-up as we had just half an hour of day light. On the way itself we collected dry tree barks for camp fire. Camp fire was lit up. As our trek was planned very near to full moon day, the night view was breath taking. We cooked Avalakki Bath, Popcorn & Tomato soup & had our Dinner.  We planned our next day’s trek and spent time till 11.00pm and went for a good night sleep.

Morning we woke up around 6.30am to view the sun rise. We boiled the milk and had it with bread slices as Breakfast.  We folded our tent and packed our baggage’s and started our trek towards Gundya.

OG TO GUNDYA:

It is one of the difficult paths I have undergone. We took a new path form here. From OG’s biggest peak we took right instead of left path as in attached map.

The Fellow trekkers (GM) backed away from here and they went back to the Jeep track.

We got down the peak and ventured into jungle valley and after crossing the jungle valley we came to open grassland & top of the other hill range. After few minutes of trek we saw a small stream. We went to check the stream. Luckily it was flowing. We filled our water bottels & took some rest. We walked about an hour & half and we were very close to Kabbinale forest. 

During this trail we saw plenty of Elephant dung. Here we took a break & had Plum & Cupcakes. We took rest for half an hour and continued our trail in the forest. Here the forest was thick & impenetrable. We took machetes & started cutting the plants to make the way.We did this for an hour up till we reached a dry stream. From Here we followed the stream. This led the way to adjoining bigger stream. Further follow of stream led us to a river. From here we hit a trail path. We followed this trail until we have to cross at one point. We crossed the river and followed the trail path for about half an hour. Again we had a 2 crossing point of river. We took some rest and started quickly as the clock was ticking 5.00pm.

We started to walk fast as the daylight was less and we had an imaginary idea that this trail is still for about an hour and half. After 2 km walk in the trail we hit a JUNCTION TRAILS, one heading straight & other towards right. We took the straight path and headed in the WRONG way until we were at crossing point of river. We started worrying as I informed others that we are heading in wrong direction, as I have studied in one of the blogs that we need to cross 2 rivers & if u get the 3^rd one that means it is the wrong way. But others did not agree. So we followed the trail & crossed another stream & walked till 7.00pm.  Luckily our trek was near to the full moon day. So we had moon light. We called of the trek for the day and collected fire woods for whole night & started fire.

We put the tent and had avalakki. We knew that this forest is with animals. So we planned to keep checking the fire every 2 hours once.We put fire in 3 spots around the tent as equilateral triangle. At night we heard sound like something was walking, but it was the sound of shedding of leaves from the trees. At around 2am we were clearly able to hear the sound of the heavy vehicles and were relaxed hat we are near to the road. Morning around 6am we woke up, packed tent and other items and started heading back towards the Junction from where we took the wrong path. We crossed the river & we got fresh up & started trail till the JUNCTION and took the other way. Here we saw plenty of fresh Elephant dung. Within 20minutes of walk we were able to see a house, which means we were next to civilization. 

Near the house 4 to 5 ladies were sitting & they were steering at us. Further 10minutes of walk we were near NH48 Addahole Bridge. Adjacent to this bridge there was a small hotel. We had Breakfast (20 plates of food…hehehe). We Concluded the Trek here & did phone calls to Home, Colleagues & friends that we are safe & completed trek successfully. From Here we cached Bus & headed to Dharmastala for Sri Manjunatha swami darshana.

FACTS:

The forests in and around these hills is extremely dense and virgin and host to a wide range of wild life like Leopards, Sloth Bears, Elephants, Barking Deer’s and even Tigers . Trekker’s gets lost in this jungle is pretty common & some had lost their lives too in this wilderness. This route is least explored & there is no exact trek path & details about this route is not available even in Survey of India Maps. Hence taking a Guide along is advised as getting lost is very easy. Please note that this route is only for Professional experienced trekkers.

TIPS FOR TREKKERS:

Please carry Minimum 2 to 3 liters of water as the water availability in the whole trek is very minimal.

Carry Machete for making the path & Crackers to ward off animals.

Carry Turmeric powder, Tobacco, Salt, Dettol any of these as this trek is infested with Leeches.

If the trek is from OG to Addahole Bridge, Gundya please note that 2 rivers have to be crossed. The flow of the river will be on same direction. Further in trail there is a junction. Here take right trail.If another river crossing ahead means the path took is wrong. The river will be flowing in opposite direction. Go back to 2^nd river crossing & take the other route in the Junction.

PERMISSIONS:

It is advised to seek permission from Forest Department as Kabbinale comes under Reserve Forest.
Inform your Family and Friends about trek and if possible collect the local guy’s contact number just in case of emergency.

It is also advised to take a Guide along. Contact Gopu Gokhale (Home 08251-269426) (Mobile- 9483211246) for Guide & trek arrangements. 

Hope I will catch you soon with my next blog.

…………………..Adios.