[captrajesh]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I did feel bad for the dog. It was our fault that we fed it and then it followed us. Now how was it going to go back on this treacherous terrain. That was my concern. It stayed back at Manikyadhara and did not follow us to Bababudangiri. Maybe it went back, I don't know.

I've really felt nice to note your concern for the dog which is really out of ordinary. Don't worry about it. Being a local dog, it would've found it's way back.

Originally Posted by airguitar

Un"canine" resemblance to the Mahabharatha, if your're familiar with a specific story in it : a dog follows Yudhishitira through Mt.Meru till the gates of the heaven and he insists that the dog be let in as it's been his companion for long.

But there were three Yudhishtras in this case.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by airguitar

A few friends did Ettina Bhuja Peak in the Charmadi area and another place around Sunkasale ( Ballalarayana Durga ), upwards of Kottigehara earlier this year and they came back gaga about it. I was still going to a driving school then Are those on your list as well ?( or perhaps no surprises as you may have already done it ).

I have trekked Amedikallu, a peak just opposite Ettina Bhuja. Ettina Bhuja is on my calendar in the coming months.

Did they approach Ballalarayanadurga from Bandaje or Sunkasale? That is definitely a must do, on any trekker's itinerary. My friends did this trek, but I had to miss out due to a toe injury.

Originally Posted by captrajesh

I've really felt nice to note your concern for the dog which is really out of ordinary. Don't worry about it. Being a local dog, it would've found it's way back.

But there were three Yudhishtras in this case.

I hope it found it's way back. But still it was nice having it around.

Now don't tell me I've to find 2 more brothers to bring an end to the saga

[pramod]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Addy - Been following this with all interest. Simply putting : I'm speechless. All trekkers I knew before this were a big bunch of folks who did relatively "safe" trails. Proud of folks who follow their dreams like this.

Not to Undermine Addy's Trekking skills at all, whatsoever.
But, Mullayyanagiri - Bababudangiri trek, along with KP, Kodachadri, Tadiyandamol, Green Route tracking, Kudremukh route, Barkhana trek are the most common treks done by ALL karnataka trekkers, including yours truely.

But stuff like BallalarayanaDurga, Bisle, Agumbe trek till Narasimhaparvatha, Ombatthu-Gudda are adventurous for sure.
Places where u need to make ur own path, is something left to "real" trekkers. I have read Addy's accounts of such treks too.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by pramod

Not to Undermine Addy's Trekking skills at all, whatsoever.
But, Mullayyanagiri - Bababudangiri trek, along with KP, Kodachadri, Tadiyandamol, Green Route tracking, Kudremukh route, Barkhana trek are the most common treks done by ALL karnataka trekkers, including yours truely.

But stuff like BallalarayanaDurga, Bisle, Agumbe trek till Narasimhaparvatha, Ombatthu-Gudda are adventurous for sure.
Places where u need to make ur own path, is something left to "real" trekkers. I have read Addy's accounts of such treks too.

. In fact, KP has become more of a picnic trail than a trekking trail. On any given weekend (except), there are bound to be more than 50 people staying on the peak. Imagine the pressure on the wildlife and ecology over there. In fact, when I had went there there were more than 50 people at the peak and some 40 people staying over at Bhattara Mane.

I had also written to the DCFs in Madikeri and Dakshina Kannada with a copy to the CCF (or PCCF, don't remember exactly) about the need to regulate trekking on KP. But, I never got any response. Maybe the Dept isn't tech savvy or they did not bother to reply.

That said, this winter, we've lined up some challenging treks. So, lets see how they pan out.

P.S: Sorry for the delay in finishing this travelogue. I am stuck in neck deep work, so had to prioritize some things. Will finish it soon though.

[pramod]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

In fact, when I had went there there were more than 50 people at the peak and some 40 people staying over at Bhattara Mane.
..

Here is a snap from Bhattara Mane on KP trek to support the claim of 50 trekkers(check the whole lot of footwear) at Bhattara Mane. Actually we had more than 80 people that weekend. People climbing from Coorg side would not turn up at the Bhattara mane.

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Did they approach Ballalarayanadurga from Bandaje or Sunkasale?

Sunkasale is what I remember them telling me. I hardly knew the place then until much later when I passed through Sunkasale on my drive to Kalasa.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Now don't tell me I've to find 2 more brothers to bring an end to the saga

Haha. The original story had a lone Yudhishtira with his dog at the heaven's gates. The other 4 could not make it till the end

Originally Posted by pramod

Here is a snap from Bhattara Mane on KP trek to support the claim of 50 trekkers(check the whole lot of footwear) at Bhattara Mane. Actually we had more than 80 people that weekend. People climbing from Coorg side would not turn up at the Bhattara mane.

Haha, Pramod - that looks a handful of people. I think a majority of the people in trek spots in the last few years have been folks who work at the same firm seeking adventure over the weekend. I'm not particularly against more people visiting such places as long as they leave no trace behind and behave well as long as they are there. It helps in the sense that after seeing these places, people go back with li'l more respect for Nature.

[sushrutha]

@addy , still waiting for you to finish off the TREKKALOG.
OT - as per your advice brought a PANASONIC, It's a perfect choice. So will catch hold of you if anything goes wrong (Just kidding)

OT
@airguitar, why not multiquote the posts and reply to the thread ? coz I did notice in most of your Threads .If mods notice it you may receive an infraction :-)

[airguitar]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

@airguitar, why not multiquote the posts and reply to the thread ? coz I did notice in most of your Threads .If mods notice it you may receive an infraction :-)

Didn't realize I was even doing it :( Timely reminder.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Sunkasale is what I remember them telling me. I hardly knew the place then until much later when I passed through Sunkasale on my drive to Kalasa.

Sunkasale to Ballalarayanadurga is quite easy and you can go in a jeep for most of the way. But, Bandaje route is very good and tough.

Originally Posted by sushrutha

@addy , still waiting for you to finish off the TREKKALOG.
OT - as per your advice brought a PANASONIC, It's a perfect choice. So will catch hold of you if anything goes wrong (Just kidding)

Will do it asap sir.

[addyhemmige]

Trekking in the dark

Trekking in the dark with a small torch can be exciting (boring too, if you are walking on a tar road). When we started off from Manikyadhara, it was already dark and we still had to trek 4 kms to Bababudangiri. Since it would still take sometime (given the condition we were in) to reach there, we decided to make camp at Bababudangiri and then start the trek to Galikere early next morning provided we were in a condition to do so. Slowly we kept on moving in the dark with our torches on the tar road. We had to take numerous breaks in between to rest our sore legs and shoulders. One of my friends had injured his toe while trekking and he was in a lot of pain. But, inspite of that, he did trudge along. My shoulders were petty sore after carrying my heavy backpack all day. So, we had to rest in between.

Another issue was finding firewood to light a fire for our cooking. At this time of the night, where could we find (dry) firewood?? So, we decided to have our dinner at a hotel in BBgiri. If we were lucky, the canteen owner in Manikyadhara would have informed the hotel in BBGiri that there were some customers on the way. If they had not informed, we would have had to look for alternate means.

After walking for about an hour and a half, we reached Bababudangiri and headed straight for the hotel. It turned out that the Manikyadhara canteen guy had informed the hotel that we were on the way. The hotel had kept some food ready for us by the time arrived. There was no menu though; we had to eat whatever was left. So, we had a nice hot dinner and hot hot tea. This much heat was like heaven in such a cold place. After this heavy dinner, we were so lazy to pitch a tent and so asked if we could rent a room for the night. The hotel guy showed us a room which was just that!! A small room. It was actually a shop with a rolling shutter. But this room had beds and blankets. It was so cold that we slept in our sleeping bags on the bed and with the blankets on us. Now it was warm and comfortable.

After a good night’s sleep, we woke up next morning only to find that the time was 8.30 am (IIRC). The cold and misty weather and made us sleep more than what we had planned. We had decided the previous night that we get up at 6 am and start the trek to Galikere-Kemmangundi by 7am. We had overshot our target time by 2.5 hrs. This was a very big mistake since we had a full day’s trek ahead. The jinx had struck us again. We could not trek to Kemmangundi this time also. This trek was planned because we wanted to reach Kemmangundi and again we had to let go of it. The jinx is still going strong. As I am writing this, the trek to Kemmangundi has been postponed 3 times due to many reasons after this trek happened. So, we’re still not sure when it is going to happen.

Sights in and around Bababudangiri









Packing up in our room – Still very misty





The view from the room


The shops next to our room



To top it, even if we wanted to get back to Chikmagalur, there was no bus. Bus services to Bababudangiri had been cancelled because of a huge landslide near Kavikalgandi check post. Just a few days before the trek, the landslide had been cleared partially to allow LMV traffic, but for heavy vehicles, it was still a no go.

Then we decided to hire a jeep to get back to Chikmagalur. There was only a single jeep and he was asking around 1000 bucks to drop us to CKM. Without any other option, we agreed to his rate but bargained a little to include Galikere in the trip. We really wanted to see Galikere because we had missed to camp there on 2 consecutive attempts.

The road to Galikere


We then had breakfast (bread & omlettes) at a shop and then started off in the rickety old jeep. Galikere is around 4 kms by road and there is a tar road for most of the distance. This road is motorable by cars during the summer. It is very narrow and is prone to landslides. Galikere is a small lake atop the mountain. ‘Gali’ means wind and ‘kere’ means lake. So, it is called ‘the windy lake’. True to its name, it gets very very windy at this place. We also passed a couple of small landslides

The lake; huh, where is it??


A small walk near the lake


A lone tree shaped by the wind at Galikere


Around Galikere















Road to Bababudangiri









Small landslide on the way



View from the road





Continued.....

[mallumowgli]

Addy, this an 'edge-of-the-seat' thriller. Great 'logue and great snaps.
One question : What type of shoes do you recommend for better grip? I dont do any trekking, but my occassional wild jaunts takes me to slippery surfaces

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Addy, this an 'edge-of-the-seat' thriller. Great 'logue and great snaps.
One question : What type of shoes do you recommend for better grip? I dont do any trekking, but my occassional wild jaunts takes me to slippery surfaces

Thanks mallumowgli. As far as the shoes are concerned, for trekking I use the Hunter shoes (available in the Army store). These have very good grip on mud, but you have to be careful on rocks. On the other hand, woodland and Quecha (available in decathlon, wildcraft) are supposed to have very good grip and comfort. But, I have not tried them personally

[airguitar]

What are the other trekking options around Kalasa/Horanadu ?

I was in Horanadu a few weeks back, from the temple I could see lights still up above on the hill - what are those villages ?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by airguitar

What are the other trekking options around Kalasa/Horanadu ?

I was in Horanadu a few weeks back, from the temple I could see lights still up above on the hill - what are those villages ?

I'm not aware of any trekking options near Horanadu. I have heard of a route starting from somewhere near Horanadu to Narasimha Parvata and exit near Kigga near Sringeri. But, no details though. Regarding the lights, it could be small villages. On the hill opposite to the temple, there is the house of the Dharmaadhikari of the Horanadu Temple. You could have seen light from here. I have posted a pic and some details earlier in this thread.

[MCR]

Excellent travelogue addy. The pictures are fantastic. I am taking a German colleague to Kudremukha next weekend. We have planned to stay in silent valley resort or at Upasana homestay. Apart from Hanumagundi falls and the Dam, are there any other places worth visiting? We are planning a visit to Sringeri and Horanadu temples? DO these temples allow foreigners?