Muliangiri and Sakleshpur
08/02/2009 12:40
Soon the terrain became rocky. Our TL (Trek lead) Vady found a cave. After having a brief snack at the cave we continued our trek. The path became even more steeper as the peak neared. There were a couple of caves enroute The cave exploration drive was just the icing on the cake.
This sudden decision boasted by energy level. We left Chikmagalur the same day to reach Hassan by 8pm. We got ourselves a comfy "decent" lodge to rest for the night. We also had delicious food at the Kadamba hotel. I also heard Moti hotel is good at hassan. The hotel in which we were staying was Hotel salman, which itself had a very good eatery. Hassan is about one and a half hour journey from chikmagalur. Hassan is the adjoining district of Chikmagalur towards the south.
The distance from Sakleshpur to Edakumari is 40 kms. But these tunnels start at the last 16 kms of this stretch. So we decided to give it a skip and directly went to Maranahalli from where the most of the tunnels started. We bought all the eatables that we needed to sustain us for the day. Also more importantly we bought a couple of torches that will help us walk in dark deep tunnels that we were expecting.
We reached Maranahalli, from where our local guide asked the driver to take a left deviation. It was a 4 kms mud road to a river. He dropped us at this place called Yemme Holla. It’s a small stream under a bridge. We could see the track over the stream. We were excited to see the track. We climbed from the river bed to the track and almost immediately we heard a train. Our excitement magnified. It was goods train. It was the first one we encountered. We were overwhelmed with joy as though we were seeing a train for the first time in our lives. The train was generous enough to throw 1 ton dust on us
I used the river water to wet my towel that will help me to keep cool. The guys were getting ready for a long hot day when suddenly we heard the sound of a train. We started taking snaps of the train, track and the bridge. We started our trek towards Yedakumari. The track passing through some excavated rocks. The track has mile stones and count of the number of curves. This helped us to keep a count of the number of kilometers we trekked. The first milestone read 54 kms.
We continued our trek until we reached the first tunnel. Each tunnel has detailed board at both ends giving details about the tunnel no, its total distance and established date. We started our walk into the tunnel. This was the first time in my life I was walking inside a big tunnel. Guys were all excited. At the middle of the tunnel there was a small opening. We went out through this small opening and found water falls to our surprise! Vow what a turn of events. We were walking along a deep dark tunnel and we found a big waterfall!!!
The track was curving all along the Western Ghats, sometimes through large valleys, streams, forests, hills and within hills. We encountered many tunnels and bridges. All along our journey there were 16 tunnels and 35 bridges. Then came the turn of events! We heard another train approaching. But we were not sure from which side it was approaching us. We had just come out of a tunnel and were waiting at a balcony on the bridge. I kept some coins on the track and was patiently waiting for the train come. Not knowing from which side it was approaching. This coin will remind me of the fun we had here.
Some of the tunnels were very huge. The longest being half a kilometer. We had equipped ourselves with a couple of torches which came in handy. The tunnels are long and it is difficult with out torches.
Muliangiri and Sakleshpur
– Its all about train and track
Thus spake Mojojo…….
16/01/2009
One fine Friday, I found myself going to a trek with Sriram and his friends. We were on our way to Chikmaglur in a KSRTC bus leaving Bangalore at 11pm. Chikmagalur means "younger daughter's town". Interestingly there is a Hiremagalur meaning "elder daughter's town". After a brief intro over a hot coffee, we left Bangalore. The trek gang included Vardhan, our trek lead, Abhishek, Nitish Kumar, Shekar, rajeev and of course my friend Sriram.
The KSRTC bus promptly dropped us at Chikmagalur Bus station at 4:45am. Cold breeze simply unbearable! After roaming around lazily, we got freshen up and waited for the bus to Mulliangiri. There was no KSRTC bus to Mulliagiri, but there were private buses. We were told that the bus will leave at 7am. But the bus finally left at 8am and dropped us at Sarpadari gate at 9am. I was expecting a big arch entrance at the mountain base, but it turned out to be a very small gate :)
Coming to some facts about Mulliangiri, it is the highest peak in Karnataka. Its height is 6317 feet. There is no peak as tall as Mulliangiri from the Himalayas to Nilgiris. Mulliangiri stands tall among all the peaks in Bababudan mountain range. It was pretty cold even though the sun was out. We started our trek braving the cold breeze.
– Its all about train and track
Thus spake Mojojo…….
16/01/2009
One fine Friday, I found myself going to a trek with Sriram and his friends. We were on our way to Chikmaglur in a KSRTC bus leaving Bangalore at 11pm. Chikmagalur means "younger daughter's town". Interestingly there is a Hiremagalur meaning "elder daughter's town". After a brief intro over a hot coffee, we left Bangalore. The trek gang included Vardhan, our trek lead, Abhishek, Nitish Kumar, Shekar, rajeev and of course my friend Sriram.
The KSRTC bus promptly dropped us at Chikmagalur Bus station at 4:45am. Cold breeze simply unbearable! After roaming around lazily, we got freshen up and waited for the bus to Mulliangiri. There was no KSRTC bus to Mulliagiri, but there were private buses. We were told that the bus will leave at 7am. But the bus finally left at 8am and dropped us at Sarpadari gate at 9am. I was expecting a big arch entrance at the mountain base, but it turned out to be a very small gate :)Coming to some facts about Mulliangiri, it is the highest peak in Karnataka. Its height is 6317 feet. There is no peak as tall as Mulliangiri from the Himalayas to Nilgiris. Mulliangiri stands tall among all the peaks in Bababudan mountain range. It was pretty cold even though the sun was out. We started our trek braving the cold breeze. The initial part of the trek was through some thick bushes through which our route flowed through. Just a 10 minutes hike got us in to a place where we could see almost the entire valley below us. Now the bushes and trees now were transforming into tall grass. The sky was without any clouds, ideal for trekkers like us. Also we could see the mountain ranges from far and wide with out disruptions from mist or fog or clouds. This is one of the major advantages of trekking during the winter months in the western ghats. Also there is little or no leeches which makes it the USP of trekking in winter months.
Dattatreya Peeta peak stood tall 8 Kms from Mulliangiri. We decided to go to the Peeta from there. We had to trek along a few mountains and valleys along the Baba Budan Mountain range before we reach Dattatreya Peeta. We started our descend from Mulliagiri peak towards the Peeta. We could observe the windward and leeward side of the mountains. The windward side of the mountains had tall brown grass whereas the leeward side has thick green vegetation. This distinction was prominent especially in the valleys.
We were going parallel to the road which was a few hundred feet below our trek route. There was a place enroute where we could rest. It had a Vivekananda portray on top of that hill. No prices for guessing, it was called Vivekananda rock. We continued our trek where we encountered the road finally. The trek route goes past the road into another hill. But we were not sure whether this was the path to the Peeta. But we were sure that the tar road will definitely lead us to the Peeta. The distance will be more by the tar road but will be less by the trek route. Nevertheless we continued on the road eventually reaching Dattatreya Peeta.
After a brief photo session we reached the peak of the mountain. The peak has a small Shiva Temple surrounded by a fort. The view from this point was flabbergasting. You could see lakes, rivers, forests, plantations, mountains, valleys and grasslands all around. Mulliangiri has a Jeepable road to the top as well. For once we were on top of Karnataka. Mulliangiri is not a difficult trek considering its height.
Dattatreya Peeta peak stood tall 8 Kms from Mulliangiri. We decided to go to the Peeta from there. We had to trek along a few mountains and valleys along the Baba Budan Mountain range before we reach Dattatreya Peeta. We started our descend from Mulliagiri peak towards the Peeta. We could observe the windward and leeward side of the mountains. The windward side of the mountains had tall brown grass whereas the leeward side has thick green vegetation. This distinction was prominent especially in the valleys.
We were going parallel to the road which was a few hundred feet below our trek route. There was a place enroute where we could rest. It had a Vivekananda portray on top of that hill. No prices for guessing, it was called Vivekananda rock. We continued our trek where we encountered the road finally. The trek route goes past the road into another hill. But we were not sure whether this was the path to the Peeta. But we were sure that the tar road will definitely lead us to the Peeta. The distance will be more by the tar road but will be less by the trek route. Nevertheless we continued on the road eventually reaching Dattatreya Peeta.
Soon the terrain became rocky. Our TL (Trek lead) Vady found a cave. After having a brief snack at the cave we continued our trek. The path became even more steeper as the peak neared. There were a couple of caves enroute The cave exploration drive was just the icing on the cake.
On our way back we were not sure how to spend the next day. Our initial plan was to go to Hebbe falls which is a few kilometers from Kemmanagundi. Fortunately, our trek lead Vardhan came up with a brilliant plan to go to Sakleshpur the next day. The tiredness that we had after trekking all along was replaced by excitement. To tell the truth, I have been planning to go to Sakleshpur since 4 years but never got an oppurtunity to go there.
Day2: 17/01/2009
This is the first time I am trekking in Hassan district. We left for Sakleshpur from Hassan the next day early (almost). Sakleshpur is 40 kms from Hassan. It took the KSRTC bus an hour to reach Sakleshpur. As soon as we reached Sakleshpur, it was already 9:30am. We had to start the trek as soon as possible.
Day2: 17/01/2009
This is the first time I am trekking in Hassan district. We left for Sakleshpur from Hassan the next day early (almost). Sakleshpur is 40 kms from Hassan. It took the KSRTC bus an hour to reach Sakleshpur. As soon as we reached Sakleshpur, it was already 9:30am. We had to start the trek as soon as possible.
This sudden decision boasted by energy level. We left Chikmagalur the same day to reach Hassan by 8pm. We got ourselves a comfy "decent" lodge to rest for the night. We also had delicious food at the Kadamba hotel. I also heard Moti hotel is good at hassan. The hotel in which we were staying was Hotel salman, which itself had a very good eatery. Hassan is about one and a half hour journey from chikmagalur. Hassan is the adjoining district of Chikmagalur towards the south.
After some consultations with some localities, we got ourselves a cab to a place called Maranahalli. Coming to the facts, the rail road from Bangalore to Mangalore passes through one of the most densely forested western ghats. One such section of this railway track from Sakleshpur to Yedakumari passes through some of most beautiful ghat section. Also there are some 17 tunnels and 35 odd bridges.
The distance from Sakleshpur to Edakumari is 40 kms. But these tunnels start at the last 16 kms of this stretch. So we decided to give it a skip and directly went to Maranahalli from where the most of the tunnels started. We bought all the eatables that we needed to sustain us for the day. Also more importantly we bought a couple of torches that will help us walk in dark deep tunnels that we were expecting.We reached Maranahalli, from where our local guide asked the driver to take a left deviation. It was a 4 kms mud road to a river. He dropped us at this place called Yemme Holla. It’s a small stream under a bridge. We could see the track over the stream. We were excited to see the track. We climbed from the river bed to the track and almost immediately we heard a train. Our excitement magnified. It was goods train. It was the first one we encountered. We were overwhelmed with joy as though we were seeing a train for the first time in our lives. The train was generous enough to throw 1 ton dust on us
I used the river water to wet my towel that will help me to keep cool. The guys were getting ready for a long hot day when suddenly we heard the sound of a train. We started taking snaps of the train, track and the bridge. We started our trek towards Yedakumari. The track passing through some excavated rocks. The track has mile stones and count of the number of curves. This helped us to keep a count of the number of kilometers we trekked. The first milestone read 54 kms.
We continued our trek until we reached the first tunnel. Each tunnel has detailed board at both ends giving details about the tunnel no, its total distance and established date. We started our walk into the tunnel. This was the first time in my life I was walking inside a big tunnel. Guys were all excited. At the middle of the tunnel there was a small opening. We went out through this small opening and found water falls to our surprise! Vow what a turn of events. We were walking along a deep dark tunnel and we found a big waterfall!!!
The track was curving all along the Western Ghats, sometimes through large valleys, streams, forests, hills and within hills. We encountered many tunnels and bridges. All along our journey there were 16 tunnels and 35 bridges. Then came the turn of events! We heard another train approaching. But we were not sure from which side it was approaching us. We had just come out of a tunnel and were waiting at a balcony on the bridge. I kept some coins on the track and was patiently waiting for the train come. Not knowing from which side it was approaching. This coin will remind me of the fun we had here.
Some of the tunnels were very huge. The longest being half a kilometer. We had equipped ourselves with a couple of torches which came in handy. The tunnels are long and it is difficult with out torches.
At the middle of a half kilometer long tunnel, we reached a point where the light at the end of the tunnel had vanished at both the ends. The tunnel was a bit curvy. Our trek lead Vardhan asked us to switch off the torches. I was wondering why. Then came the real surprise. We sat on the track; it was pitch dark and complete silent. It was so silent that we could only hear some water drops from the ceiling of the tunnel and our heart beats nothing else. We sat there in silence and darkness for a good five minutes when the some of the guys ran out of patience and started walking further. But Shekar, Vardhan, Sriram and me continued to stay there for another quarter hour. It was as though we had started meditating. We were living on the edge. We dint have plan B if a train approaches us all of a sudden. But this is the essence of any trek that I have been all my life. I like to live on the edge.
The tunnels said to be bat infested. But we dint find any. May be because of the resumption of train services through this secret route. Then came the scariest part of the entire trek. There was a bridge which dint have a plank at all. We had to balance ourselves with the track alone!!! This was the height of balancing act. I started my act. When I started this, I had made up my mind not to see below. There was deep gorge below. This will scare me to hell. The bridge was relatively small, but I had to concentrate on every step I take. This made the bridge appear long. One slip would have turned the joyful trek upside down. We took our time to cross this bridge.
The tunnels said to be bat infested. But we dint find any. May be because of the resumption of train services through this secret route. Then came the scariest part of the entire trek. There was a bridge which dint have a plank at all. We had to balance ourselves with the track alone!!! This was the height of balancing act. I started my act. When I started this, I had made up my mind not to see below. There was deep gorge below. This will scare me to hell. The bridge was relatively small, but I had to concentrate on every step I take. This made the bridge appear long. One slip would have turned the joyful trek upside down. We took our time to cross this bridge.
One at time, we crossed with our legs trembling. The last one to cross was Vardhan, our trek lead. He did the grave mistake to looking down to the gorge and was scared to keep the next step. He was standing in the middle of a bridge with out a plank and a balcony. Fortunately there was on trains approaching at this point of time. I asked Vardhan for help. He said he will manage it. He took a deep breath and pulled himself out of danger. Boy, this is what experience with danger is.
We reached Yedakumari. It was a small station. We approached the station master. He guided us the way to the main road. It was steep downhill trek from the track to the road. We got lost in the forests. We bumped up with a river. As soon as we saw the river, we couldn’t resist taking a bath. Even though the atmosphere was humid, surprisingly the water was ice cold!! We needed this desperately after a day of toiling. There was a small waterfall which acted as a natural body massage therapist.
After the bath, we were got out of the riverside on to a small trek able road until we reached a mud road which was jeep able. Now came the actual problem. We dint know which side to turn. Left or right! This turned out to be a very important decision making activity. It was already 6:30pm. We had to reach Hassan/Sakleshpur by 10pm so that we could manage a KSRTC bus to Bangalore. With fingers crossed we turned right. We initially decided to walk a few meters and see whether this was the route. There was no one to help us out in this deep jungle. We dint have any logical explanation for turning right. We walked through that route and the route was not ending or converging. We had to walk 3 to 4 kilometers along this route to come out of some explanation.
After quite some time, we saw the same river in which we bathed curving along the road paralleling. We were still not sure whether we took the right decision to take right. Finally, “sound at the end of the road” just like “light at the end of the tunnel”. We heard some truck sound. We had to cross the river on foot to reach the main road. The river was quite deep and there was a man made temporary dam which the river easily overflowed over it. The dam which also looked like a bridge was made of some cement bags. We had to be very careful as it was fast flowing water and was slippery. We took our boots out and took our time to cross the big river. We reached the road after all the struggle. There were no bus stops or any form of transport available. We got an auto tempo. We agreed to pay him to drop us at Sakleshpur. This trip got even groovier as we started eating our food and singing as we sat behind the tempo.
Well, it was the end of another of my enduring and enchanting treks. The best part of this trip was we decided something and it turned out be something else. The risks, misadventures, surprises and expecting the unexpected made this trek simply absorbing and grooving.
We reached Yedakumari. It was a small station. We approached the station master. He guided us the way to the main road. It was steep downhill trek from the track to the road. We got lost in the forests. We bumped up with a river. As soon as we saw the river, we couldn’t resist taking a bath. Even though the atmosphere was humid, surprisingly the water was ice cold!! We needed this desperately after a day of toiling. There was a small waterfall which acted as a natural body massage therapist.
After the bath, we were got out of the riverside on to a small trek able road until we reached a mud road which was jeep able. Now came the actual problem. We dint know which side to turn. Left or right! This turned out to be a very important decision making activity. It was already 6:30pm. We had to reach Hassan/Sakleshpur by 10pm so that we could manage a KSRTC bus to Bangalore. With fingers crossed we turned right. We initially decided to walk a few meters and see whether this was the route. There was no one to help us out in this deep jungle. We dint have any logical explanation for turning right. We walked through that route and the route was not ending or converging. We had to walk 3 to 4 kilometers along this route to come out of some explanation.
After quite some time, we saw the same river in which we bathed curving along the road paralleling. We were still not sure whether we took the right decision to take right. Finally, “sound at the end of the road” just like “light at the end of the tunnel”. We heard some truck sound. We had to cross the river on foot to reach the main road. The river was quite deep and there was a man made temporary dam which the river easily overflowed over it. The dam which also looked like a bridge was made of some cement bags. We had to be very careful as it was fast flowing water and was slippery. We took our boots out and took our time to cross the big river. We reached the road after all the struggle. There were no bus stops or any form of transport available. We got an auto tempo. We agreed to pay him to drop us at Sakleshpur. This trip got even groovier as we started eating our food and singing as we sat behind the tempo.
Well, it was the end of another of my enduring and enchanting treks. The best part of this trip was we decided something and it turned out be something else. The risks, misadventures, surprises and expecting the unexpected made this trek simply absorbing and grooving.