Monday, October 17, 2016

Ettina Bhuja - Again


Each and every trek that we do, involves lot of offline/online discussions and registrations and cancellations. So, I will not get into those writings :). Four of us decided to trek to Ettina Bhuja from the Shishila side this time. 

On Friday (14th Oct 2016) evening while returning home, I called Veeresh to book onward tickets to Dharmasthala for that night (KSRTC, Non-AC Sleeper bus leaves Majestic at 22:51). After going home, I booked return tickets from Chickmagalur to Bangalore (Airavata, starts at 23:59). I and Prakash went to Majestic to catch the bus, while Veeresh & Roopa joined at Yeshwanthpur. After few minutes of discussion, we informed the bus conductor to drop us at Kokkada cross. 

[INFO] - Kokkada cross comes 15 kms before Dharmasthalaa. You get rickshaws & jeeps here to drop to Holegandi. You can hire a room at Kokkada, get refreshed & have breakfast before going to Holegandi which is the trek base OR you can take drop to Shishila first. There is a "Sri Shaila Veg hotel", next to the Shishileshwara temple which has room facility as well. The river Kapila flows beside the temple, and is very scenic. You can find contact numbers at the end of this blog. Please talk to them before making a surprise visit.


Temple at Shishila 
Bridge to cross river 
Kapila River 
We reached Kokkada cross by around 05:15, and our Jeep driver Mohan was already waiting there. He helped to get a room in the nearby lodge. It costed around 700/- Rs just for an hour. We couldn't bargain much due to increasing abdominal pressure :). After all the rituals, Mohan dropped us to the Sri Shaila hotel at Shishila. We had fantastic Idli-chutney & Buns-sambar here and lunch packed for the afternoon. He then dropped us to the Holegandi. Balakrishna, brother of Chennappa was our guide and he was waiting at the stop. After paying to the Mohan, we started our trek around 8:15am. 




Unique thing about this trek is 90% of the trail is ascending and inside forest. The forest below this tall mountain is so dense that it is not possible to take a short route. Balakrishna was leading from the front, and I was just following him. At the very beginning, the trail forks into two and we took the left one. The other trail, perhaps goes down to the stream. 

First view of EB peak
We got a good glimpse of the peak initially. Without a guide, it is a bit difficult because the trail goes away from the peak and goes through the forest most of the time. We had to cross the river after some 30 minutes (?) of walk. It was only knee deep, and was very refreshing. After an hour or so, we reached a small waterfall. Another group was already taking bath at the falls. This falls is known by the name "Matthi Kolu". The guide cautioned that it takes another 3.5 hours to go to the peak, and we would miss the bus if we get down to the falls. But, we were not ready to miss the falls, and hence got down. Who could resist bathing in such a wonderful falls ? but I did.

Water falls on the way
Veeru & PK, I sacrificed bathing to take your photos :). After the photo session we started ascending journey. Walk through the forest was very cool compared to walk on the ridges at few points. We never expected the trail to go up always. After last year's Kodachadri trek, we did not do any major trek. So we were struggling to pull our body upwards. Roopa, after the marriage had put on more weight and was trailing behind all. As told by the guide, we took neary 3 hours to reach the camping site at the base of Ettina bhuja. One more group was already there, and they were pitching their tents in the hot sun. Balakrishna and other guide (Anand), took all our bottles to the stream and fetched water. 

[INFO]: After the waterfalls, there are no water sources till you reach the camp site. So carry sufficient water and dring judiciously. 

Final stretch to the peak
We finished our packed lunch, and immediately after that started climbing to the peak. I had come to this peak from Byrapura couple of months back and I knew it wont take much time to climb the peak and get down to Byrapura. We had our bus at 17:30 to Mudigere, so we had ample time. We took lot of photos on the way up, and it was very hot and dry up there. We expected some cool breeze to relieve our stress, but that did not happen. I could clearly make out the changes in weather. Three months before, it was clouds all over, and I could barely see the valley beneath. But now, the Sun has dominated the entire region and it was very hot on top of the mountain. Locals told that they are having very less rains from last two years, and usually there will be rains in October also. After photo session is over, we came down to the camp site, packed things and bid adieu to other trekkers and mighty EB. Guide, took another route this time and we reached Byrapura directly without going to the Byraveshwara temple. We had remaining snacks, followed by Tea at a local's house. Bus came at 17:45 and we reached Mudigere by 18:30. We reached Chickmagalur by 19:45 by another bus. Our return bus was at 23:59, and we had lot of time to do nothing. We had dinner at Vishnu delicacy on the I.G Road, and came back to bus stand and waited another 3 hours. We reached Bangalore by morning 04:30 and I reached home by 05:30.

Useful phone numbers:

Hotel & Rooms at Kokkada 
Hotel & Room at Shishila 
  1. Mohan (Jeep driver): 9483241082 
  2. Balakrishna (Guide): 8762058142 
  3. Chennappa (Guide): 9480239185 




Best time to visit:

It is good to trek post monsoon during October or November as you will see green all around and leeches will be less. Summer might be okay since most of the trek is inside forest and leeches will be very less. Monsoon season is better to avoid but there are guys who dare to go in heavy rains :), so your wish.

Forest permission & wildlife:

For any trek inside reserved forest, its a must to take forest department permission. But the local guides charge you and take without legal permission. As long as nothing bad happens, no one cares. If some unfortunate incidents happen then be ready to face the consequences. You may take permission from the Belthangady wildlife division. 

There will be Elephant movement across the forest, and consider yourself lucky if you spot the beast first or unlucky if he catches you. Keep your calm while walking through the forest and listen to alarms of the nature. Other than Elephants, I did not hear about any other mammal from the guide. One of the trekker claimed that he saw two Black Eagles hovering above, but I did not spot any. Guide told me that he spotted a big python last week, but I don't know the veracity. We had spotted lot of Malabar pit vipers during our Ombattu gudda trek, but this time did not spot even one. There were many different varieties of butterflies, but I could recognize none of them.

Sincere request:

If you happen to trek anywhere in the forest, please don't leave anything on the trail except your foot prints. We could spot lot of Beer bottles, Chewing gum packets, plastic covers, torn chappal etc. all along the way. 

I wish everyone a very happy & safe trekking. Good night !

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Ettina Bhuja Trek

Ettina Bhuja

This particular trek was on my mind ever since we saw it while returning from Ombattu gudda trek some 4 years back. We did lot of other treks, and Ombattu gudda once again but we could not make it to the Ettina Bhuja or fondly called "EB" peak.

     Nothing much to write about this trek, as it is a very small trek. Six of us: Laxmi, Prabin, Prabhat, Sibhasis, Nilesh and me climbed the "Ettina Bhuja" peak on 23rd July 2016. At first, we thought of leaving Bangalore after midnight, and reach the base camp (Bhyrapura) by early morning. But, I was not sure of any facilities at Bhyrapura so decided to leave by 9 pm and reach Mudigere by mid-night and take rest in a hotel. The Bangalore traffic screwed our plan, and we could leave only by 10:30 pm. It took almost an hour to reach Nelamangala cross at that time also. Our vehicle was a new Nissan Evalia which had place for just 6 people excluding driver. The driver, Deepak was driving very cautiously and we reached Mudigere by 4:30 am. After having tea & bun at a road side shop in-front of Mudigere bus stand, we checked in to Hotel Athithi (Contact: 9731448527/9901941333/08263-221515)(just few steps down from the Bus stand). We needed room for only few hours, till we get a hotel for breakfast. We had a good sleep for 3 hours, and woke up at 7:30. After all morning rituals, had breakfast at the restaurant below, and started journey towards Byrapura. 

   
View of the Ettina Bhuja
 It is another hour drive from Mudigere to Byrapura (for about 25 kms). You have good road till Bhyraveshwara temple. The view while going up towards the temple is good but it was very cloudy so could not get any photo. We were at the temple by 10:30 am. I did not had bath, so didn't enter the temple. The peak is visible from the temple complex, and the temple priest told its only 2 kms and we could do in just 30-40 minutes. It was drizzling, and I was fully prepared for the rain by wearing waterproof pants, coat & gum boots.  I had experienced heavy rain during Ombattu gudda trek, when I was not prepared for rain at all.
I expected medium rain this time. As Murphy's law says - "You can't expect the unexpected, otherwise there is no need for word unexpected". Rain gods were very kind this time and it didn't rain even once :(. The peak was not visible at all due to heavy clouds surrounding it. It was very rejuvenating, cool weather, and I was taking deep breaths to take in more oxygen from Nature's laboratory. The final part of the climb requires a flexible body, and if you make it to the top you will be in heaven. When we reached the top, it was around 11:30 am, and it was white clouds all around. We waited there to get a view of the valley below. After an hour or so, the clouds cleared and the view is simply breathtaking. At 1 pm we started coming down, and it took only 20 minutes to come back to the temple. After changing clothes, we finished lunch and started driving back to Bangalore. We visited Belur-Halebidu temples on the way back, and reached Bangalore by 10:30 pm.

     From Byrapura side, this trek is very short and ideal for beginners.
  1. You will not get any food/drinks close to the temple, so you have to carry everything you need. Remember to bring back all the plastic covers,packs and non-degradable things.
  2. The public transport is available from Mudigere, but won't go till the temple. So, its better to make your own arrangement. 
  3. There is no water source on the way up. If its sunny day, carry sufficient water bottles.
  4. Remember the direction of peak, and choose the proper trial. Aim to reach the grassland first which then leads to the top of peak. The Jeep trail, might lead to Shishila or Ombattu gudda but I'm not sure now.
      I thank Dr Sampath kumar, for giving me necessary information for this trek. Hope to revisit the place again after this rainy season with you :).


Monday, January 11, 2016

Mullayyanagiri to Kemmannugundi & Hebbe Falls

Background     

Road to Mullayyana giri
      Ravi initiated a trek from Mullayyana giri to Kemmannugundi via Baba Budan giri. There are number of trip reports on this trek and all of them indicated a total of 35+ kms for the entire trek. The interesting part of the trek was the ridge walk from Kavikalgandi to Manikyadhara (BSNL tower) for which Ravi initiated this trek. We discussed to go in small group as we can move faster. As somebody said "A team can be as fast as its slowest member", we didn't want to include anyone dragging. Myself, Ravi, Roopa, Laxmi & Prabin decided to do the trek. 7 more people from Laxmi's team showed interest in the trek, but said they will return from Baba budan giri on day 2. After all these discussions we started booking tickets for 12 people.


Planning (Chaotic !!)

     I booked 12 tickets in Airavatha Club class to Chickmagalur via KSRTC Website. Ravi booked return train tickets from Birur in Jodhpur express (at 21:30). After all the bookings are made, the cancellation requests started coming in as expected. Two people had some emergency, so had to cancel their tickets. There was some confusion in the discussion that we had, and Laxmi booked return tickets for the evening train for all on day 2. So, we had tickets for both evening train (Janshatabdi 2S), and night train (Jodhpur express 3AC). Something went wrong in the planning. Few were determined come back by evening train, so they got their tickets cancelled for night train. We were not sure whether we get permission to trek from Baba budan giri to Kemmannugundi, so we kept both the reservations open. 
     For any trek in the forest, it is a must to take forest permission. I called up Chickmagalur forest office for the information and permission, but the lady on the phone bluntly said, that we have to visit the forest office in person to pay the fee and take permission. There were lot of uncertainties -
  • trek permission will be given or not
  • Camping at Galikere is allowed or not if we take our tents
  • Someone told there is a IB or community hall in BB Giri. So whether to take tents or just go with sleeping bag & mat ?
  • trekking from BB Giri to Kemmannugundi is doable or not as some blog suggested that trail isn't very clear.
     Despite all this, we decided to go without tents and take permission at Chickmagalur.


Day 1 - 9th Jan 2016 (Saturday)

     We reached Chickmagalur by 04:00am. I had booked tickets in multi-axle club class, bus but what we actually came in was a regular Benz bus. After complaining with the conductor, he refunded 50 rupees per head. We had to spend time till 10:00am when the forest office opens, so we checked into lodge Lavasa, next to the bus stand and slept for 2 hours. It is the same hotel we stayed 3-4 years back while returning from Ombattu gudda trek. I still remember the fight Kirthibushan had with the hotel manager over a signature issue. 
     I had spent 4 years in this beautiful city when doing my engineering during 1995-99. Then, I used to visit a Ganesh temple in MG Road. After taking bath, I visited the temple again after 16 years and to my surprise, found the same priest performing pooja. 
     We had heavy breakfast at hotel Soundarya (just opposite Bus stand), and got Pulav packed for lunch. I arranged a Jeep to drop us to the Mullayyana giri (for 1300.00 Rs), before which we visited the forest office. It was second Saturday of the month, and holiday for the forest office. When I enquired the lady over phone, she didn't say that it is a holiday and I was shocked ! I thought of meeting the officer Mr. Manikam, but the Jeep driver told, we can take permission from the check post at Mullayyana giri. The driver then dropped us at Seethalayyana giri, which is some 4 kms before Mullayyana giri. 
View of Chickmagalur
We started trekking from there towards Mullayyan giri and reached the peak by 11:15am. After a brief photo shoot, I enquired the priest there about to trekking trail towards BB giri. He got angry & started shouting at me to return the same way I had come. Apparently few days back, two trekkers from Hyderabad went missing in the forest, and the department people had to struggle for a week finding them. So, the DFO passed an order not to allow anyone without permission. Since the grassland is completely dried, there are high chances of wildfire catching up during this season. So, from their point of view trekking is strictly barred during this time. We were very disappointed & I started pleading a forest official present there inside Mullayyan giri temple premise.
Nilesh with the backdrop of Mullayyana giri
He asked us to escape from the eyes of priest and trek. We quickly took a trail to the left of temple, and started walking towards BB giri without looking back. The trail was prominent, and our destination i.e, BSNL tower was in clear view. Except few forest patches, all other hills have turned yellow already. It is good to come here just after monsoon is over if you want to see them green. Just after 3 kilometers, we got view of main road & check post which we have to cross to access the ridge that goes towards Manikyadhara. 

View of BSNL tower & ridge
It was around 2'O clock and the forester Mr. Narayanappa stopped us from going ahead, and didn't listen to any of our pleading. He said, he can put a case against us for coming from Mullayyana giri. With no other option left, we started thinking what we can do next. All our effort in planning is useless. After finishing our packed pulav, we hired a Jeep to take us to "Buttermilk falls" also known as "Jhari falls" & "Dhabdabhe falls" and then to Kemmannugundi. We planned to do "Hebbe falls" trek next day which is at 8 kms from Raj bhavan.
     
Butter milk falls or Jhari falls or Dhabdabe falls
The "Buttermilk falls", is an amazing but lesser known falls. It is inside a 150 acre coffee plantation owned by ex transport minister Mr. Sagir Ahmad, I was told by the Jeep driver. During this season, the water will be less, and you can go till the base of the falls, and take bath. No private vehicles are allowed entry, but you can hire local Jeep services from the main road for a cost of 600.00 Rs. Price depends on your negotiating skills to travel just 3 kilometers on mud road. Even elderly people can visit the falls. We were hard pressed against time, so reluctantly left the falls and started "Jeep trek" towards Kemmannugundi. 
     All ten of us, with heavy backpacks packed in a single Mahindra Jeep ! There can be no better punishment for improper planning :(.  Kemmannugundi is around 22 Kms from here, where the initial 10 kilometers has good tar road we didn't feel the pain. The last 12 kilometers was a terrible ride !  Ah ! the vehicle was in such a pathetic condition, that the driver used separate diesel can placed below the front passenger seat serving as fuel tank. One of his friend also accompanied him. So we were total 12 people plus lot of luggage in one Jeep on a junk road !. God bless "Mahindra" :)
     We reached Kemmannugundi by 7:15pm, and we enquired for a space to sleep. All we needed was a flat area where we can comfortably sleep in our bags. But the manager at Horticulture office refused such space but offered a large suite at the cost of 4480.00 Rs. It was dark, and we were clueless of any other facilities there, we checked in to that large room. It was comfortable suite, with two big rooms inside, which can accommodate 5 people each, and a large veranda outside with dining table & sofa sets. We never wanted such luxuries, but had to accept since there is no other way.
     After finishing the chapathis, bread/jam etc that we had carried, me, Ravi & Nilesh went up to Raj bhavan to shoot star trials. It was a new moon day and a perfect time and place to shoot star trials. It was my first attempt at this, and I had not carried any tripod. Ravi however, mounted his 24-70mm lens on his 5dm3 on a stable Gitzo 6x CF tripod and started taking trial shots. I was mere spectator suggesting Ravi what best we can do. All the stars were quite high on the sky, and we couldn't include any earth element in the composition. Ravi tilted lens upwards to the sky and started automatic photo capturing for next 45 minutes. It was already 10:30 pm and due to cold breeze, I sensed headache, so I came back to room and slept. Ravi & Nilesh stayed there and don't know when they returned.


Day 2 - 10 Jan 2016 (Sunday)

   
Hebbe falls
 I woke up at 6:15 am, and Ravi was getting ready. As per our plan, we had to checkout the room, keep the luggage in reception and start trekking to Hebbe falls by 7'O clock. Prabin said he is not feeling well and he opted out of trekking. We finished breakfast with whatever we had brought from home, and after taking permission (200/- Rs per head) started the trek by 8:30 am. We had to come back max by 4:00 pm to catch our evening train from Birur. We had requested Prabin to follow up with Arun (person at Raj bhavan) for the Jeep drop. 
     Hebbe is one of the magnificent falls in Karnataka. Because of its location inside Wildlife sanctuary, and lack of tourists it retains its pristine glory. I could still trace few paper plates, cups and broken beer glasses. I don't know, when people learn to respect nature and behave properly. 
     As per our original plan, we were supposed to reach Hebbe by morning 10:30 am, and start back by 11:30 am. Because of our start delay, we reached there by 11:30 am. At any cost, we had to start back by 12:00 otherwise, we can't catch our train. The initial part of the trail goes through a forest patch, and then through a grass land with grass blades grown to the height of 6-7 feet, before opening up to the Jeep track. We walked another kilometer or so on the jeep track, and arrived at a view point. We could clearly see the hair-pin curves and if we had to continue on this track, we need to walk another 3+ kms. So, we decided to descend directly which is hardly half a kilometer. It was quite a fun to descend but I was worried about return path, when we had to climb up in the scorching sun. After getting down from the hill, it is another 3 kilometers walk through the coffee estate (on Jeep track) and we reached last home on that side. After taking a turn at the house, we had to descend a hill almost vertically. The inclination is almost 85 degree. There is a jeep track also, but that is a longer route.  We had to then cross a stream. I carefully stepped on stones and tried to jump the stream without getting wet. I escaped one stream, but there was another one to cross. We met another team of 15 people from Tata institute, Bangalore here. When I hit the second stream, I thought there is no point avoiding water, and walked straight with shoes on. The water worked as a lubricant to cool off my feat. After crossing the stream, we walked for another half a kilometer. Ravi exclaimed ! "Welcome to Hebbe". Aha !! I couldn't believe my own eyes. Its is spectacular and very very beautiful than I ever thought it would be. There are no words to describe nature's beauty. You only have to experience it. If you can walk, and love nature don't miss this spectacular, magnificent falls. I know, I'm not doing justice by using only these two words :). 
     I took, some shots of the falls without ND filter that I carried all the way. My ND filter is a cheap plastic and other than stopping the light, it doesn't do any good to me. I didn't carry either a tripod or ball head this time since that was not in our plan. Somehow, used a rock as the support and with little struggle took some slow shutter shots of the falls. By the time I did all this setup, all other people had come and there was a big gathering. I could not avoid any of them in my composition. Then someone reminded that we have to start back. So, quickly I changed my clothes, and took a cold-shower and 3 times dip in the chilling water. I felt to spend some more time in the water, but there was no time. By this time, Ravi also came and took a dip in water. It was already 10 minutes past 12'O clock, and we were 40 minutes late from the original plan.
     We started walking back keeping an eye on the watch. The uphill walk on the jeep track was little tiring, but boring. The first ascend through the forest took less time than anticipated. Laxmi & Ravi motivated Ritu not to loose courage, and she did climb the hill in just 20 minutes. It was then 1:10 pm and we had finished 1 of 2 biggest ascends. We resumed walking and then took another break at a water point near a house. Kamal & Senthil mixed orange flavored glucose to water, and we drank stomach full of water and preserved Oranges for future climb. After walking for another hour, we reached the base of second climb. It is the same point, where we descended directly to avoid long jeep track. It was around 2:15 pm, and I anticipated it would take another hour or so to climb. But we climbed it in 15 minutes ! After reaching the main road, we took a long break and finished off whatever we had brought to eat. We had to walk another 3-4 kilometers to reach our guest house. Prabin called right in time, and he offered help to load the jeep with all our backpacks (we had left our luggage behind at the horticulture office) and come to cross road.That would save us one kilometer of walking and 30 minutes. 
     We came to the cross road by 3:30 pm, but there was no sign of Prabin or the Jeep. To our bad luck, there was no signal also. We sat on the "Kemmannu" (red soil) road, waiting for Prabin. Even after 30 minutes of waiting, there is no sign of Jeep, and all of us were worried. A local biker dropped me at the check post which is some 500 mtrs from the guest house. A driver then asked, if Arun (a worker at the Horticulture office) has booked a jeep for us. Prabin was waiting at the guest house, and this driver was waiting near check post. I explained him our urgency, and took him to the guest house. It was a Mahindra Marshal vehicle, and 10 people sitting with luggage in it is next to impossible. So, we had to shift the luggage to a open jeep again and started our journey towards Birur. 
     We ran into one local problem here. One private bus leaves from Kemmannugundi daily at 4:00 pm, and they claim that they reach Birur by 5:40 pm. When the Bus is there, they don't allow Jeeps to operate, because it will be a business loss for them. The interest of the passenger is least bothered here. The Bus agent started a quarrel with our Jeep driver, and our helpless driver stopped the jeep, and asked us to go in that Bus. It was already 5:00 pm, and every minute is important to us. So to end this unavoidable conflict, we simply paid 300.00 Rs to the Bus agent to cover his losses and proceeded with the jeep. We were dropped at the railway station exactly 10 minutes before the arrival of Janshathabdi. We reached Majestic by 9:35 pm, and then dispersed. 

Important contacts to know

  • Arun - 94815 83445 (worker at Horticulture office, Kemmannugundi)
  • Yogesh - 94807 79193 (Jeep driver at Kemmannugundi)
  • Harish - 94813 94189 (Jeep driver at Bababudan giri, Trek organizer)
  • Chandru - 99801 34539 / 72045 55251 (Jeep driver at Chickmagalur)
  • Lavasa regency - 87628 11527 / 08262 228877 (Hotel next to Chickmagalur bus stand)
 If you like reading the blog and enjoyed, please share your feelings with comments.

God bless all trekkers, Enjoy nature & keep it clean.