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 !

Shishila to Ombattu gudda

You must have read number of posts on Ombattu gudda (OG) trek from Gundya side, Shishila to Ettina Bhuja (EB) and then to OG but, you will not get a single post on web for a trek from Shishila to Ombattu gudda directly because I'm writing the first post here :). If it interests you read further else close this page.

As avid trekkers we always wanted to climb new peaks and last year while returning to Mudigere after completing OG (from Gundya side) trek (Aug 2012), we had seen the beautiful EB from Byrapura side. We had then decided that we will come back after few months to climb EB. Well, this was the preamble for this trek.

Planning

In Dec 2012, I sent an email seeking participation to EB & OG trek. Everyone was in holiday mood & no one responded. Again in Jan 2013, Laxmi re-initiated this trekking plan but the response was poor.We then decided to go with any number of participants and sent a final call to the group. Surprisingly, there were eight people who opted for the trek. I took charge of logistics this time & booked tickets from Bangalore to Dharmasthala (onward) & Chickmagalur to Bangalore (return). After reading few blogs on EB to OG trek from Shishila, we decided to do the same since going to EB from Byrapura will be less adventurous. In Feb, none of us expected rains in this part so we decided not to carry tents and go with minimum luggage. I had booked Non-AC Sleeper to Dharmasthala which leaves Bangalore at 9:30pm and reaches destination at 3:45am. Take a room there, get refreshed, have breakfast, take a drop to Shishila & start trek northwards to reach EB peak. Stay somewhere near the peak or Bhyraveshwara temple on Day 1, and start trek towards OG on Day 2. From OG, we know how to reach Hosakere & catch the last bus at 5:30pm to Mudigere. This was the plan but did we stick to it ? Read on,

Journey Start (15 Feb, Friday)

Everything was fine until the previous day, when Prabin asked me to cancel his tickets as he has got an emergency. Two of his friends followed him stating no reasons. We were only five now; Ravi, Roopa, Laxminarayan alias Laxmi, Shreyas & me. Shreyas was in dilemma initially but joined finally. I reached Majestic at around 9:15pm and could locate the Bus easily. I must appreciate KSRTC for sending me an SMS with Bus registration number, platform and the crew member's mobile number. I never expected it from a government service. Indeed, Technology has made an impact on our lives. Laxmi, Roopa & Shreyas were already there & Ravi joined in time. The bus started on time & I was all set to fade into sleep while others engaged in a chat. The journey was very good until Hasan or Sakaleshpur (my guess) and once we entered Shiradi ghat life was miserable. To add to my woes, there was a child in the back seat who was crying continuously & disturbed my sleep.  

Day One (16 Feb, Saturday)

We reached Dharmasthala by 3:45am and after enquiry got to know that rooms are available in "Saketh" complex which is two furlong down from the main temple. I was surprised to see huge accommodation complexes bigger than the main temple itself, all managed by the temple trust. They charge a nominal rent of Rs 100 but have maintained it very well. I now know the reason why Dr. Veerendra Heggade is very much appreciated. We got into room quickly and stretched our body on the floor trying to get some more sleep. At 6:00am, after bath we went to see "Lord Manjunatha" before the breakfast. I had been there long back and lot of things have changed now. Instead of entering from the main door, you now have to go through multiple rows separated by iron mesh something similar to Tirupathi. It was hard to guess the rush from outside but it is lot better than the Tirupathi crowd any day. We joined the queue and could see only 15 people in-front of me and thought that "darshan" would get over in less than 10 minutes. I saw a person selling morning news paper to the people in queue. Aha!, it is definitely going to take more than 4-5 hours if he is selling paper here and all our plan has to be reworked & I thought of retreating from there. But, the fear of sin I would commit by retreating from Lord's darshan forced me to stay in the queue. It took nearly an hour to pass through the queue and come out. A short drizzle indicated something big in the future though we ignored it. On the way back to "Saketh", we finished breakfast in a hotel which looked very modern from outside with name boards lit in pure white bulbs. It reminds me of the adage: "All that glittering is not gold". We had no option but to eat whatever that was available and after breakfast we vacated the room to start our mission. We hired a local Tata sumo for Rs 750 to drop us at Shishila (Car owner: Chandra, Phone#: +919448153017/8970554857) which is at around 32kms from Dharmasthala. On the way, I purchased a sickle at Kokkada for Rs 250 (a bit high price but I failed to bargain) which was of great help later. Finally, we ended up in Holegundi which is some 8kms away from Shishila and had to pay Rs 50 more to Chandra. 

Back in the room that day, we had looked at Forest survey map and had found that we need to go 10kms northeast to reach EB and then go 10kms southeast to OG and back some 13kms to reach Hosakere. In a hurry, I exclaimed why should we go that way, instead we can go OG first and then to EB and then exit at Byrapura. That would save us some kms. The idea was good but I had not thought of any trials or the distance from Holegundi to OG. Everyone agreed and Ravi was more happy to try something new :). There was a clear jeep track & foot trails marked on the map but none of us knew, how far that could be. We identified "Herike" as the last village enroute OG and "Nayi halla" a big stream flowing southwards to be exactly mid point between Shishila & OG. That's interesting! If we reach "Nayi halla" in 4 hours it would approximately take another 4-5 hours to reach OG. So by late evening we would hit the OG grass lands & we are safe. But before venturing into it we thought of asking locals about the route and if anyone have gone there recently. Shockingly, nobody knew about that route and those who were aware, knew little about it. One person told no such route exists, and another person told it takes about 3 days to go to OG. That was really discouraging but, Ravi factually believed that there is a jeep track to OG and we must take that route, Roopa had strong faith in Ravi, so she was  supporting Ravi's decision, both Laxmi & Shreyas nodded in support and reluctantly I bowed to the team's decision. I just wanted to reach EB peak & enjoy the evening there but it looked like luck something different in store for us.

From Holegundi, we walked back a kilometer and inquired about "Sathi kallu" with a local lady and she was very generous to show us the right direction from her backyard. We thanked her and crossed the Kapila river to move towards "Sathi kallu". We had one last beautiful sight of EB while crossing river. After walking 1-2 kms we reached a place called "Herike" and inquired about "Nayi halla" in a house. The oldest of the family told something about OG in Tulu and his son translated it in Kannada to say that OG is around 10kms from there and "Nayi halla" is around 6kms from his house. He then guided us through a narrow path towards "Nayi halla". It was around 11:00am and I was not confident that we will reach OG in day light. I suggested that we will go to "Nayi halla" and return from there but Ravi was not in a mood to listen and he said "Let's see". It was a proper trail till "Nayi halla" and we reached at around 2:00pm at a pretty good walking speed of 2km/Hr. We took a very short break for lunch, just 5 min to finish 2 chapathis. Laxmi had stomach upset due to fantastic breakfast in the morning and wanted 5min more rest badly. We quickly checked our co-ordinates with SatGuide GPS receiver and approximated spotted our position on the physical map. We had to follow the stream towards North a little, cross it and take a turn towards East where we will get another stream which we had to follow for 1-2kms and cross it to hit the Jeep track. But it wasn't that simple. From "Nayi halla" there was no prominent trail to North and in the best interest of time we had to take a quick decision. Anyway we had to cross the stream at some point and turn right, so we decided to cross the stream here itself and go North so that there is a chance of hitting the second stream very soon. We took best decision at that moment and as expected we hit the stream, but it looked like the same stream where we had lunch. There was a prominent trail on the other side of the stream here, but there was no route from the lunch place to this point. It was totally confusing. Again, we checked our co-ordinates & position on map, and decided to go East. Unfortunately, there was no trail and we had to make our own way through the forest and it was the toughest part so far. We saw a falls on the left hand side but to go to East, we had to head right. It was a steep ascent and any small mistake would be disastrous. Since I was leading in the front, I went ahead to check out if there is any trail available but that was a futile effort. It was 4:00pm by then and we had no glimpse of grass land. Ravi looked at the map and suggested that we cross the falls & climb on the other side, at least there are chances of hitting a Jeep track. We started to descend slowly, but we ran out of luck.A heavy downpour of rain worsened our problems. We had no choice but to continue in rain. We crossed the falls carefully and started climbing up again. It was also equally steep and any mistake would render us in the falls 15ft below. Heavy rain softened the soil and we could not get hold of small rocks. They come out if you hold them, and fall down if you step on them. Most of the tree branches are dried out and they break even before you hold them making it much more difficult. Only hope was the small plants and roots of big trees and finally we all managed to climb up in 1 hour. It was 5:30pm by then and we had no clue of grass land. Rain had stopped by then and we dragged ourselves in search of Jeep track. I could see light above a small hillock and assumed it to be opening to grass land. It was getting darker and we had to get out of the forest at any cost, but it looked bleaker. We did hit a Jeep track and I & Laxmi suggested that we camp there since the road was wide, but it looked like Ravi still had hope that we will hit grass lands soon. It was around 6:30pm and was pitch-dark inside the forest, and we continued on the Jeep track. Unfortunately, we missed the Jeep track and took a path which looked like a trail but it was actually a dried stream. Unable to continue further, or go back we were stranded inside the forest and halted there. To "rub salt into one's wounds",  it started raining and we had not carried tents except a 6x4' plastic sheet which Laxmi had brought. We quickly tied ropes to four corners of sheet and made a best possible shelter. None of us had thought we will end the day like this. All of us sat under that small plastic sheet praying Gods to stop the rain. It was only 7:00pm and we had to spend next 12 hours in the forest, in complete darkness & heavy rains. Luckily, there were no leeches around and that was a great relief, but the deadliest snakes of Western ghats: Pit vipers, Cobras & King kobras ? What if they come and bite us ? We neither know what is the antidote or have nor carry the person to nearby village. "Ignorance is a bliss", I stopped thinking about all that and tried to get some sleep. Rain has stopped & Ravi fell asleep fast and we started chatting on, What we could have done better, Why we took decision of coming this way & What should be our strategy next ? etc. Night was running very very slow and I used to ask time every one hour. We were complete wet and could not change dress. I was getting shiver from within the body which was lasting few seconds. We all were trying to get some sleep, but at 1:00am it started raining again & kept us awake. I started chanting all the stotras that I could remember, but rain didn't stop. There was another round of heavy downpour at 4:00am in the morning for almost 30 minutes. Never in my life I have stayed awake beyond 3:00am, and it was the first time. It was then 6:00am but Sun was in no mood to rise.

Day 2 (17 Feb, Sunday)

It dawned at around 6:45am and we could see around. It was critical that we take correct decision, either to go back or continue further. Going back was very difficult because of slippery but we are certain to reach civilization. We decided to explore that area for another two hours and if we don't get a proper trail we will retreat. We then split into two groups to explore. Laxmi & Shreyas went up to see if they can penetrate the jungle, I & Ravi came down to see if we can trace the Jeep track seen last night. Ravi did a good job in finding the track by penetrating through a thick bush and that made all the difference. We saw a grand Jeep track and followed it. After 1hr of walking, the track forked and we had to judge the right path. Ravi suggested to continue on the right track & I on the left track. Ravi went ahead on the right track to see if there is any trial & I went on the left track. A huge tree had fallen blocking the left road, so we continued on the right track but it was leading to forest again. Something is wrong! Let's go back and check the left road. If there is no other way, we decided to go back. Ravi did yet another good job. He climbed up a small hillock & voila!, he screamed & called us up. Yeah, we were right in the Laxmi estate and out of forest. We had done it within two hours and thats great! 

We were welcomed by the estate workers and we were familiar to them already. We did breakfast with whatever was left (Chapathi, pickels, fruits) and ate the Bananas offered by the workers. It was 10:00am and we resumed our trek towards Hosakere. We had to walk another 10kms to reach Hosakere, it was very cloudy day and that helped in a way. We reached Hosakere by 1:30pm, got the bus to Mudigere and then to Chickmagalur. Our return bus was at 11:50pm and we spent the rest of the time playing Uno.

All of us returned safely to Bangalore on Monday morning. While some went to office, some worked from home, and I took a day off. I've decided that I will complete blog this time, so writing this while scratching my legs :).

Ending note

• I thank the brave-hearts in our team, who accompanied the trek through a less trodden path. We have truly made a history breaking through a virgin path :).  
• I did not carry my camera this time so no photos from my side. Ravi was happily clicking with his new Canon 5d markIV and I was only a silent watcher.  
• Some of the useful contacts during this trek are,

1. Chandra (Tata sumo driver at Dharmasthala): +919448153017/8970554857
2. Madhava (Villager at Herike who guided us to Nayi halla): +919480038314
3. Chennappa gowda (Guide at Shishila): +919480239185
4. Gopu gokhale (Villager at Herike, also called as Bhattara mane): 08251269246