Mallalli Falls and Kumaraparvata Trek - December 12th and 13th, 2015

Kumaraparvata!! The name itself will send out chills on a trekkers spine. One of the toughest and a must do trek in Western Ghats for trek lovers. Sure it was in my list too, but never thought I would do it this soon. It was with Bangalore Hikers this time, that me and my trek partner Raksha decided to conquer this peak. We hadn't really registered for the event, since the registrations were closed by the time we decided to go, so I had called up the organizer Shree Nayak to ask if he can somehow accommodate 2 people, for which he said that it's not quiet possible since 5 people were already in waiting list. We had lost hopes, but then, he called me back again on Thursday noon (the day before leaving) to ask if we can make it, and we said a Yes! That's how we happened to join them and we quickly got ready for the event, and on Friday night, I left my home at 8 PM, heading towards the meeting point- Shantala Silks Majestic.

I reached there an hour early, at 9:30 PM. Divya was already there, and one by one joined to form a group of 22- Shree Nayak and Lohith (organizers), Ahmed, Gouthem, Nikhil, Naveen, Pradip, Parthasarathi, Raghavendra, Ganesh, Mahadev, Abhilash, Siddanth, Swajit, Divya, Priyanka, Barsha, Swati, Koel, Mamta, Raksha and I. The plan was to assemble by 10:30 PM, and most of them were on time. We left Majestic at 11:10 PM.

We initially had an introduction session in the bus, and Shree allotted groups to everyone (Group A, B and C) based on prior trekking experience. This took almost half an hour, and then we started with Food Antyakshari, which was great fun. At around 1 PM, we stopped for tea, and started again at 1:30 PM and one by one started to sleep, ignoring the movie that was playing on the TV. At 1:45 PM, the TV was switched off and the journey continued.

Saturday, 12th December:

We reached Kannika Home Stay at 5:30 AM. We all got freshened up and Tea was served at 6:30 AM. We left to Mallalli Falls at 6:40, and it was a 3 km walk. After walking for about 2 kms, we reached a viewpoint from where we could see the falls. From here, it was no more a plain road, but steps and declined path to reach the base of the falls. We reached the base of the falls at 7:30 AM, and the falls was simply very attractive. We couldn't spend much time here since we had to start our trek soon. We thus left at 8:00 AM, witnessing the first rays of sun while walking back. At 9:00 AM we reached the homestay, and we decided to leave the unnecessary stuffs in the bus, so we all sorted and repacked our bags. At 9:15 AM, hot Pundi (tasted similar to Idly) and Sambar was served for breakfast, and it was yumm.
We were given packed lunch, and we left to Beedehalli (start point of the trek) in our bus at 10:00 AM.

Kannika homestay, and the road next to it that led to the falls

Mallalli Falls as seen form the view point

Close up pic of the falls

First rays of sun

Pundi Sambar for breakfast

We reached the starting point at 10:30 AM. Kumaraparvata was visible from this point, and majestically it stood. From here about 15 minutes of walk lead us to forest department office. We all had to complete the formalities (just a signature), and we started to trek at 11:00 AM, inside a thick forest. This was a 7 km trek till the KP Peak, a continuous inclined path, with 3 huge rock patches (This route to the peak is an alternate to the one that starts from Kukke. From Kukke, it is a 14 km trek, and from Somwarpete, its 7 km). We didn't take much breaks, we just kept climbing, and after covering about 3.5 km we reached the first rock patch at 12:00 PM. The inclination of this rock was about 60 degrees! Climbing these rocks seemed a little tiring, and was difficult to climb in one stretch. The first rock was only too much inclined, but relatively small one; Whereas the second one was too huge. It was 1:00 PM when we made it to the second rock, and only 1.5 km more was left for the peak. We took a break of about 10 minutes here, and had some snacks- Biscuits, chocolates, mixture, peanuts etc. We started again to make the final stretch without taking any break, and as soon as we climbed the third rock (small one), we were able to see the Karnataka flag- we were almost done! We were so glad that we finally made it and it was 1:40 PM.

First view of Kumaraparvata, at the start point Beedehalli

Kumaraparvata as seen from Forest office

Initial route inside think forest

First rock patch, almost vertical :P

Getting near to the peak

Second, huge rock patch

Almost at the peak

We were only about 6 to 7 of us who had reached, and others were yet to come. So we went on to explore the viewpoints and got busy in getting some nice Cover pics for Facebook. We spent about half an hour enjoying the view, and it was a little sunny. It was 2:20 PM and, we were very hungry, and me and Raksha took our food packet to have our lunch enjoying the view. It was some rice bath and didn't taste that great, and we had it with some salted cashews. When we went back near the temple, few others had reached, and only 5 of them were to come yet. By this time, it got completely foggy and it got a little cold. We were tired too, and thought of taking a nap. We pulled out our sleeping mats, and took a good nap for an hour, which was very relaxing.We woke up at 3:45 PM only to realize that the remaining 5 people had still not come.

View of Western Ghats

Shade of clouds 

Foggy view

Completely with fog

Nap time at the peak

We spent time chatting and those 5 people finally arrived at 4:30 PM, and we all welcomed them and took the "group pic at the peak".

Bangalore Hikers group at Kumaraparvata peak

We started to pack up and we had to leave as soon as possible since we still had to cover about 7 km to reach Bhattara mane. We started at 5 PM. Initially we all were together, but then again groups were formed and we got split. It also started to rain, and for about half an hour, it poured only to make us a little wet and then it stopped. It was getting dark, and when we had only crossed Kallu mantapa, we had to switch on our torches. About 2 km was yet to be made, and we were very doubttful of finding a wide space enough to put 11 tents, since there were too many people who had come to conquer KP. We thus walked as fast as we could, and 5 of us reached Bhattara Mane at 7:15 PM, and inquired him about the food arrangements and place to put tents, only to get a careless response from Bhattaru. We were about to go back to Forest office to inquire about the availability of some place, and other 4 people reached, and Lohith got a person from the forest office, who showed us a nice spot for the tents (for which he was paid) This place was very near to Bhattara mane, and we were glad to had got it. We quickly laid about 4 tents only to keep our stuffs inside, and to make sure that no one else will come and occupy the place :P  We now went for dinner to Bhattara mane, and it was Rice and Sambar and butter milk. Bhattara Mane was very crowded and we had to spend almost 15 minutes in the queue to get food. Some of us shared food in others plate, since we had no patience to stand in the queue again. We finished our dinner at 9 PM and went to the camp site. Everyone had reached except the same 5 people.

We quickly laid out other tents also, and it was a total of 9 tents. We were too tired, and meanwhile everyone were eagerly waiting for the other 5 people to come. We were discussing and making guesses how far they might have reached, and whether they had 2 tents even if they decide to stop somewhere in between and all other possibilities. It was 10:00 PM and there were no signs of them arriving. We were very tired and got into our tents and slept. Lohith, Mamta and Pradeep were up and waiting for them, and at about 12:30 PM, Lohith and Pradeep even went till Forest Check Post to check on them, but in vain. They came back and slept.

Tents that we had put, near Bhattara Mane

Sunday, 13th December:

It was 7:15 AM when we opened our eyes. We had had good sleep, (except for the noises and songs by some other group at 1 AM, which lasted for about 45 minutes) We came out of our tents, and it was a pleasant morning. The first question I asked when I saw Lohith was "What time did they all come??" and he said "They haven't come yet!" This was a little surprising, and we were only hoping they were all okay and would come soon. We got freshened up and left to have breakfast at Bhattara Mane with no other option, and it was Chitranna and Upma (made of daliya) and it didn't taste that good. None of us had it properly; we just had it for the sake of having something. We came back to the camping site, and sat in the shades of our tents, since it started to get sunny. We again started discussing when they might arrive and what to plan next accordingly. It was 9:45 AM and finally those 5 guys arrived! We were so happy to see them and we started to pack up now. We pulled down all the tents, packed up and got ready, while those 5 guys finished their breakfast and came. It was 10:45 AM when we started to make the final 6.5 km to reach Kukke.

Descending towards Kukke

Path amidst jungle

The thick jungle path

Finally at Kukke! (Kukke start point of trek)

It was 12:30 PM when we finally saw the town and we were all exhausted. We had sweat too much and were waiting to get fresh. We walked for about 300 mt to find a tender coconut stall and few people who had reached there before us were all here, and one by one joined us. There was a home right next there and the Lady even offered us tea and some sweet bananas. It was 2 PM when everyone finally reached, and we decided to leave for the river to take bath. We reached the bus stand, where our bus was parked, and we left for the river. It was 2:45 PM when we reached the river and it felt too good to get into the water after a tiring trek. It was very refreshing, we did got rid of all the tiredness.We felt very fresh, even though we didn't use any soap :P

In the river

At 4 PM, we came out of the river, and changed into fresh clothes and left to Kukke town again. We were suppose to have lunch, and went to Neo Mysore cafe restaurant and we all ate like Bakasur :P At 5:15 PM, we split to two groups, one that went to temple, and the other that didn't. We went to temple and got darshan at 6:00 AM. We also visited Adi Subramanya temple, and we were thirsty and went to have soda and cane juice. We then joined the other group near the bus stand at 6:45 PM. Here our organizers had a deep discussion :P and then we had feedback session. It went for almost an hour, and everyone gave their opinion about the experience they had had in the last two days. Everyone had enjoyed both the trek and the company of new people.

At 8 PM, we departed from Kukke, deciding we will stop in some Dhaba for dinner. (No one was hungry- late lunch effect) Everyone were tired, and most of them slept, while Ahmed played some nice songs. At 11 PM, we stopped at a hotel near Hassan. Had sumptuous meal and by 12 AM we started again. We decided to stop somewhere in between for an hour, since we were a little early to reach Bangalore. We stopped at 2:40 near Kunigal and started again at 3:40 AM. We reached Malleshwaram at 4:45, and Lohith got down here. We reached Majestic at 5 AM, and few people got down here including me, and we bid goodbye to the rest of them.

So, another item on my bucket list just got striked out, Kumaraparvata!! I sure wanna do this trek again, and again, and again till I get bored of it! :P It sure had something awesome in it, and it stands out to be different. Though I had to suffer with severe leg ache for 2 days, the trek was just amazing!!

Adding 2 more awesome Days with yet another new bunch of people and cool organizers, Lohith and Shree! Cheers to Bangalore Hikers.. Waiting to go for more and more treks and trips.. :)




 

Amedikallu Trek - November 21st and 22nd, 2015

I was long planning for one of the Western Ghats treks- It's monsoon and it is the best time to visit this range. I was yet to explore this part of Karnataka and all those awesome pics allured me. And thus I decided to go to one of them, and at the same time, I found this trek to Amedikallu organized by Bangalore AdvenTurers (BAT). I just made a call to my close buddy Raksha, who said a Yes to accompany me. So we registered for the event.

We were asked to gather in front of Shantala Silks in Majestic at 8:45 PM on Friday- 20th November. It started raining that evening, but still we made it at the right time. There were already 2 guys with backpack, so we knew they were in our group, and we introduced ourselves. One by one thus joined, and finally the group was all set to leave in a 21 seater Mini Bus at 10:15 PM. In the bus, we had an intro session, and our's was a group of 17- Niranjan (Organizer), Rashmi, Gautham, Narendran, Devendran, Rajesh, Bhavya, Sagar, Santosh, Sumesh, Manikantha, Vishwanath, Karthikeyini, Akshar, Subith, Raksha and I. We were also given general instructions by our organizer, and then we all slept, while the bus moved towards our destination.

We reached Shishila village pretty early, around 5:15 PM (Though we left Bengaluru late; Thanks to the driver :-P) and we had to wait until the clock ticked 6 AM, since we didn't want to disturb our host Mr. Gopu Gokhale. We were to freshen up at his guest house and he had arranged for the day's breakfast and lunch, and next days lunch. We all freshened up, one by one, and went for breakfast at 8:20 AM. Idly Chatni and Sambar it was, and it tasted great! We were given packed lunch, and we left in our bus with the guide to the starting point of our trek, which is about 6 km from Gopu Gokhale's house.

Gopu Gokhale's guest house

Group pic before the start of trek

Getting ready to trek

It was 9:40 AM when we started our trek. The group moved together, and the initial 2 hour path was inside a forest. At the end of this 2 km, we got the first glimpse of Amedikallu, an here we took our first break of about 20 minutes. We energized ourselves with chocolates, biscuits, fruits etc., and we also had Indian gooseberry from a nearby tree. We started again at 12 PM and now the path was in the grasslands. Walking amidst 2-3 feet tall grass was a good experience, but the sun made us a little tired, since there was no tree shade. So wherever we found trees, we stopped and just dropped on the grass to rest. We thus took about 3-4 breaks (which was unnecessary), and we finally arrived at the water place where we had to stop for lunch. 1:30 PM it was! We all freshened up, filled up our bottles and had lunch- Chapati and Bhindi sabzi and pickle, and we took good amount of rest.

Start of the trek

Spot from where we got first glimpse of Amedikallu

Trekking

Lunch packed by our host

Relaxing and chatting before lunch

We then started again at 2:15PM, and we were all exhausted, and kept asking the guide about the remaining distance, who simply kept saying 10 minutes (His measure of time was always 10 minutes or 30 minutes, even if it took hours :-P) and we finally made it to the rock shelter at 3:45 PM, where we would be camping for night. As soon as we saw this place, we just laid down happily (as though we made it to the peak :-P). Niranjan with the help of other guys set up 2 tents, and we kept our bags inside the tents, and we started again towards the peak.

Somewhere on the way, before the campsite

View of Western ghats

Effect of 8 km trek- at the camping site 

Setting up the tents

The walk now was completely amidst grasslands, from where we could already witness the Ghats range to some extent. We made it to a Huge stone, just beneath the huge rock that represents Ame's face, where few people thought of not continuing anymore. (One reason was that we were too tired, another reason being that it was already 4:20 PM and another 1 km to the peak and down would take atleast 2 hours, and it would get dark by then). Most of us wanted to make it to the peak since we had made it so long for now, and thus the organizer gave us the choice to make- to go or not. To go, we were suppose to walk continuously, without taking breaks, as fast as possible. It was a tough decision but then 11 of us did went along with the guide. This last 1 km walk was amidst wild jungle for 20 minutes, and then when we were almost at the peak, it was grassland for 10 minutes, and the last stretch was a huge rock to climb! We finally did it and made it to the peak at 5:10 PM.

Awesome view of Ghats

In front of Ame's head

Final stretch to the peak

Almost there..

Group along with our guide- at the peak

Group selfie on the peak

View from the peak

We were now on the Ame's head :-P, the tallest point of the peak, and all of us were very much happy that we finally made it to the peak, after a tiresome 9 km walk! We were glad that we didn't give up, and the view from the peak was mesmerizing. A 360 degree view, sunset, cool breeze was just amazing. We shouted on the top of our voices to experience the echo. We took a few pics and selfies, and we spent about 15 minutes there. It was time to move down now, though we had no heart of leaving so early. But sun was pacing down soon, and we had to make it to the camping site before it would become too dark. We thus started down at 5:30 PM and we reached the camping site at 6:45 PM.

It was now cooking time, and we required water. 4 people went with the guide to wash the vegetables and get water to cook. The rest sat under the rock, enjoying the moonlight and cool breeze, chit chatting, while Niranjan made arrangements of firewood and got the setup for cooking ready. Bisibelebath was the special tonight. Once the water was bought, we girls helped in chopping the vegetables, and the rest of the cooking was done by our Master Chef Niranjan. After about an hour, we got the smell of ghee and this made us feel hungry. We all gathered near the vessel and made a queue with our boxes, while our chef was perfecting the dish saying 5 more minutes. We were tired and hungry, and no requests made him feel pity on us, and we waited for about 10 minutes, after which hot Bisibelebath was served. It tasted awesome and couple of people even burnt their tongue in a hurry to taste it :-P Moonlight, cool breeze, Hot and tasty Bisibelebath was an awesome combination. After dinner, 2 more tents were laid, and we all crept into it to sleep.

Pre cooking preparations

Tasty Bisibelebath

Next  morning at 6:10 AM, Niranjan started to wake up people. We had to pack up and leave by 6:30 AM is what he had instructed us the previous night, and people were rather reluctant to wake up :-P We woke up, started getting ready and packed our bags and tents again, and at about 6:30, we witnessed the first rays of Sun. We started at 7 AM, and reached the water spot at 7:20 AM, where we freshened up, washed vessels, filled the bottles and had a light breakfast. We started again at 7:45, and made a long descend until we stopped again at 9:15 AM to have breakfast. People exchanged Biscuits, chocolates, cakes, kakhara, fruits etc. and we started again at 9:40. Without taking anymore breaks, we finally made it to the base at 10:40 AM.

First rays of Sun in the morning

Taking one last look at the peak we had conquered

Beautiful Clouds

We were now supposed to go to the river and then visit Shishila temple. We inquired the guide and our host and got to know that there were no changing rooms near the river, and thus all girls backed up, and all the guys left in the bus. We still got a chance to go to the river which was accessible from our host's farm, about 5 minutes walk, and thus Raksha, Karthikeyini and I left to the river, while the other two decided to take hot water bath in the guest house. Falling into the fresh water felt so much good and was so relaxing that all the tiredness of 18 km trek was gone. The water was only about 2 feet deep, and thus we just sat inside the water for about 40 minutes, and came to the house and changed into fresh clothes. It was 12:40 PM and the guys also came by this time, and we were called for lunch. Rice Sambar Rasam and butter milk- Awesome and satisfying lunch! We were told that the temple will be closed till 2:30, and we had no choice but to leave for Bangalore, and thus we started at 1:30 PM.

After 10 minutes of the start of journey, we had a feedback session. We all had had a great time,and each one of us thus shared their experience. We then started with dum charrads, which was equally fun, and we had some chit chatting, mocking and teasing each other. Some ghost stories were also discussed meanwhile. We all had become so close now, not even 48 hours of knowing each other! We gave a break for tea at 4:30 PM and stopped for too long, chit chatting :P Starting our journey again, Sagar and Santosh bid goodbye to us and got down at Hassan (They were Arasikere brothers) and then we continued further, and stopped for dinner at 7:15 PM at Adiga's.  We then made the final journey, and reached Nelamangala at about 9:20 PM. From here goodbyes started, and one by one got down at major landmarks like Nelamangala, Navarang, and then we reached Majestic at 10:15 PM. We got down here and we bid goodbye to the rest of the group, cherishing the sweet memories of last two days.

It was a great time with new bunch of folks, and two days seemed like too long of having spent it so nicely. Thanks to BAT- it was a very good experience and of course an awesome organizer Niranjan planned it all so well. Looking forward to more and more adventures..