Unchalli Falls and Burude Falls Trek - February 11th and 12th, 2017

With too much uncertainty till the very end, this trek was finally happening, since there were a lot of chances of it getting cancelled because of less number of people. Anyway, on Thursday night it was confirmed that we would be heading for this trek. We all left at 10 PM from Majestic on Friday, except Guru - the organizer and his friend Chiranjeevi, who joined us near 8th Mile. We stopped for a tea break at around 11:30 PM on the highway, had a intro session and we started our journey again. We were 10 in all; 7 guys and 3 girls.

Day 1, February 11th: (Trek to Burude Falls and then to Campsite)

We reached Sagara at 5 AM. We went to IB and the caretaker provided us a huge room with a huge bathroom :-P We were not in a hurry and were relaxing since we had lot of time. We freshened up one by one, and our guide Sandeep came to the IB, and along with him we went to the nearby hotel at 8 AM. We had breakfast, took our packed lunch and started the 1 hour journey towards Siddapura, the point from where our trek would start. We reached there by 10:15, and with some quick info and rules by Sandeep and after a group pic, we started our trek by 10:30 PM. 

Before the start of trek

The route was completely jeep route, until we reached the falls. But to get down to the base, we had to get down a steep patch of land. In between at one point, we got the full and first view of the falls. It looked beautiful and we couldn't wait to get into water and play. We reached the base finally at 11:30 AM.

Sandeep leading the group

The steep patch to get down to the base of Burude falls

Full view of Burude Falls

We all changed into other set of clothes to get into water. It was a little dangerous at some places since it was too slippery, and we were careful enough. After a mini circus of climbing the slippery rocks, we all managed to go beneath the falls, where the water was too forceful and provided a good massage for the back and head. We enjoyed there for almost 2 hours, until Sandeep forced us to get ready and move on towards our camping site since we were getting late. We were supposed to have lunch and leave by 1:30 is what he had said initially, but we actually started at 2:30 PM.

Lowest part of Burude Falls

Struggle with the slippery rocks to get near the falls

Climbing the steep patch again and a few steps, we were back on the jeep road at 3 PM. We had to hurry up, and everyone made an effort to walk fast. We walked through a village, and then a patch of forest, and then a farm and finally another stretch of forest until we reached the river. We had to cross this river and camp on the other bank. It was a huge river, but since there was very less water, we could cross it without getting wet beyond our legs. Though we had crossed 3 streams in the day, this was a relatively a bigger one, and since the current was more, it was a little difficult one too.

The river that we crossed to reach the campsite

Aghanashini river

We reached the campsite finally at 6 PM. We were yet to go another 2 km to reach our TT, and get the sleeping bags and cooking stuffs. 5 of them including Guru and Sandeep decided to go and get those stuffs from our TT, while rest of us got the firewood ready. They left at 6:20 PM, while we relaxed after a 13 km trek, until they came back at 8 PM. Till then, we were sharing and hearing to some interesting stories and experiences of each other.

We then started cooking. Though Sandeep was very reluctant to take any help from us, we managed to cut some vegetables for him. We were chit chatting and taking rest, staring at the sky, and the moon was about to rise up, behind the hills. The place we had camped was surrounded by hills on all sides, which had a little higher altitude than the river bed, thus blocking the horizon alone and giving a limited - yet wide view of sky. It was a full moon day and the moonlight was enough to light up the whole scene. It was a beautiful place to spend a night at.

Full moon seen through the branches of the tree

Sandeep prepared Rice, Rasam and Vermicilli Kheer, which was very tasty. Too much rice was left over, and we decided to make puliyogare out of it for next day. We finished our dinner and everyone settled to sleep. Sandeep, Varun, Guru and I went near the river, to see the small falls that was lit in moonlight. It was a beautiful sight. We were lying on sloppy rocks, with our legs inside water, and the whole scene was lit in moon light. We all insisted on being silent, and to enjoy the blissful view. Sandeep and Varun left after a few minutes, and went to the camping area to sleep. Within a few more minutes, Guru slept there on those rocks, and when I insisted him to go and sleep in the sleeping bag, he denied because he would not let me be there alone. And since I didn't want him to sleep on those rocks, I woke him up after some time and we came back to the camping area at 1 AM. I was staring at the moon for a while with some pleasant music in my ears and then I also slept.

Day 2, February 12th: (Trek to Unchalli falls)

We had lot of time, since we had to trek only for 5 km today. Sandeep said we will be leaving by 9 AM and everyone woke up by 7 AM. But I was up by 4:30 AM, and couldn't sleep anymore and thus I was staring at the moon again, watched him go behind the hills, and by the time he disappeared, it wasn't dark anymore - the time was around 6 AM.

We prepared coffee and savored it hot. Pleasant morning inside the forest, next to the river and a hot coffee - a perfect moment. Sandeep got busy in cooking, all other guys went to play in water, and we girls spent our time sitting next to the river. It was 9 AM when Sandeep called us for breakfast. He was cooking Upma for lunch while we had our breakfast (Puliyogare). We later sat there and waited while the lunch got ready. We then cleaned the entire site and packed up and got ready to leave. It was 11 AM when we started.

Campsite

Aghanashini river

2 km trek inside the forest took us to a road, and another 1 km took us to the main entrance of Unchalli falls. Our TT was supposed to be there, but he was not to be seen. We called him up and he reached in 15 minutes. It was 12:30 PM already and we had to start as soon as possible. We kept all our bags in the TT, took only packed lunch and water and started the trek, after a group pic.

Main Entrance to Unchalli Falls

In 300 mt, we reached the view point. The very first view of the falls was breathtaking. I just held my mouth in awe; it was just that beautiful. The water seemed to fall in a weirdly cross direction, a little off the vertical-down, because of the structures of the rock. Everyone was taken aback and was surprised at the first view, since nobody had expected it to be that beautiful. (One never knows what the nature has to offer, unless you go see for yourself) There are 3 view points, and only from the 3rd and last view point, the falls can be seen in full.

Unchalli Falls from 3rd and last viewpoint

Group pic at Unchalli Falls 3rd viewpoint

We took some pics and then came back to the road. There was a small path inside the jungle which would take us down - not to the base of falls though, but some 100 mt ahead of that. We made all effort to reach there as soon as possible and in an hour we came down, and another half an hour jumping and climbing over the rocks, we settled in a spot which was quiet closer to the falls, to have lunch and to play in water. It was too sunny and the rocks were hot. We played in water, and the current of water was too high and was pushing us away. It was fun to play and it wasn't deep at that particular spot. After almost an hour, we came out of water. Sandeep would have hit me if I had taken some more time for taking photos :-P He had already been insisting for 30 minutes now, to have lunch and leave soon, while I kept saying 'just few more pics' or 'just 5 minutes more' :-P. To get the complete view of falls, we had to climb further up, and thus Guru took my camera and started the climb. Nobody noticed him leave (not even Sandeep). I was still having my lunch, and while doing so, I silently followed him, successfully stealing the sight from Sandeep, and then Pradeep also followed us. In just 10 minutes, we reached a point from where the falls was completely seen and had the most spectacular view. It looked very gushing and aggressive from the top, but from here it looked so pleasant and serene. We would have missed something big, if we hadn't come here. We took a few pics, and came back to the spot where we had stopped for lunch, but there was no one to be seen there. At a far distance, ,we could see a few friends who shouted at us that everyone left. Pradeep also packed up and left quickly, while I waited for Guru since he was not yet back. In a few minutes he was back, and we packed up quickly and walked fast, to catch up our other friends.

Playing in water

Within 15 minutes, we reached the point from where we had to start the climb inside the forest, and all others were waiting for us here. From there we all started together, the last climb of this trek. We spoke all the way up, without a break, to pass our time and thus forget our tiredness. We took 50 minutes in all to reach the view point, which took more than an hour while getting down the same distance (It was very steep). After taking rest for few minutes, we walked towards the entrance and reached there in 10 minutes. It was 5 PM, and we changed to fresh clothes and had tea in the only shop at the entrance there. We then started our journey towards Sagara in our TT.

It was 7 PM when we reached Sagara and Sandeep dropped out himself near the hotel where we had had our breakfast the previous day. We spent some 20 minutes there, chit chatting and we decided to have our dinner in Sagara itself, than waiting for another hour or so for Shivamogga to arrive. We thus insisted Sandeep also to join us for dinner, and we went to the nearby Dhaba that was suggested by him.

We had our dinner along with the feedback session, and it was not surprising to know that each one of us had had their one-of-the-best experiences. The group was awesome, trek as well and those falls - even better. We then started our journey, at close to 9 PM. Everyone were tired and settled for sleep. I was also sleepy, but the last seat in the TT was uncomfortable for me and couldn't sleep properly. I managed to have only about 2 hours of sleep, and then reached Bengaluru at 4:30 AM. We bid goodbye to each other, recalling those wonderful moments and places and headed back towards our homes. One of the best treks of my life thus ended with a heavy load of sweet memories :)