A monsoon trek to Dabbe falls - Kanoor kote in Sharavathi valley

Date: June 21-22, 2008

Mission: Trek to Dabbe falls and Kanoor kote in Sharavathi valley in 2 days and encounter as many leeches and rain as possible

Prologue:
Himalayas...is where I thought I'll head this summer but found myself making plans alone and going no-where . The endless wait for monsoon was finally over and it started raining in western ghats. After 5 months of inactivity finally a plan to trek in Sharavathi valley emerged and this time it drew a huge crowd in the begining but finally settled to a descent fit 8 people (Me, Raghu L, Vamsi, Suny, Vasanath, Murali, Hari and Sachin). We travelled to Kargal town beyond Jog falls on a Linganmakki bound Rajahamsa bus after leaving KSRTC bus-stand at 9.45 pm on Fri.

Our plan was to trek from a village Hosagadde on Kargal-Bhatkal route visit Dabbe falls, Kanoor kote enroute and wind-up at Gerusoppa on the banks of Sharavathi river covering ~30 kms through paddy fields, lush green meadows, dense tropical forests while crossing innumerable streams. Mahesh was our trek guide and he got into our bus at Sagar. We reached Kargal at 7.15 am. We didn't want to waste our time to freshen-up this time as we had run short of it last year and had to change our plans by ditching Kanoor kote. Because of this Mahesh insisted on taking the 8 am bus to Hosagadde which was 15 km from Kargal but we missed the bus since one of us spent a little extra time in the toilet at the hotel where we had breakfast ! So we had to hire a jeep to Hosagadde and started our trek to Dabbe falls at 9.30 am after distributing grocery, food items amongst ourselves.

Day 1

Our plan on day 1 was to reach Doctor's house near Kanoor kote which is ~16 kms from Hosagadde before nightfall which would take 7-8 hrs if we didn't loose our way. Weather forecast indicated intermittent thundershowers unlike last time when there was a continous downpour. Trek upto Gowdara Mane near Dabbe falls which was ~3 km was no different than last time. Half the distance upto Gowdara mane was a jeep track. Rest of the half we walked through a path that went adjacent to a stream, crossed few streams with one over a wooden-pole bridge, passed a mini-waterfall and we reached Gowdara mane at 10.45 am with minimum leech bites inspite of having no anti-leech stuff on our legs. Few fellows who hadn't seen leeches before, started feaking out. We went to Dabbe falls immediately which took us 30 min from Gowdara mane along a 85 deg slippery slope holding roots, stones and what-not and reached the platform where only 4-5 people could stand and watch Dabbe falls. Unlike last year it was not raining and was considerably less misty, so we could shoot Dabbe falls in all its glory. The only way to reach Dabbe falls is by walking. So Dabbe is one of the few waterfalls where one doesn't find trash of junk which is found at all popular waterfalls ! It is very risky to go to base of Dabbe falls during monsoon . So we got back to Gowdara mane by 11.45 am and started towards Kanoor kote immediately. The lush green paddy-fields with distant mountains with even greener tropical forests on them were a treat to eyes. Sharavathi valley receives 300-600 cm of rainfall every year and is even home to few tigers.

After sometime we were walking inside dense forest. For most of the time there was no path and it was just intuitiveness from Mahesh which made us head along the right direction. There are houses every ~2 km inside the forest but if you loose the track you may end-up wandering inside the forest untill you are rescued by a miracle. My crib about not being able to sight any wildlife in any of the treks came to an end as Mahesh caught a green-tree-snake by its throat and couple of us had the privilege to hold it by its throat and pose in front of the camera. Mahesh released back the snake carefully by suddenly taking his hand from its throat. We stopped at a house by 1.30 pm and we decided to take a break here to cook and have lunch. We removed all the leeches with Mahesh being the worst hit since he was wearing chappal and sat down to have delicious maggie in 30 mins. Me and Raghu were sitting together on the steps in the verandah having Maggie when Hari spotted something moving behind Raghu. We jumped up immediately and saw a snake which was less than a feet long. One look at it and I was sure it was poisonous with its bright colours and activity (I thought it was pit-viper). It was a baby nevertheless poisonous. Even more surprising was Mahesh who came out and held the snake by its throat with bare hands and released it at some distance from the house. I asked Mahesh about the type of the snake which he told much later. It was a Krait and we had almost sat on it !

We left the house at 3 pm and realising that we had much distance to cover, increased our pace. We crossed few streams, walked across paddy fields, streams and hillocks and joined the tar road which leads to Kaanur. There were lot of streams we had crossed which fortunately had lower water currents and we could cross them without any fuss. We reached the house in Kanoor where we had spent a night last year at 4.30 pm. After a small break where we cursed Vamsi for not bringing potato chips, we started towards Doctor's house which was 8 kms from here. There is a jeep track all the way till Doctor's house but Mahesh wanted to take a short cut. This short-cut was probably not a well-trodden one in monsoon. It was slippery and had dense forest so was naturally infested with leeches and abundant thorns. The combination of all these made Vasanth completely freak out and started cribbing about everything. Almost everyone had a slip and a fall here and it meant a thought of few leeches inside your body ! This agony came to an end in 30-45 mins when we reached jeep track. Another 1-1.5 hr along the jeep track, Mahesh decided to halt at one Ramachandra's house as the next house which was Doctor's house was still 1 hr uphill hike and it was getting dark. The inmate of the Ramachandra's house were simple and friendly folks who were displaced during Linganmakki dam construction 20 years ago. They had basic lighting in the house by means of a dynamo against running water as no electricity exists in this part of the world. The house had no toilet either but had a telephone. Murali who went out to answer nature's call came back with few leeches on his legs ! We even got hot water to take bath and refresh from 9 hr walk. With an excellent dinner of rice, sambhar and pickle finished we slept at 11 pm with a note from Mahesh about next day's trek being even more strenous and we had to start early by 8 am.

Day 2

The early start never came and by the time we got ready after having breakfast in the form of Upma washed with tea, cooking and getting lunch in the form of Puliyogure parcelled and accessing everyone's fitness it was 10 am. For today's trek we applied tobacco-powder mixed with coconut oil against leeches. Vasanth greedily applied half of that into his legs even though for all he had freaked out yesterday he hadn't got a single bite. We reached Doctors's house in an hour where we were served pupoya and lemon tea. Another 45 mins of hike in dense forest, encountered by leeches and rain we reached Kanoor kote by 12 pm. The route from Doctor's house to Kanoor kote gave excellent views of Sharavathi valley. We spent 1 hr visiting remnants of this 400 year ruined fort which was slowly getting occupied by the sorrounding jungle. The fort consisted of a queen's swimming pool, couple of temples, secret passages but there was not a single place where we could stand and watch as leeches made us jump now and then. The ruined but beautiful temple is almost 1 km from the fort entrance and the zig-zag path inside the dense jungle is bound to confuse anyone. It was Mahesh who dared to enter the secret passages first lest it harbours snakes. We started towards Gerusoppa at 1 pm.

The path to Gerusoppa (~12 km) was almost downhill hike through dense jungle. It was slippery for half of the distance due to rains but was almost dry for the rest half till Gerusoppa. Mahesh who was walking in front almost hit a giant (poisonous) spider which had created a huge web right on the path. After sometime we even spotted a couple of peacocks but they were too camera-shy and disappeared within seconds. At ~2.30 pm we crossed a hanging bridge over a wide stream and halted for lunch along the banks of the stream. We even jumped into the stream to have a much needed break. Hari had his shoe sole opened at front during this part of the hike which gave ample opportunity for leeches to get in and suck blood and he painted a sorry picture. Lunch in the form of Puliyogure and mangoes which we had collected along the trail finished, we started towards Gerusoppa at 3.30 pm. The rest of the path was jeep track. We had to catch the bus from Gerusoppa at 5.30 pm to be on time at Sagar to catch the Sagar-Bangalore bus at 10 pm in which we had reserved tickets. We increased our pace along the jeep track which culminated at the banks of Sharavathi river at 5 pm. We had to cross the river on a small boat to reach Gerusoppa. One notable incident was Vasanth who fell flat in the river with his face upwards while get into the boat. After crossing the river we took one bus from Gerusoppa to Gerusoppa cross. The bus to Sagar arrived at 6.45 pm and a 2 hr journey bought us to Sagar. We had dinner and parted with Mahesh who stays near Sagar and runs a local newspaper called 'Vanaraja'. Rajahamsa brought us to Bangalore at 6 am and it concluded one of the memorable trek. This is moderate trek if done in 3 days, but a bit strenous to do in 2 days and monsoon is the best season to view 'Mungaru Male' kind of panoramic views irrespective of leeches.

Cost per person : Rs 1500

A Monsoon trek to Dabbe Falls-Kanoor-Bheemeshwara

Date: Jul 14-15, 2007

Mission: Trek to Dabbe Falls and Kanoor Kote in Sharavathi valley in 2 days

Prologue: On the night of Friday Jul 13th, 5 of us (me, Raghuram L, Raghuram G, Karthik aka goofy and Pavan) were headed to Kargal from Bangalore in Linganmakki bound Rajahamsa bus. Our intention was not to experience any scary horror stuff on the 13th Friday but to experience the splendour of Sharavathi valley in monsoon. Journey was comfortable and I had a decent sleep. But others were not so lucky especially Karthik who instantly obliged to get displaced to the back seat because of two girls who didn't want to sit at the back !

The bus went through Sagar, Jog and reached cloudy Kargal at 7 am. We had decided to trek with Mahesh, a professional guide from Sagar who charges Rs 350 pdph and L Raghu had done a trek with him along Dabbe-Kanoor Kote few years back. Monsoon was at full fury here with 10 cm/day average rains over the last few days and that was the reason we decided to trek with a guide. We had a great breakfast in the form of avalakki/poha at a small lodge in Kargal and were ready at 8 am. Mahesh arrived but said he couldn't come with us due to an accident injury but two from his team, Nayan and Kumar would guide us. In spite of telling before, Karthik and G Raghu had not brought water-proof jackets but were lucky to find a store selling it in Kargal. We left to the trek starting point Hosagadde (~15 kms) in a Sagar-Bhatkal private bus at 9.15 am.

Day 1

We got down at Hosagadde from the jam-packed bus at 10 am and started our trek at 10.30 am after distributing groceries, sleeping mats among ourselves. We headed towards Gowdara Mane near Dabbe falls which was ~3 km from here. The trail went through jeep track, paddy fields, hillocks with lush greenery everywhere. For sometime the path went adjacent to a raging stream. We passed a mini waterfall and reached Gowdara Mane at 11.45 am. Tobacco snuff powder mixed with coconut oil applied to legs had kept leech bites to minimum till Gowdara Mane. Leaving our bags at Gowdara Mane, we headed towards Dabbe falls which is ~45 mins downhill hike to the base of the falls. During peak of monsoon it is not possible to go to the base of the virgin falls but one could get down to a point where the awesome wall of water falling down from a height of ~100 mts can be seen and felt. The path was slippery and steep and we reached this point in 20 mins where only 3-4 people could stand and watch Dabbe falls. Oh...what a spectacle it was ! The heavy mist rising out of the fallen water coupled with rain had made us completely wet and we couldn't even take our camera out for a fantastic shot. We stayed here for 15-20 mins and reluctantly climbed back to Gowdara Mane in 15 mins. My right thumb had scratched a thorn or a sharp piece of stone while climbing down which later became sceptic towards the end of the day.

Lunch in the form of bread-jam and tea finished, we started towards Doctor's Mane near Kanoor Kote (~16 kms) at 2.15 pm. We were really running late as it takes 5-6 hrs to reach Doctor's Mane from here. The trail from Gowdara Mane-Kanoor village (~10 kms) is not a clear one and a guide/help of locals is necessary. Also overflowing streams seems to have submerged some paths. So after some moderate climb we entered forest. No need to explain that entering dense forest during heavy rains is asking for leech bites. We had crossed some streams after Gowdara Mane and the effect of anti-leech stuff on our legs were gone. I was wearing chappal to test whether chappal is more effective against leeches than shoes ! Found out the answer quickly. They are not. After sometime we hit an open patch and started to remove leeches. I had alteast 5-10 bites on each leg. We also applied some more snuff powder-oil combination and started, again to enter the forest. I realized that this was not the regular route to Kanoor which passes through landmarks like Shaale mane. Meanwhile L Raghu's rucksack gave up and we distributed some stuffs from his bag among ourselves. After sometime we had a feeling that we had lost the trail even with the guide and were just moving making our own paths through thorns, fallen trees and undergrowth towards N-W direction. Most of the time the space was not even wide enough for one person to pass through. I slipped and fell down few times so were others I hope ! It is not a nice feeling with leeches at your feet and you not able to move fast ! We had some more leech bites and came out to an open patch of land again. Leech bites had reached crazy proportions with one of us even getting a bite on the neck ! But the lush green meadows with dense forest valleys and hillocks beyond were an amazing treat to eyes. Most of the time we couldn't take out cam out due to incessant rain. We moved into forest again but after sometime we heard a stream. We reached the stream which led us to paddy fields and a hut. Inmate of the huts were delighted to find strangers and set us along the correct path.

We reached one more hut after sometime and this time the inmates directed us to a bridge to cross the river in order to reach tar-road towards Kanoor. We crossed the bridge (few wooden poles attached across the river with a rope to hold for balance) and reached tar-road. Walking along this road we reached one Ram Naik's house in Kanoor at 6.15 pm. We had walked in almost continuous downpour for ~6 hrs starting from Hosagadde and I had 15+ leech bites (the highest in our group !) plus few thorn scratches on each leg.

Now a debate started on whether to walk 2 more hours in darkness along a jeep track to Doctor's house or halt here overnight. Halting here would mean ditching Kanoor Kote-Gerusoppa trail as we didn't have enough time to reach Jog falls next day and we had reserved ticket in 7.45 pm bus from Jog. Finally the majority won and we decided to halt here. Our guide came up with an idea to trek to Bheemeshwara next day and we could head back to Jog falls at convinient time. We had to start early in the morning at 6.30. Nayan and Kumar cooked an excellent dinner with rice and sambar. No place inside my rucksack was safe from water and the return bus ticket, mobile I was carrying was completely wet ! I think even I lost my extra pair of rechargable batteries for digicam around this house.

Day 2

Day 2 started at 6 am and we caught the only bus from Kanoor towards Billigere (~9 kms) at 6.45 am. Enroute this KSRTC bus hit a parapet and some portion of the bus body got ripped off. The bus reached Billigere which was on Kargal-Bhatkal route at 7.30 am. Soon after we got down it started raining heavily and it looked like whenever we started walking during this trek the fury of the rain only increased. We walked on this road towards Bhatkal. After ~2 kms we left the road and walked through vast paddy fields to arrive at a house at 8.30 am. Our guide decided to cook breakfast here. There were lush green paddy fields in the front and dense forest to the back of this house. Soon the whole area was engulfed with clouds. Karthik was at the receiving end of the volley of PJs fired by Raghu G. After a delicious breakfast with Upma, Kesari bath we started towards Bheemeshwara which was ~1 hr walk from here at 10.15 am.

Again this not so well-trodden trail went through dense forest which started behind the house. Enroute we crossed a stream which had formed a small but beautiful waterfall. I lost count of number of streams we had crossed during this trek. Anti-leech stuff applied to our legs seemed to work this time as though leeches were abundant we didn't get too many bites. But there was more irritation in the form of abundant thorns along the path. It left itchy cuts on the skin and created few holes in my jacket. A continous downpour accompanied us till the end and we reached Bheemeshwara at 11.15 am. A sole priest lives in this place which consists of a small house, a temple little further with a waterfall right in front of the temple located amidst dense forest valleys with monsoon clouds kissing the hills. Just before the priest's house I slipped and fell with a thud for the last time in this trek ! Priest was not in the house that day and we went to the temple in 15 mins. The path upto temple had stone-steps but these had become extremely slippery. When we reached the temple we were amazed at the beauty of that place ! I for even one moment did not regret of having missed Kanoor Kote. It was a small temple of Bhima and Eeshwara and the waterfall at its peak-form right in front of the temple made the picture pefect. Water was getting sprayed even inside the temple. We sat under the icy-cold water for sometime. Again I couldn't get my cam out in front of the temple but captured it from a distance. We stayed here for an hour and went back to puje-bhattara mane. Nayan and Kumar had started cooking Poliyogure. After a hearty meal we left this heavenly place at 2.15 pm. The return path was a jeep track, was shorter and had fewer leeches. We crossed one more wooden-pole bridge and reached the Bhatkal-Kargal road right in time to catch the Bhatkal-Sagar bus at 3 pm.

The bus reached Kargal at 4.30 pm. For a moment Pavan became centre of attraction in Kargal town with a leech on his leg that had grown to a huge size ! We departed with our guides who had cooked great food and guided us to what was my best trek till now. We took another bus from Kargal and reached Jog falls at 5.15 pm. It was monsoon and Sunday. No need to tell that there was a maddening crowd at Jog falls. We didn't have enough time to go down and there was severe competition to grab any open space on the viewing platform in front of the falls . Somehow we found open space on the left most side and a sudden downpour sent the crowd back. Even though Jog falls didn't have a decent restaurant for our dinner there was a change room where I could change my totally drenched clothes to dry ones. We got into Rajahamsa at 7.45 pm and reached Majestic at 5.15 am. A BMTC bus ride to my home completed a wonderful trek with a determination to return to Sharavathi valley and trek to Kanoor Kote.

Cost per person : Rs 1377