Trek in Himalayas : Gangotri-Kedartal

Date: Sep 26-Oct 5, 2008

Mission: Trek Gangotri to Kedartal. Kedartal is a high altitude glacial lake situated at 4912 mts above sea level in the Gharwal Himalayan region and accessible by a 17 km trek from Gangotri.

Prologue: I had been day-dreaming about a trek in Himalayas for a long time. Late September and October is known for weather with clear skies in Himalayas although colder than summer. This along with a 3 working-day week in October first week made us plan a grand trek to Gangotri-Gaumukh-Tapovan. The foremost thing to be done was to find a reliable guide. We fixed Bal-bahadur from Uttarkashi whom my friend Prasad had hired last year to Tapovan. After making all our travel reservations, the retreating monsoon in mid September brought a bad weather in that region which resulted in death of 5 porters in Kalindi Khal, a pass at 5900 mts asl (above sea level) between Gangotri and Badrinath. As a result local authorities promptly decided to close Gangotri - Gaumukh - Tapovan completely (no idea why, as Tapovan is considered safe) and we couldn't get permits through our guide in Uttarkashi till the day we were about to leave Bangalore. I googled other trails around Gangotri and got mesmerized by breathtaking photos of Kedartal, an enchanting glacial lake at 4900 mts asl. Since this was our first trek to Himalayas I was hesitant in the begining as I thought trying to reach 4900 mts asl in the limited time we had may lead to acclimitization probelms. For this trek we discouraged some first timers which turned out to be a good decision and finally formed a group of 8 (me, Raghu, Vamshi, Karthik, Vasantha, Hari, Murali and Sachin) all ex-students from IITB. Kedartal was not a place where first timers could go. With temperature expected to dip to -10 deg above 4000 mts asl, we equipped ourselves with thermals, gloves, sweater, woolen jacket and monkey caps while we relied on Bata-weinbrenner and Woodlands shoes to negotiate moraine and snowy regions. Since we were going by ourselves instead through an agency, for a week or two before leaving most of us could think nothing but Himalayas as the planning and logistics consumed all our time.

Day 1 (Sep 26): Travel Bangalore-Delhi

We had booked second-class sleepers in Sampark Kranti express that leaves Yeswantpur at 10.20 pm. It takes 35 hrs to reach Delhi.

Day 2 (Sep 27): Travel Bangalore-Delhi

Sampark Kranti is a fast train with fewer stops than Rajdhani. But railways ploy of adding an extra side middle-berth meant 9 people sitting in a compartment with suffocation. With the soaring heat from Hyderabad and all the sleeper-class drama we regretted of not having booked in AC 3-tier. Some of my friends had brought novels but I doubt whether they made any progress. Few card games brought some relief though. Fewer stops for the train meant I had to depend on the food from pantry-car which I usually avoid at any cost but had no other options here.

Day 3 (Sep 28): Arrival at Delhi, Travel Delhi-Haridwar-Rishikesh

The train reached Nizamuddin at 9.45 am. Our train to Haridwar was at 3.25 pm from New-Delhi station. Comesum was the only restaurant inside Nizamuddin, so we had our breakfast there. We took taxis to New-Delhi station for Rs 150. I and Vasantha had lunch at a small place outside the New-Delhi station and settled to wait inside the station while the rest six with 15-20 kg rucksacks on their back went out to explore Connaught place in 40 deg Celsius heat. They all returned after an hour and told that they hardly ventured outside the station premises. Jan-Shatabdi reached Haridwar at 8.30 pm, an hour late. We had planned to halt at Rishikesh which was 24 km on road from Haridwar. This was necessary so that we could start very early from Rishikesh next day from where shared-jeeps to Uttarkashi start and reach Gangotri before nightfall. Rishikesh to Gangotri is 270 kms and takes 11-12 hrs. No vehicles are allowed in the hills beyond Rishikesh after 8 pm. Buses to Rishikesh can be boarded right outside the Haridwar station. But it was a special day and there was no such convenience. We were a group of 8 which meant slow decision making. With each of us thinking smartly of a convenient way to get to Rishikesh it took us another hour to get a taxi who agreed to take us for Rs. 300. We found another guy going to Rishikesh who enlightened Karthik with Yoga, Amarnath issue, Cosmic karmas etc on the way and reached Rishikesh at 10.30 pm. At this late hour our taxi-driver came to our rescue in finding a hotel to have dinner, book a taxi to Uttarkashi next day and get a place to sleep (The shady rooms had bugs to keep us awake in the night). Out of our generosity we paid Rs. 100 more to the taxi-driver.

Day 4 (Sep 29): Travel Rishikesh-Uttarkashi (1158 mts)-Gangotri (3048 mts)

We had booked a whole jeep for Rs. 1800 to Uttarkashi and left at 6 am with an intention of reaching Gangotri before nightfall. The lower Himalayan ranges start soon after Rishikesh with steep curves and bends which increases as you near Gangotri. Most of us had a good breakfast on the way without realizing the consequence of it. Soon after Chamba for the first time we saw the glimpse of mighty snow-capped peaks at a distance of ~100 kms. Next notable sight was huge volume of backwaters created by Tehri dam. By this time motion-sickness caught all of us and few of us puked. For the last half of the journey, the Bhagirathi (Ganges) river runs parallel to the road and we reached Uttarkashi just after 12 pm. I was in touch with Bal-Bahadur, our guide a day before and we met him in Uttarkashi. We had guide (Bal-Bahadur's brother Tej-bahadur), 5 porters, 1 cook and 1 cook-helper accompanying us from Uttarkashi. Rations, stove, kerosine, tents and sleeping bags from NIM (Nehru Institude of Mountaneering) were all arranged by our guide. After a lunch and paying advance amount to Bal-bahadur, 16 of us left to Gangotri in 2 jeeps at 3.30 pm. Uttarkashi to Gangotri is 100 km and is known for narrow-bad-dangerous roads and steep-beautiful valleys created by Bhagirathi river as the road runs parallel to Bhagirathi all the way till Gangotri. This entire road stretch is maintained by ITBP (Indo Tibetian Border Police) and no doubt they have their plate's full. For most of this stretch, we have a deep gorge on one side without any parapet and landslide prone huge mountain slopes on the other. Your life truly depends on the driver's skills here. Jeeps and sumos are the only ideal vehicles I thought. There was a huge powerproject construction going on enroute which was an eyesore and also contributed to bad roads. Our driver was a no-nonsense type of guy and drove non-stop to Gangotri within 4 hours in-order to reach Gangotri by 8 pm and hardly gave us any opportunities to shoot the picturesque valleys. An hour before Gangotri we reached Harshil which is famous for apples and also the place where Bhagirathi flows with a beautiful formation. When we reached Gangotri at 7.15 pm we were greeted by the chilly weather at 5 deg. The second jeep was an hour late. We booked two rooms at a lodge which also had a kitchen attached so that our cook could make dinner for us. Gangotri is 3048 mts asl and the effect of altitude like low temperature and thin air becomes evident. Night temperature might have hit 0 deg, but blankets in the rooms provided good warmth.

Day 5 (Sep 30): Trek Gangotri (3048 mts)-Bhojkharak (3780 mts)

We were all excited and enthusiastic about our first trek in Himalayas. So inspite of the chilly weather we were up early in the morning and visited the 150 year old Gangaa Maa temple and bathing-ghat. We had parathas made by our cook and left to Bhojkharak at 10 am after off-loading some unwanted stuff from our rucksack in the lodge's locker to make room for sleeping bags in our rucksack. Once we leave Gangotri to Kedartal we are on our own and no tea-stalls or houses are to be found anywhere. This along with steepness and the scary landslide zones keep most of the people away who visit Gangotri unlike Gaumukh. The trail is always ascending without any respite with Kedarganga gorge to our left. My last one months activity of running 2 km/day saved me upto some extent while on the other hand most of us thought Vasantha will call it a day today itself ! After we gained some altitude we saw the glimpse of Mt. Thalaysagar (6984 mts asl) for the first time. Kedartal is located near the base of this mountain. Looking back towards Gangotri also gave some breathtaking sights. The Himalayan mountains are truly huge, tall and steep and one needs to see it to believe. These huge mountains were there on all directions wherever we looked. We spotted some mountain goats (Bharals) on the way. The landslide zone around 1 km before Bhojkharak was the first scary part with more to come. It was a 100 mts long walk on loose mud and stones inclined at 60 deg. We had debris that may fall from the right and the Kedarganga gorge ~200 mts below to the left where one would fall if the mud under your feet collapses. Just before Bhojkharak was another risky rock-slab to negotiate where we had just 6 cm to keep our foot and a 200 mts deep gorge to stare at. If my heart was beating at twice the normal rate during ascent it definitely did miss few beats at the landslide and rock-slab zone. We reached Bhojkharak at 2.45 pm. Our army of porters who had reached before us had started putting up tents and our cook had prepared hot garlic soup which is good for altitude sickness. Our lunch was biscuits and some bread-slices as our cook found out cooking for 16 people at high altitudes and cold weather is time consuming and this became the routine for the next 3 days. A group of mountain dogs visited us in the evening ! At Bhojkharak to our left beyond Kedarganga gorge was fantastic view of snow-capped Mt. Bhriguparbat standing at 6040 mts asl. As the sunrays vanished the temperature plummetted to near-zero within few minutes which sent us scurrying for winter clothing. We had dinner in the form of roti-curry and dhal-rice at 6 pm and retired for the day into the tents and sleeping bags in anticipation of a night with sub-zero temperature. We also had the luxury of having hot bournvita before sleeping. We were not alone in Bhojkharak as there was a mid-30 aged Bengali man with his guide who had laboriously reached Bhojkharak, 4 Czech nationals going themselves and another group who were trying to go beyond Kedartal. One of the porters in the later group had lived to tell the tale of Kalindi Khal accident where there was a snow-blizzard and very low temperature during night resulting in 5 deaths and around 40 people getting rescued. During night we heard rocks falling but learnt next day that it fortunately occurs on the other side of Kedarganga.

Day 6 (Oct 1): Trek Bhojkharak(3780 mts)-Kedarkharak(4270 mts)

We woke up to a freezing but bright morning. The temperature remains below zero till the sunrays touch the ground after which it suddenly increases. We had an oat-meal and buns with hot tea for breakfast and started towards day's destination Kedarkharak at 9.30 am. Kedarkharak is at 4270 mts asl and 5 kms from Bhojkharak. Our guide said it easily takes 4-5 hrs due to steepness and landslide zones. The trail offered some splendid sights of mighty Manda group, Bhrighupanth and Thalaysagar peaks and the Kedarganga valley glittering in autumn bloom. We took short breaks to drink ice-cold water flowing from the top of snow-capped mountains to refresh ourselves till we came across the scariest part of the trek, the rockfall/landslide zone. Just before this, we met the Bengali man who had been to Tapovan-Nandanavan before and had decided to return back to Gangotri because at the rockfall zone a falling rock went over his head which nearly killed him. It was an amplified version of the landslide zone we crossed before Bhojkharak with this one being atleast 0.5 km long. Here the trail ceased to exist and we had to walk on the mountain slope made of loose mud and stones inclined at 50-60 deg with rocks that keep falling down from the right and Kedarganga gorge 25-50 mts below to the left. The earth under our feet was so loose that we think it may collapse any time along with us. I had my heart in the mouth and thought my number may come any time. This zone occasionally kills people and the luckier ones who fall down may escape with just broken bones. It took us 30 tiresome-scary mins to cross this and we reached Kedarkharak at 1.30 pm. After a hot-garlic soup it was time to doze for everyone. Manda, Bhrigupanth and Thalaysagar peaks form the backdrop in Kedarkharak meadow, but don't be disillusioned with the distance. Even though it looks like an hour walk, they were atleast 10 kms away. Watching the fading reddish sunrays on Bhrigupanth and Thalaysagar peaks during sunset is worth every paisa and effort you spend to get here. Late evening we almost thought we had lost Sachin and Murali as they went to a nearby ridge without any torch and didn't return to the camp till 7 pm when it was dark and freezing. We thought they had lost the way while returning and also discussed various kinds of punishment to be given if at all they came back. Even our guide refused to send a search party to find them, not wanting to risk his life for two people who had taken panga with Himalayas. At this altitude, due to paucity of oxygen and freezing temperature we were huffing and puffing to do even basic activities like walking, removing shoes, getting inside tents, having food etc. We never get a decent sleep in the night often waking up due to breathing problems, coldness etc. The freezing temperature is bound to affect you irrespecitive of number of layers of clothing you are wearing. As a precaution against getting altitude sickness most of us had taken Diamox tablets for the last two days. That night I also saw Vamshi consuming 3-4 different kind of tablets one each for altitude sickness, cold, headache and so on !

Day 7 (Oct 2): Trek Kedarkharak (4270 mts)-Kedartal(4912 mts)-Kedarkharak(4270 mts)

Kedarkharak was even colder than Bhojkharak is what we found out when we came out of the tent in the morning. The night temperature might have dipped to less than -5 deg Celcius as the water in the bucket had frozen and we felt our hands and feet also becoming numb even when completely covered untill the sunrays warmed us by 8.30 am. We needed hot water even for abulitions and brushing our teeth ! Today was the D-day as we had planned to reach the summit, Kedartal lake another 5 km from Kedarkharak. But Vasanth's health had detoriated due to altitude sickness and cold (aided by Hari who forgot to close their tent in the night !) and he puked in the morning, but was somehow determined to see Kedartal at any cost ! So 8 of us and Tej-bahadur left to Kedartal at 9 am after having hot-tea and maggie for breakfast. Sunglasses were mandatory for today's trek to prevent snowblindness. After a steady ascent of a kilometre or so the snow-zone begins. Here we found a pool of frozen water so thick that a ball-of-snow when thrown went sliding on it. The rest 3 km to Kedartal was steep and we were walking on almost 2 feet deep snow. Even though we were not carrying our rucksacks the paucity of oxygen and walk on snow made it more strenous than previous day's hikes. Just before the Kedartal we also got a breathtaking panoramic view with Kedarbamak glacier to our left and all the magnificient peaks around it. It was 12.30 pm when we reached Kedartal and we realized why Kedartal is considered as one of the most enchanting glacial lake in the Gharwal Himalayas. Kedartal is sorrounded by Manda group of peaks (6531 mts asl) to the left, Bhrighupantha (6772 mts asl) and Thalaysagar (6984 mts asl) beyond and Jogin group (6031 mts asl) to the right. Out of these Thalaysagar stands out with its steep slopes which are completely covered by snow and the picture remains etched in memory forever. On a day when the lake water is calm, we can also see the reflection of these magnificient peaks on water which completes the feeling of being in Heaven. The emerald blue waters of Kedartal with all these peaks is a sight to savour for lifetime but we had a little more than an hour to do so and left back to Kedarkharak at 2 pm. The other group who were trying to find routes beyond Kedartal had plans to camp here for the night, with night temperature expected to dip below -10 deg and a definite snowfall. Most of us had headaches while I had a splitting one when we started back and together with nausea and giddiness started walking back like a drunkard. I avoided taking Diamox for that day thinking as I was anyway returning to Kedarkarak the same day the altitude gain (or no-gain) would not affect me, but I was wrong. Fortunately this part of the trail didn't have any cliffs or gorges. A kilometre before Kedarkharak I got added to list of people who had puked and arrived at Kedarkharak at 3.30 pm in pretty bad-shape hit by altitude sickness. A dose of Diamox, hot-garlic soup and a 3 hour sleep later I did recover although I had lost all apettite for dinner. It was a night with very clear skies where we thought we spotted our own galaxy, Milky-way ! Recollecting our last 3 days hike, the trail to Kedartal had offered varied terrains: Our first day's hike to Bhojkharak was mostly through vegetation like Bhoj trees, while on second day's trail to Kedarkharak the vegetation dissapeared, and on third day it was mostly on snow.

Day 8 (Oct 3): Trek Kedarkharak (4270 mts)-Gangotri (3048 mts), Travel Gangotri-Uttarkashi

Due to time constraints we had a tight schedule. We had to trek 12 km back to Gangotri and travel Gangotri to Uttarkashi as well. No physical activity was possible till sunrays touched our feet at 8.30 am and it was 10 am when we started towards Gangotri. Our immediate hurdle was the landslide zone. Few us narrowly missed falling rocks, one porter narrowly missed falling down to gorge and Karthik stood rooted before the landslide zone until he was literally pulled by Tej-bahadur. My legs were literally shaking while negotiating this. I learnt the best way to negotiate this was to keep walking at a steady rate without looking on either side while ignoring the collapsing earth under you and hoping that falling rocks won't hit you. The descent further was easy and we reached Bhojkharak by 12 pm. The descent after Bhojkharak was steeper and harder on knees. Particularly the landslide zones were trickier to negotiate while returning as we had to lean to the left to get whatever support to preven sliding down and I believe normal humans like me have lesser control and strength on the left side of the body than on the right. There were no water sources for the last 1 hr and I arrived in Gangotri at 2.45 pm a little dehydrated with screwed up knees. Karthik had lost all confidence in himself and his shoes and had to be dragged by Tej-bahadur till Gangotri. Raghu who prides himself in reaching first everywhere had arrived an hour before with two others and had already booked 2 taxis to Uttarkashi. After a lunch and collecting the holy Ganga water in a bottle we left Gangotri at 4 pm. Again a non-stop jeep ride brought us to Uttarkashi at 7.30 pm. We took 2 decent rooms for Rs. 300 each at a lodge and had a very good sleep without getting troubled by coldness or bed-bugs. A proper sun-burnt face and cracked lips were the testimony of having conquered Kedartal !

Day 9 (Oct 4): Travel Uttarkashi-Rishikesh-Haridwar

After a visit to Vishwanath temple and paying our dues to Bal-bahadur we left to Rishikesh at 10 am in a sumo we had booked for Rs 1800. This stretch is also scenic but a tiresome journey. No matter whether you consume anything or not you are found to feel motion-sick and there is always a competition amongst ourselves to not sit at the back of the jeep. We arrived at Rishikesh at 3.30 pm and became aware Sachin's plans to visit each and every temple at Rishikesh and Haridwar and do river rafting as well in the limited time we had before night. We visited Lakshman-jula and arrived at Haridwar by a 8-seater tuk-tuk auto by 7 pm. After a frentic search for lodges outside the station we got a decent one. A 30-min walk took us to Har-ki-paudi, where except Vasantha all of us took dips in (polluted) waters of Ganges to clear all the sins we had accumulated till now. I guess it cleans only our inner soul ! We had an authentic heavy north-indian dinner at a restaurant called Hoshyarpuri on the way back to our lodge.

Day 10 (Oct 5): Travel Haridwar-Delhi, Fly Delhi-Bangalore

Our train to Delhi was at 7.40 am. As soon as we entered the station it started raining cat-and-dogs. It was then we realized how lucky we were to have got a nice weather window during travel as well as trek as a downpour increases your chance of getting stuck for hours or even days due to landslides while a heavy snowfall would make Kedartal unreachable. The train arrived at New-Delhi station at 1.45 pm and having missed our breakfast we rushed to Connaught place to have our lunch. After lunch we went out in different ways as our flight to Bangalore was at 8.15 pm. Me and Vasantha decided to go and sleep in airport lounge, Sachin decided to do solo-roaming and the rest went sight-seeing to India gate etc in 40 deg heat. The IndiGo flight arrived at Bangalore 30 mins late and it was past midnight when we reached our homes.

Due to time constraints we had a tight schedule and with an extra day we could have spent a memorable but challenging night at Kedartal. It was nevertheless a truly memorable and an amazing trek and has brought on, an addiction to Himalayas. However the first one is always special and I don't know if I can visit that enchanting place called Kedartal again !

I have posted pics here

Cost per person : Rs ~11,000 (Travel Bangalore-Delhi-Haridwar: 700, Guide/equipment rent charges from Uttarkashi: 3200, Travel/food/lodges: 2100, Travel Haridwar-Delhi-Bangalore: 5100)

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

Mullayanagiri-Bababudangiri revisited

Date: Sep 8, 2007

Mission: Trek to Mullayanagiri-BabaBundangiri-Gaalikere-Kemmangundi in 2 days

Prologue: Having got lost last time enroute to BabaBudangiri that too without a camera, this time we went there well equipped with a camera as well as a good mental picture of the Google Earth map of the trail. We had decided to trek to Sarpadari-Mullayanagiri-BabaBudangiri on day 1, BabaBudangiri-Gaalikere-Kemmanugundi on day 2. We 4 of us (me, Raghuram G, Raghuram L, Gins) were in Chikmagalur at 4.30 am on Sat, Sep 8th after travelling from Bangalore by Rajahamsa. Raghu G was the only other guy apart from me who were part of the group that made an unsuccessfull attempt to reach Bababudangiri last time. Gins suddenly remembered that he has got some serious work at his company and said he had return to Blore by Sunday but we decided 3 of us will continue to Kemmangundi from BBgiri. Raghu G had arranged for rented sleeping bags.

Day 1

As last time we bought monkey caps and bargained hard for an auto at ~6.30 am in front of KSRTC bus stand. Auto fellow dropped us at Sarpadari and warned us of very slippery path as it had rained all along. We started at 7.15 am and after ~15 mins I discovered that it was different than last time. Even though there was thick fog there was no wind. Gins who had braved trekking without any jacket was the happiest. True to auto driver's word the path was very slippery. I was falling behind as I was carrying the heaviest rucksack with food for everyone for 2 days inside it. We arrived at ~60 deg incline where the rest 3 carrying light rucksacks on their back went ahead, climbed and moved ahead leaving me on tenterhooks. I called Gins back to take care of my rucksack and only after I said it had food for everyone he gave a helping hand. We went to the cave just below the peak before entering the small fort with a temple and priests house inside it at the peak at 8.45 am. This time we had carefully planned to avoid breakfast at the peak by having it in Chikamagalur and were satisfied with coffee.

One more group arrived which was a mix of some people who had come up via Sarpadari and others who had arrived comfortably in a van. As we prepared to leave, the priest demanded an extra contribution towards the temple along with the money for coffee. We left Mullayanagiri at 10.15 am. We were really missing the wind which had made the steep descend soon after the peak look like a matter of life and death last time with capability of being blown away. But the thick fog was there all through the way till we reached KavikalGundi, the point of road intersection. We halted here for a while to munch some sandwiches added with Raghu G's copyrighted PJs.

We decided to skip the scariest part through the cliff and instead walk on the road till Atthigundi as it would have been very slippery on the thin ridge with cliff ! Midway Raghu L lost patience of walking on the road and decided to cut short and reach the ridge. After some steep climb we hit a patch of forest. There was way around the patch of forest to reach the ridge but Raghu L's enthu to enter any damn forest found us making way inside this dense patch of forest with leeches on the legs and thorns on our jackets and skin. After ~30 mins we came out intact and with some moderate climb we reached the ridge where we found the path from Kavikalgundi via the cliff. We rested for a while and continued northwards till we exactly came to the same point where we got lost and returned back last time ! But again Raghu L's enthu to enter any forest came to the rescue. Last time one among the group of 7 had entered the patch of forest to come back perturbed telling that it lead to suicide point. But this time we entered the forest and came out of it after sometime to find a path leading out. Now luckily the fog got cleared and we could see the microwave tower just on the side but on the higher side of mountain. I felt guilty of having missed it last time but such was the thickness of fog that we couldn't have spotted the tower. We continued the path assuming that it will circumvent the mountain and lead to the tower but came back as it was leading away from the tower. We climbed to the tower station along the mountain slope on all two hands and legs as a slip would mean rolling down to the base of steep Budangiri mountains ~1000 mts below at break-neck speed.

We entered microwave station at ~3 pm to catch the Ind-Eng cricket match and have some bread slices. The guard at the station was very friendly. We left the station at 3.30 pm as Gins had to catch the last bus to Chikmagalur from BBgiri which was at 5 pm. We walked along the jeep track through the thick fog and arrived at the tar road. We visited Manikyadhara falls and reached BBgiri at 4.30 pm. We had some snacks at one of the two tea-shop present in BBgiri. With Gins hell-bent on departing, Raghu L who is also Gins's co-employee lost all enthu for 2nd day's trek to Kemmangundi and started finding vague reasons like getting lost in the fog (which was a possibility though), food ration, non-availability of guide etc. As an answer to his prayers, a guide whom we found at BBgiri asked for Rs. 1500/day and we had to abandon our 2nd day plans.

We caught the 5 pm bus, had dinner and loafed in and around Chikamagalur till 10 pm. We caught Rajahamsa to Blore and reached Majestic at 4.30 am.

Cost per person : Rs 660

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

Trek to Silent Valley

Date: Apr 6-7-8, 2007

Mission: Trek 23 kms to Sairandhri in Silent Valley national park from Mukkali in Palghat Dt. and trek to Poochapara peak inside the valley.

Prologue: Silent Valley national park is in Kerala with ~90 sq.km located in Nilgiri ranges and probably the one of the few places in India to find the densest rain forest which was by default present everywhere in the western ghats but perhaps 100 yrs ago. Getting permission to stay inside Silent Valley or even visit it is easier said than done. But L Raghuram had (high-level !) contacts through his uncle with CCF, Trivandrum and we got permission to trek inside Silent valley. Unlike my other treks, preparation for this was well-planned with train tickets booked 1.5 months back to avoid holiday rush. But still 6 of us (Me, Raghu, Gaurav, Karthik, Vamsi and Venugopal) had to share 4 berths due to long waiting lists. We caught the Kanyakumari express from Cantonment station at 10 pm on Apr 5th.

Day 1
The train reached Palghat at 7 am next day. After attending to our morning duties and breakfast in the station we caught a bus to Mannarkad which was ~35 kms from Palghat at 8.30 am. From Mannarkad we hired a jeep to our next destination, Mukkali (~20 kms) where we had to hire a guide and pay necessary fees at the forest dept office. Most of us including me experienced motion sickness during later half of this journey when the jeep ascended the ghat and Karthik even vommitted.

We arrived at the forest dept. office at Mukkali at 10 am only to be told that we can stay at Sairandhri (~23 kms from here) only for that night and had to return to Mukkali by next night. This was because DFO (Disctrict Forest Officer) was coming to stay there next day with his family ! We had planned to stay at Sairandhri that night, trek to Poochapara next day, halt again at Sairandhri and be back at Mukkali on Sunday ! Also no private vehicles would be allowed further and we had to walk 23 kms to Sairandhri but we were prepared for that even before we left Blore. They said the jeep track was under construction (We came to know later that the road was fine exclusively for DFO and they just wanted to discourage us !). Our guide Shiny who happened to be a forest guard at Neelikkal in Silent valley would be available only at 1 pm. After paying all the fees for entrance, camera, guide...at the forest office, we went to river Bhavani which flows just behind for TP till 1 pm.

Raghu was our mediator with his own version of Malayalam ! After buying provisions for that day's dinner, next days breakfast and lunch and having a hearty meal at the only hotel that serves veg food at Mukkali opposite forest dept. office we left to Sairandhri at 1.15 pm. In ~15 mins we left the jeep track, crossed a small dam and the climb began. The guide wanted to take us through short cuts. The hearty lunch had an immediate effect ! The hot sun and the absence of shades didn't make things easier. We passed the last human settlement and there would be nothing for the rest ~20 kms which consisted of Silent Valley buffer zone and was called Attapady forest reserve. The climb lasted ~1 hr and we reached the road again. But there was no sign of Venu who was way behind and Karthik who was with him. It was ~3 pm and we had 16-17 kms to cover before 6 pm. Finally our patience ran out. Raghu and Gaurav ran back and brought totally exhausted Venu who had all but given up this trek. After a few doses of glucose and getting assurance that there would no such climbs further he started again.

We took one more short cut that went through tea estates. After ~5 kms the sorroundings started to change. The forest cover was becoming denser and denser. With the help of the guide we spotted a giant malabar squirrel. We took a short cut again and this one went through really dense rain forest for a long time. We spotted a herd of endangered nilgiri langur. We rested near couple of streams and resurfaced again on the jeep track. We took some more short cuts managing through some really dense forest and were at Sairandhri dormitory at 6.30 pm. We just missed spotting a couple of deers as we approached Sairandhri. We heard them inside the thick jungle just 20 feet away. The jeep track ends at Sairandhri which is actually the entry point to Silent Valley and there are only walkable trails inside the valley.

We were the only privileged visitors inside the valley during that weekend. The dormitory was clean and the dinner cooked by the provisions we brought was good. We had to pack our bags by next day afternoon to accomodate DFO here. But Raghu had unfinished business and was keen on trekking to Poochapara peak which was another 2.5 hrs trek from here in the morning. It seems he had visited Silent Valley few years back but couldnt reach the Poochapara peak due to leeches. That night I had the best sleep as I didn't even hear loud noises just outside the dormitory which my friends heard and linked it to elephants !

Day 2
I went to the watch tower at 6.30 am and watched the beautiful sunrise. The highest peak of the valley, Sispara (~2300 mts) was also visible. Finally only Raghu and Gaurav decided to trek to Poochapara along with the guide. I thought that trekking to Poochapara, trek back to Sairandhri and then trek to Mukkali with a total distance of 35+ km on a single day was beyond my physical limits. I along with 3 others decided to enjoy a bath in Kunthipuza river which was ~10 mins downhill walk. This is the only river in South India without any human settlements on the bank for ~20 kms. We had fun in the river for ~2 hrs and while we were about the leave folks who had gone to Poochapara peak were back at the river. They had reached the peak in 2.15 mins and had come back in 1.30 mins and after I heard this I thought even I could have managed it ! I'm including Raghu's narrative here about his trek to Poochapara.

Well gg and I decided that we would go to poochapara peak (pp). The trek started with a nice descent and then crossing the kunti through a suspension bridge. This was followed by a steep ascent, which did take quite a bit of us. But once we finished this climb, we were greeted by the forests. The temperatures dropped. This path is the only path used by the forest guards throughout the year to trek to the poochapara base camp. So they have to carry all the supplies through this path. As we trekked we noticed lot of elephant dung, and both gg and I managed to step on fresh dung, which we mistook for a rock. By 9 we hit the spot where we decided to take the u turn 3 years back, and in 15 minutes we were at the base camp. We were offered black tea and guavas, along with water and lots of hospitality. The base camp is covered with elephant trench. We left the camp and headed for the pp. This climb was even more tiring than the climb near mukakli the previous day. We failed to keep pace with our guide.by 10:15 we hit the peak. The view from the peak was awesome. We could see vast stretches of rain forests, the anginda peak. The sighting of the watch tower was akin to seeking a needle in a haystack.

After spending some time being comfortably numb, we decided to return. This time we had to hack our way through the forest until we hit the trail. That was fun. There were sections where our guide was 10 feet from us and we could not see him. On the way back we saw lion tailed macaque. But by the time the camera came out, they had vanished. We could easily spot the black face covered with the white mane. The return was even faster and we hit the river by 12:15. A 30 minute dip in the river preceded the reunion with the rest of the gang.

After another hearty meal and photo sessions on the watch tower we left Sairandhri at 2.30 pm. We had an offer to go back to Mukkali in forest dept's jeep but we turned it down ! The return path for some distance was different than the one we came and included some ascent. There were more short cuts and we even visited a small waterfall. After ~30 mins we were on the jeep track. Now tired legs had to be dragged across the stone ridden jeep track for ~15-17 kms. Other than spotting a giant malabar squirrel and a deer for a fraction of second on the way it was boring. We reached Mukkali at 6.45 pm. Raghu and Gaurav were limping towards the end. We stayed at the forest dept dormitory at Mukkali that night, had dinner at the same hotel there and played cards.

Day 3

Next day we had time till afternoon to recover from ~45 km trek (~60 km for Raghu & Gaurav). We lazily got up, had Appam for breakfast at the same hotel, played cards and went to river Bhavani . Some kids were jumping from a rock to the river and our folks decided to emulate them. We had planned to visit Mallapuzha dam near Palghat on our way back but it went awry as everyone dozed after lunch. Before leaving Raghu had a lengthy conversation with a forest official.

We left from Mukkali at 4.30 pm, caught a bus to Mannarkad and another one to Palghat and were there by 6.30 pm. We had dinner at the best available veg hotel (according to Raghu !) in Palghat. We caught Cannanore-Yesvantpur express at 9.30 pm and we had reserved berths for the return journey. I should say that we did the trek in the worst possible season: peak of summer. Had we done it soon after monsoon it would have been a great trek.

Cost per person : Rs 1350