Missing link

A gang of seven trekkers on top of a hill at the end of a lost trail. All sense of direction was lost due to poor visibilty in the dense cloud cover. The weather was turning from bad to worse with winds blowing upto 20 kmph hitting them hard and aggravating the incessant rain. The aggression of mother nature was not something they ever faced. This was a moment when the missing link was made out of nowhere. There were three stones at this point with BG written on it. With all the options getting closed fast, they left the missing link there and headed down the valley to Dasarahalli and to safety of a lodge in Chickamagalur. But the missing link was lying there, just beside the three stones. It spent the dark and chilly night at that point. That's when we decided that missing link should be found and put to rest once and for all. Hence the story begins.

Plan to trek from Mullayanagiri to Budangiri was made few weeks ago. But it has to be postponed due to few personal reasons of team members. Finally things looked positive on the weekend of 21\22 July. This was my first trek after my engagement with Kiran. Well now you know why it got postponed earlier. We booked tickets well in advance and managed to get front seats. The team was pretty gud with myself, Ankur, Kokil, Rami and Santosh. Unlike other times, the team size increased on the final day with Renjith and Kanaka joining us on D day.

The D-Day arrived and passed pretty fast. I took leave for my house shifting. After that I took my dad for little shopping which was followed by my own trip shopping. Finished the small telecon at 6:30 and headed home to take my backpack. Soon myself, Ankur and Kokil were in auto heading to Majestic. The trips have always brought back some old memories. I remember Ankur, Mudit and me going in an Auto on our first trekking trip to KP last year. Time had passed pretty quickly since then. We reached Majestic and waited for Rami's gang.

The bus journey to Chickmagalur was quite comfortable and we managed to get gud sleep. Chickmagalur takes just 6 hours and we were there by morning 5:30 AM. The bus to Sarpadhari was at 7:30 and hence we checked in a lodge for freshening up. After that we met another gang of trekkers who were attempting Mullayanagiri first time. The bus driver agreed to start early just for us. The whole bus was booked just for us at 600\-. Not a bad deal when time plays an important role. The early morning journey till sarpadhari was pleasant. We found another bus full of trekkers at Sarpadhari. It was surprising to see whole lot of trekkers at this point. I was little disappointed to see such a big janatha for trekking. But fine, Everyone has the right to come to these places hence adjust madi. Anyway things turned up pretty exciting in the later part of the day.

The initial trek was little steep but somehow It didn't tired me out. I had been a regular jogger and hence it might have helped me. The hill was covered in green grass and most of the time we were in cloud cover. The route to Mullayanagiri is quite well marked. There are few rock formations at one point. One has to keep left at this point. After this there will be a small temple under a tree. Keep left here and soon you will reach famous caves. Took some nice inspiring snaps at this point. Mullayangiri top is just few metres from here. We visited the temple and started towards BB giri. The route is from the other side of the temple. We didn't faced much problem in locating the route as there were lot of people heading that side. Few 100 metres from the temple we have to take a left and keep walking on the trail. After an hour and half we reached the main road. The trek till here was quite pleasant. I didn't felt tired. Renjith, Santosh and Kanaka lagged behind for a while. The trek looked simple and beautiful. But we didn't had faintest idea of things to happen ahead.

Once on the road, we can either take a bus to BB giri or climb up the ridge to trek entire distance to BB giri. We had already decided for the latter option. The route through ridge is just opposite to the point where u get down to main road from Mullayangiri. The entire ridge was covered in dense clouds. The trek was little tough\risky as the rocks were wet and slippery. Visibility was very poor. I feel in some ways the clouds helped us as we were not seeing the deep valleys on both sides. This means that we were not much afraid (perhaps). There were few tricky turns among rocks here and there. A misjudged step at these points will see you rolling down the hill at breakneck speeds. No directions were required on the ridge. There is strictly one way to go on the ridge....Just straight ahead.
After hour and a half of such trekking we ended up at the middle of a hill. There was no trail as such but u have to use ur instincts and little sense of direction. I remembered from the snaps that BB giri was little to the right from the point where we were standing. Ideally we were supposed to see a BSNL tower right from Mullayanagiri. This tower is our destination. But in the dense clouds we were not able to see anything jsut few metres ahead of us. Clouds are tiny droplets of water. With the wind which was blowing, these tiny droplets were hitting me hard on the rain coat making a nice music. I was enjoying this all the time. We kept walking and saw a tiny trail after some distance. We took a lunch break at one point. The chapatis and chutney were fast gobbled down. This was follwed with dates from Ankur. I luv dates on the trek.

The trail from here took us to another hill. Due to incessant rains this time of the year the trail simply vanished at this point. We can't find anything here. I am not sure why but we simply took a right turn at this point. We entered into few bushes and were happy to find a small trail there. This trail took us to the middle of the ridge. We walked for a while and ended up at a small shiva temple. There was a small waterfall at this point. We filled our water bottles here. From this temple there was a route which was going down the valley and another going up to the top of the hill. Rami and Kokil scouted a little on the upward going trail but came back with no positive signs. So we retraced our steps where we missed the trail. We knew that we have got lost. We have lost any sense of direction. Cloud cover was more dense and weather started to turn bad. After a little climb up I just shouted for no reasons. Surprisingly I heard someone shouting back. Soon the shouts started getting closer. We felt happy to see another gang heading to BB giri. But unfortunately they were equally lost. We decided to just keep heading straight and cross the hills. No sooner we climbed a small hill, weather turned bad to worse. Winds picked up speed and the rains started downpour. There was not much time left to explore anything. Soon it will get dark and spending a night on top of a hill in a really bad weather was not an option. Panic button was pressed. Before I realized, the other gang started retracing steps back on the ridge. They decided to head back to the road and to the safety. we felt that this was quite risky in these heavy winds. So we decided to take a trail which we found earlier on the way to Siva temple. This trail was going down the valley and would have headed to a flat ground or road. So the long trek down the valley began. The route was quite steep\slippery and risky but there was no looking back. After a long trek down the hill, We ended up in a estate. In spite of several requests we didn't got any place to spend the night (due to naxals scare). We walked another 5 km to Dasarahalli to catch a bus to Chickmagalur. So the day ended comfortably in a warm and cozy bed of Giri lodge. We didnn't planned for the next day as everyone was tired and no mood to fix the plan. I dearly wished to complete the trek next day. I can't leave the trek unfinished.

So the next day we ventured out to link the missing link. The missing link which was made last day. Only me, kokil, Ankur and Rami dared to venture out again into the terrain where we lost ourselves y'day. To avoid any risks, we decided to go to BB giri and find the point where we got lost last evening. Which means that we shall go to the end point first and track the missing link of y'day. The bus journey was again a pleasant experience. We met a baba who works at the BB giri dargah. He was a nice gentlemen who gave us all the details we needed. He told us that we were quite close y'day and we shud have taken the uphill trail from Siva temple to reach the BSNL tower. We were quite encouraged by this statement. Our chances of finding the missing link were bright now. After we reached BB giri, we had nice cup of T. Soon we were walking towards Manikya dhare. It is a small waterfall 3 km from BB giri. There is a tar road till Manikya dhare. You can take autos\Jeeps to reach this point. We preferred walking on the road. There were beautiful views all around. At one point clouds gave away to nice hill side views. Picture of winding road around these hills was breathtaking. Soon we reached the falls. It was a crowded mess. Though there was lot of Janatha there but it was a nice place to have a bath. There is a cemented bathing area built right underneath the falls. So take your towels and trunks if you plan to visit this place.

From Manikyadhare we were supposed hike towards BSNL tower. There was a small tower just beside Manikyadhare. Kokil and Rami climbed that hill out of excitement and I had to push myself up the hill to get them down. The BSNL towers are quite close to Manikyadhare but they were invisible due to clouds. We got a slight glimpse of the top of the tower for few seconds. That was enough to push us in that direction. We crossed a small stream. We saw a small deer on the hill we were above to climb. It ran away with amazing speed after seeing us. In all my trips I had rarely seen any wildlife and it is gud to see free roaming animals on these hills. I think Bhdara tiger reserve was also close by and it comes on the way between BB giri and Kemmanagundi. We must have climbed another hill before catching a glimpse of the tower again. Kokil found a deer horns. It should be of a big male deer as it was quite heavy and long. We didn't found anyone at the tower. Finished our lunch at this place. It was such a nice experience. Surrounded in the clouds, sitting with friends on top of a hill. The lunch was quite memorable.

Now the daunting task of find the missing link was on us. Deep in my senses I felt that it is going to be close to impossible since the visibility was so poor and there was almost a 180 degree of landscape in front of us. After few steps on a hill in front of us, I realized that Siva temple was on the edge of the cliff and it is not far from the point where we were standing (As told by Baba we met earlier.). This means that we have to go towards the cliff edge to our left. This was enough for us to move towards the left. Soon we reached the edge of the cliff. We also found a trail leading on to few hills. This in addition to confirmation by Rami that Siva temple was right below where we were standing was enough to make us walk on the trail in front of us. The trail was pretty visible in spite of clouds. We crossed few hills. The trail kept vanishing and reappearing at some points. We crossed few rock formations and walked on the plain hill tops. We followed a trail and ended up on a hill. Sometimes we were confused about our position relative to the missing link. The cloud cover didn't allowed us to see much. Ankur was worried about running short of time to get back to BB giri. I convinced him to keep walking for another 15-20 mins and if we didn't find the point then we shall turn back. Finally I recognized a lone tree on the hill. I knew that was the tree which we came across y'day. So the missing link was close by. Soon kokil found the trail which we took last evening. After some time we really found the missing link. The point where we got lost y'day. We completed the trek. We celebrated the moment with cakes. What a feeling it was. The spirit of adventure is something which we tasted that day. Never to lose hope, never to give up and just enjoy the excitement and adventure. It is true, Fear is Fun.

We immediately started back. We didn't wanted to miss the last bus at 5:30 PM from BB giri to Chikmagalur. So we hurried back to tower. Surprisingly it didn't took us long to return. From tower we took the jeep trail to the main road. Here we have to take a left to reach BB giri in half an hour or so. The bus was ready and we boarded it after a cup of T. All our hearts were fulfilled with a sense of accomplishment. The satisfaction of completing the trek. The places we went today were completely different to y'day. All along the trek we didn't found many ppl. Infact during the trek from tower to missing link and back to tower, we didn't encountered a single soul. Four of us were hiking on cloud covered hills, searching for three stones with inscriptions of BB giri. Later I realized what an impossible task it would have been. Something like finding a needle in haystack. But thanks to everyone for not losing patience and hope. We did it. After that it was just returning to Chikmagalur and boarding the bus back to B'lore.

All in all it was a real memorable trek. We got lost for the first time and deep in my heart I enjoyed it. This trek is pretty easy on a clear day but don't attempt the trek on a cloud covered days unless u don't mind getting lost. Even if you get lost it is not that risky as u can safely retrace back ur steps to the road.

Monsoon Rains

I choose this title because this is what I wished to experience in this trip. What better place to feel it then Agumbe. The place getting highest rainfall in K'taka. June had been a dry month for me as I was not able to go anywhere. so I was quite excited about this trip. The original plan was to make a short trip somewhere near Bangalore. Only Kokil turned up and hence at the last moment I decided to make it a 2 day extravaganza. We decided to go to Agumbe so that Ankur will not miss any place. He already visited Agumbe with us in the month of March.

There was not much planning done. I booked the tickets to Agumbe for onward journey. Return tickets were booked from Singeri. The plan was to trek to Narasimha parvata on first day and visit Sirimane falls on second day. But due to heavy rains and naxalite issue the possibility of trek to Narasimha parvata was faint. In such a case we planned to see Kudlu teertha falls near Hebri. So everything was set. I packed my bag and brought it to office to avoid last minute misadventures. I nearly missed the bus due to heavy traffic last time. Ankur and Mudit were going to HYD from Majestic. So I joined them to Majestic. We took an auto from Honeywell office at Bannerghatta road. We were too early to Majestic and have to wait for a long time for Kokil and Sahil. Finished dinner at the usual Andhra restaurant at Majestic. Ankur, Mudit and Sahil boarded buses to HYD and in a short while Kokil and myself were in a bus heading to Agumbe. The bus goes thru Shimoga, Teerthahalli and takes nearly 9 hours.

Next day morning we woke up to a pleasant cloud covered surroundings. The atmosphere was just the way I was expecting. It started to rain as we were getting closer to Agumbe. There was countless streams beside the roads. The road itself washed with non-stop rains during the night.
We were at Agumbe by 6:30 next day. I enquired for a small guest house near the bus stand. It was already booked but to our luck there was a new Hotel (Mallya lodge) which came up recently. We got a decent room for 300\-. The young owner of this Hotel(Sudheendra) is quite a nice chap who can converse in English and Hindi. This is always gud for our group as we don't have any Kannadigas. We were informed that it is highly impossible to go to Narasimha parvata as Police is not giving any permission. Moreover no guide will dare to enter the jungle in heavy monsoons. This was understandable as Agumbe experienced severe downpour this time of the year. Huge trees have fallen to ground taking electric poles with them. The village didn't had current for last 2 days. The streams were flooded, there was no sunlight the whole day and everything was damn wet. This is a tough life if one has to live in such conditions even for few days.

Immediately after freshening up we headed for B'fast. Then we took a bus going to Hebri. We got down at a stop where there is a big arch. Kudlu teertha is 10 km from this juncion. On enquiry we were told that there will be a vehicle which can take us to closer to Kudlu. We waited for some time and decided to go by walking. As luck will have it, the bus soon arrived. We boarded the bus and got down at a junction. Kudlu was another 6 km left from this junction. The climate was too good. It was raining all around and climate was cool and pleasant. We took out our raingear and started walking. The walk was pleasant in the rain. This was something I always wanted to feel. Walking in the rains with no one to stop you. We came across a river which was flowing furiously. We didn't even noticed this river in the month of March when we were here. I was enjoying the rain very much. some times it rained heavily for few mins before dropping down to the usual beat. It was a nice feeling. Only problem was that I was not able to take out my camera for snaps. We had very few snaps in this trip. After a long walk on the road (which we realized on the way back in the Jeep) we reached a small house where tar road ends. Immediately after that one has to cross the Sitanadi river. This was a small stream in March but not now. It's flooded and had taken down many trees. It was flowing with a trememndous speed. There is a Y fork after crossing the river. The left is a tar road and the right is a mud road. Avoid the templatation to take left and proceed on the mud road. There was not a living soul on this path. We just kept walking on this road. There were lot of tiny streams flowing across the path. At some places the path itself turned into a stream. The place was amazing as all the plants, trees and grass were drenched in rain water. We kept walking and at one point I got a doubt whether we are on the right track. Last march we came on bikes and hence the distance between the river we crossed and the final destination didn't looked much. But now we were walking for nearly half an hour and there was no sign of an end. Finally when clouds of confusion were fully engulfing me, I saw the steep climb which I remembered from last time. Within few minutes we were in an opening. We could see all the beautiful hills around us with numerous unknown falls. There were three very big falls which we noticed from far. The sheer beauty of the falls can be seen from the distance. I was impressed by one particular fall which was quite wide and amazing from distance. After few quick snaps we ventured towards Kudlu. Applied tobacco powder to avoid leeches. we had to cross a stream in the beginning. This was unnoticeable in March but now it was in full flow. The water was gusing over the rocks which were completely submerged. There was hardly any way to cross it. We tried for couple of hours to cross it upstream or down stream. But it was too risky to cross it. For the first time I gave up to Nature's challenge. It was for good as crossing it wud have definitely swept us away. It was little disappointing but It was ok as no one with the given resources wud be able to cross it.
So we tunred back. Had lunch of biscuits and bananas and then it was a long way back home. We rested at the last house near the river. This was the first time we were sitting down since the beginning of the trek. Then it was a long way back to main road. Fortunately we stopped a milk van who dropped us at the main road. It was such a great relief. As soon as v thanked him and crossed the road, v got a bus to Agumbe. It was a perfect timing. So by 5:00 we were resting in our Hotel room. We went into sleep pretty fast. It was raining cats and dogs outside. At around 7:00 we woke up and went out for dinner. I was disappointed to know that Hotel Taj is not serving Dinner that day. Perhaps they were not finding enough customers at this time of the year and hence temporarily closed. We had dinner of neeru dosa and Masala dosa at a near by hotel. We went to bed pretty early.

Plan for Sunday was to visit Jogigundi falls, Sirimane falls and hang out at Sringeri Mutt. The day progressed according to the plan. We visited Jogigundi in Rasheed's Auto. The waterfall is small but still impressive. As ususal what we saw was an enormous amount of water flowing fast. Well this is what I had come to see. Nature in it's full fury. Checked out from Hotel and headed to Sringeri from where we were supposed to go to Kigga to see Sirimane falls. Bus services are pretty gud. We were at Sringeri in no time. But we had to spend some time at Sringeri bus stand to catch a bus to Kigga. Finally we decided to take an auto for Kigga which is nearly 12 km. As it was to happen, Kigga bus came as soon as we started in Auto. Kigga is a small village. It is scenic with all the houses lined up beside a long road ending at Kigga temple. The road to sirimane is from the right of the temple. Autos can take u help u in travelling 5 kms of the total 9 kms. I think they can take u right till falls in summer. But this time they can't oblidge. So we started walking the final 4 km. The mud road had become quite soft at places. There were few trees fallen on the road. It took us 30-40 mintues to reach Sirimane falls. It goes without saying that fall was full due to incessant rains. It is a small fall but quite beautiful. If ur definition of a waterfall is 100 mts plus then you can avoid this place. I entered the falls for a quick bath. Despite the sheer force of the water it is possible to get close to the fall as it is shallow. The trek back was quite pleasant. Kokil was amazed to witness the dishonesty a dog when we didn't gave him any food. The dog shifted for more prospective group.

We walked the entire stretch back to Kigga. We bought down a Jack fruit from a tree beside the road. Unfortunately it turned out to be quite raw. Once at Kigga, we had lunch and saw a small marraige ceremony being perfromed at Kigga temple. It was drizzling and a nice time and place to get married. After that we headed to Sringeri. Checked in the Mutt's guest houses. It costed 75\- and the room we got had a beautiful view of Tunga river. Kokil spent a long time at the window admiring the view. We did little brid watching of another kind from the window. After a fresh bath we visited the Sarada devi temple. This place had a nice feeling about it. I visited this temple three times and every time the peace and tranqulity of the place touches me. Especially this time of the year when the climate was so pleasant. First time v crossed the bridge to go to the ashram on other side of the river. It was quite peaceful and I could have spent days at this place. The views from the bridge was too good. The cool winds of the mosoon were flowing past me. We visited the temple and by this time it started raining. We waited for some time till I took some nice pics. After that it was pretty much fast. checked out and caught the bus back to Bangalore. The journey back home was a bad one. Though I ensured to book front seats but a big lady with her infant son were too much to sit with. The kid kept kicking me and I was having a tough time to even sit in my seat. Overall the trip was a cool one. I wished to see nature in it's full fury and I succeeded in seeing it. The streams we came across were flooded. The falls were full and gushing. It was raining most of the day. It rained close to 40 mm on Saturday in Agumbe. The trip was quite simple without much arguing\convincing required with a big gang. Kokil is a perfect partner for trekking trips like this. He matches me when it comes to the mental\ physical toughness and tolerance required in such trips.