Shishila to Ombattu gudda Trek

Resumed trekking after 3 long years, breathing fresh air in mountains after long long time. Beautiful Experience.

Its almost 3 years now when I shifted to Bangalore for job. I liked this city, everything was so good so far except few things, I am missing my friends and all weekend treks. Trekking started finally, hope it will continue from here onward.

To be frank I really find it difficult to understand the name of places and mountains in Karnataka. Kannada is really tough man. I came to know correct name of place we visited last weekend, only after I came back and searched name on google ;)

I was expecting to start with some easy trek, so I can test my stamina after gap of 3 years, but something exactly opposite was waiting for me on this trek.

15th February 2013

Ravi, Sharma, Laxminarayan, Rupa, and me. only 5 of us turned out on bus-stop at majestic (Bangalore central bus stand) at 9.30pm. We started journey with full of energy and enthusiasm. After an hour and half discussion about India, politics, software companies and some other junk topics we went for a sleep.

16th February 2013

3 am in morning, conductor told that our stop came, we had plan to get down little before Dharmasthala. I looked out from window, it was like empty ground with haunted kind of house in center with no sign of human. I looked at laxmi thinking, is this where we are going to get down? Immediately he told conductor that we will get down at Dharmasthala only, it was a relief :) I went to bed again.

Dharmsthala Mandir

At 3:45 am in morning we reached Dharmasthala. Beautiful climate outside, Big statue of Shankar Bhagavan on bus stop. we got down and decided to search room. We went to "Saketh" Complex to get the room. Its a huge building with accommodation for devotees. It was neat and clean and they were charging only 100/- per room.

I went for some more sleep while Ravi, Laxmi, and sharma were digging into the survey map to decide root for the trek. We took a bath after sometime and went for darshan in temple. Small drizzle in the queue made me realize that I do not have anything to fight with rain. I realized its going to be rainy trek in February :P.

We booked a sumo, to go to Shishila from Dharmasthala where we were suppose to start the trek. It charged us 800 for around 32 km. Sharma bought one sickle on the way which helped a lot throughout the trek. we extended journey till Holegundi where we actually started the trek. 

Regular path for this trek is something like this, Shishila-Ettina Bhuja-Ombattu Gudda-laxmi estate- hoskere. But Ravi had something else in mind, some shortcut/Adventure lets see where it landed us to. It was Holegundi to OG and then as shown in map.

One of the most beautiful thing about this place is, I have never seen so many butterflies at one place roaming around freely ... yes not even in "Bannerghatta butterfly park" :). So many different butterflies painted beautifully were just welcoming us from all around. Immediately laxmi shouted, he saw one big snake, and we came to know that we are going to meet many strangers on the way :)

One lady in village shown us the way to our new shortcut from backyard of her house. then we crossed a river (or big stream may be) to start our journey. So far so good, we were walking continuously on small trail which landed us on big jeep trail (11am may be), we kept following that trail. After a while we saw a house, when asked, they said this trail ends there. And we should go till the "Nayi halla" water stream and then find route to OG. He said its 25km journey ahead. (This is my observation till now, anywhere you go all villagers have their own variant of "km" for calculating distance  :P, It was actually not 25)

First time we lost the route, many such followed afterwords. We started walking and decided to have lunch when we reach Nayi halla stream. We came near Nayi Halla, but still kept walking towards north in search of intersection that villager told where we need to cross the stream. Later we quickly had lunch and started next journey. It was very hot till then but lot of water was there around streams.

After losing pathways many times we reached near a big waterfall. Now sharma decided to try and search towards right, reach top and then go in direction we want. He penetrated lot during steep climb but no luck, so we decided to change route (4:30pm), we started descending back and  heavy rain started. No idea where to go, should we move back or try new route? only two hours before it becomes dark. No one knew what to do.

Ravi decided to climb on left, rain did not stop, somehow we need to reach top before it becomes dark and come out of jungle. This is where I found my stamina was finished, thanks to laxmi who was pushing me all the way during this climb. We could find some trails but they ended nowhere. Direction was right, but we could not see the way. 6:30pm rain was pouring heavily, we decided to stop and stay for night in one of the dried out stream.

We prepared shelter for night with 4X6 plastic sheet tied from four end and spent entire night sitting below that sheet. Here you will realize body can take rest in any place if its really tired. Rain stopped after a while, me and laxmi came out of shelter :P and slept outside. Possibility of snakes and leaches was in mind but I did not bother much. I remember ed night we spent during harishchandra gad trek where we were in open space for entire night, fortunately I had a plastic that time also. Morning 3 am rain started again, we came back to seating position from sleeping. 12 hours in that night were full of emotions, fear, thrill, some happiness and full of god prayers in our mind. :D

17th February 2013

Early morning I and laxmi went to see if there is  way ahead and ravi and sharma went back to find jeep trail. Ravi could find jeep trail behind broken tree and dense thorn trees. we started again, happy that we got big jeep trail, but still could not come out of forest. we were always checking altitude and matching with OG altitude to see if we are near. Again that jeep trail got divided into two trails, both heading nowhere. Now what to do? we already wasted 1.5 hours in morning, either we should go back (horrible and difficult way on return) or find some other way. Me and laxmi were insisting on returning back, sharma was neutral at this stage. Ravi still had belief, we decided, he will climb small hillock to see if there is a way, and luck was with us this time, we found big jeep trail and reached laxmi estate in half an hour.

Yeah we were still not on OG, but atleast were safely out of forest. We decided not to go till OG and headed back to Hoskere. We had breakfast and started on 10:30 am. This was known route so no worries, we reached within 3 hours on base. Took a bus back to Mudigere and then to Chickmagalur. Took one room, took a bath and spent time playing UNO till night waiting for our bus on 12 am. 

Reached safely to bangalore next day and back to work :(

Yes it was tough, fearing but still I enjoyed this one, hoping to follow with many other treks exploring Karnataka hills after Maharashtra peaks. :)

Njoy Madi...

Please refer below blog, written by sharma, it has useful contact numbers and route information.
http://crazy-hikers.blogspot.in/2013/02/shishila-to-ombattu-gudda.html

Dhak Bahiri- ढाक बहिरी

Well it was the first trek I lead. My friends from company always wanted to come for a trek but timing never matched before. This time we kept all our work aside and got ready for Dhak. Pankaj (Jumbo man), aman (little fearless trekker), Arjun (Papa's), Ganesh (Sabu) and Jignesh (most enthusiastic), and me got together for this trek.

We decided to go on bikes to avoid dependency on public transport. All guys left from pune at around 6.30am and I joined them at around 7.30am from talegaon. We did breakfast (sorry Jumbo breakfast) at kamshet and moved to jambivali (base village). There is a route (kaccha rasta) for four wheeler till Kondaneshwar temple, so we parked bikes at kondaneshwar temple.

We started around 9 am to climb; a local villager came to show the way. Climate was cool and cloudy so even though we started late Mr. SUN did not cause any trouble for us.

I must mention, during the all way there were enough arrows and boards indicating direction towards Dhak, so there is no need to take any guide with you.

At around 11 we started descending through col, between kalkarai pinnacle and dhak, and reached the rock patch.

Jignesh was just not able to find the way ahead and was asking "abe yahpe age janeka rasta kidhar hai?”

As all of them came first time at dhak, so it was definitely a thrilling experience for them to walk on a plain rock. I kept one rope with me for safety. We kept our bags down and started climbing.

First patch was having steps in the rock for around 20 - 25 ft. approx. aman and pankaj climbed without rope; others used rope just to ensure safety, which actually took fear out of their mind. Everyone was climbing with calm head and taking their own time to climb, which was good.

Second patch was to go horizontal towards wooden ladder. I tied a rope at two ends and asked everyone to come from inner side of the rope, so even if someone loses balance rope will help to balance.

From there everyone climbed ladder easily with the help of ropes already fixed at the place.We relaxed for some time in cave, enjoyed beautiful view of nature. There were two mountains far from us, looking like the transparent mountains one behind another.

We started descending after some time, this time everyone was more confident than they were while climbing. We were able to come down much quickly. Belay was given just for the sake of safety.

Now there was a surprise waiting for us at the place where we kept our bags. Mr. Monkey has opened my bag and all food that I brought was gone. And we discovered that we were left with only 2 liter of water.

We climbed col and had some biscuits, also decided not to eat in village because we were not having much water with us. After having some water, jignesh told that he has only one bottle left, and we kept that for drinking on the way. We travelled the way as much as we can without water, at the end when we saw Kondaneshwar temple we decided to rest and have some water. And at that time jignesh started searching a bottle in his bag? And he said that we don't have any water with us. (Jignesh you deserve a kick from every one of us.). It actually gave us moral support that we have some water with us on the way.

We had some water and lemon juice at jambivali, ate puri's brought by pankaj (what a relief, I was so hungry all the way). Then we came to my home at around 6.30pm, had some snacks and all went back to home safely.

It was a fantastic experience for me. I realized the responsibility on the trek leaders, under whom I did all my previous treks. All guys supported a lot, no panics even in the worst situation. Thanks a lot to all of you, it was an awesome trek.

जंगल सफारी : वासोटा नागेश्वर

नमस्कार, हा माझा पहिलाच ब्लाँग. आजपर्यंत भरपुर ट्रेक केले. ह्या वेळेस मी आमच्या वासोटा नागेश्वर ट्रेकचा अनुभव लिहितोय.


नेहमीप्रमाणे ह्या आठवड्यात परत e-mail स्पर्धा सुरु झाली, पहिले तापोळा, मग मारलेश्वर आणी शेवटी वासोटा फिक्स झाले. हो नाही करता करता शेवटच्या वेळी ५ जण तयार झालो. बिचारा CD (चेतन दिक्षीत) खूप नाराज झाला. अखेर आम्ही ५ जण मी, लँबडा ( श्रीधर पुरंदरे ) , सीडलेस ( श्रीकांत ), दिग्विजय, चेतन च्या गाडीतून निघालो.


पुणे - सातारा - बामणोली आणी तिथून बोटीने वासोटा असा आमचा प्रवास होता. एक चांगली गोष्ट म्हणजे, सगळ्यांचं वेळेत आवरलं, आम्ही ४ april ला सकाळी ६.३० वाजता निघालो. नाश्टा वैगरे करुन आम्ही १०.४५ पर्यंत बामणोली ला पोहोचलो. CD च्या बडबडीमूळे हा वेळ कसा गेला कळलच नाही, त्यात मधून मधून seedless बोअर मारतच होता.


आम्ही गेलो तेव्हा फार गर्दी नव्हती. forest office ची परवानगी आणी बोटीचं बुकिंग ह्या २ गोष्टी करायच्या होत्या. forest office ला ५५ रुपये प्रत्येकी आणी एक दिवस रहाण्याचे ४०० रुपये extra ग्रुप साठी ( १५ लोकंपर्यंत ). बोटीसाठी डायरेक्ट ग्रुप बुकिंग १४०० रुपये प्रत्येक ग्रुप साठी ( १५ लोकंपर्यंत ).


बोटीने वासोट्याच्या पायथ्याशी जायला २ तास लागतात. आम्ही ५ जणचं असल्याने बोटीचे मालक असल्या सारखे बोटीत लोळत पडलो होतो. कोयना धरणाचा तो प्रचंड पाणीसाठा बघून आम्ही थक्क झालो. मालवणच्या समुद्रात बघितलेल्या त्या dolphin च्या जोडप्याची आठवण आली. पण इथे कुठेही मासे दिसले नाही.











अखेर आम्ही वासोट्याच्या पायथ्याशी पोचलो. forest office तर्फे तिथे रहाण्यासाठी चांगले तंबू व पाण्याची सोय केली आहे. वासोट्यावर किंवा जंगलात रहाण्याची परवानगी नसल्याने खाली तंबूतच रहावे लागते. आमचं सामान तंबूत टाकून आम्ही वासोट्याला निघालो. दुपारी साधारण १ वाजता चढायला सुरुवात केली. दाट जंगलामुळे भरपुर सावली होती. नागेश्वर च्या फाट्यापर्यंत पोहोचायला १ ते १.२५ तास लागतो, तिथून पुढे ३० मिनिटात वासोट्यावर.








वर जाउन पाहिले पोटभर जेवलो. जेवल्यानंतर नागेश्वर पाँईंट बघायला गेलो, तिथे खोटा नागेश्वर आणी नागेश्वर दिसतो. इथे पोहोचल्यावर आपला सगळा शीण निघून जातो. डावीकडे बाबू कडा आणी उजवीकडे नागेश्वर आणी मधे हिरवीगार झाडे असे सुंदर द्रूष्य बघायला मिळते. इथूनच नागेश्वर ला जाण्याचा रस्ता दिसतो.





नागेश्वर पोँईंट

















नागेश्वर पोँईंट













नंतर आम्ही बाबू कड्यावर गेलो , विस्तीर्ण, तितकाच रुद्र आणि तितकाच आकर्षक असा बाबू कडा पाहून हरिशचंद्र गडावरील कोकणा कड्याची आठवण आली.






इथे पाण्याचे कुंड सुद्धा आहे. आम्ही थंड हवा, आणि रम्य निसर्गाचा आनंद घेत होतो, इतक्यात तिथे काळे ढग आले, आणि आम्ही निघणार तेवढ्यात जोरदार गारांचा पाऊस सुरु झाला. एप्रिल महिन्यात गारांचा पाऊस ? माझा २००९ मधला पाहिला पाऊस आणि तो पण गारांचा, मजा आलई. गार हवा अणि धो धो पावसाचा आनंद घेत आम्ही वासोटा उतरलो.





साधारण ७ वाजता तंबूत परतल्यावर , CD ने मस्त milkmade चा चहा पाजला. पोटभर चहा पिउन जे झोपलो ते डायरेक्ट सकाळी उठलो. भुकेचं भानंच राहिलं नाही. रात्री उंदरांच्या चुळबुळी व्यतिरिक्त काहिच त्रास झाला नाही.







सकाळीलवकरंच उठलो, रात्री भरपुर पाऊस पडल्याने नागेश्वर ला जायचं की नाही ते ठरत नव्हतं. हो नाही करता करता आम्ही निघालो. डोंगराळ भागातला पाऊस थोडा विचित्रच, रात्री पावसाने थैमान घातलं आणि सकाळी रस्ता कोरडा, खालची पानं सुकलेली, पण हवेतला गारवा मात्र कायम होता.







नागेश्वर चा रस्ता पुर्ण जंगलातून , पण आम्हाला प्राणी दिसले नाही. एक रानकोंबडा आणि गव्याची पाऊलं तेवढी दिसली. हा रस्ता खुपच छान आहे, एका बाजूला दरी आणि दुसरीकडे जंगल. उन आलं तरी दरीतून येणारी थंड हवा त्याचा त्रास होउ देत नाही. पण रात्री या रस्तयावरुन जाणे टाळावे.










नागेश्वरच्या गुहेत शंकराचं सुंदर मंदीर आहे. जाताना उजव्या बाजुला पाण्याचे कुंड आहे. पाणी उन्हाळ्यात थोडं खराब असतं पण seedless ची chlorine ची बाटली कामास आली. नागेश्वर वरुन आम्ही अपेक्षेपेक्षा लवकर खाली आलो.












खाली आल्यावर बँगा उचलल्या आणि तसेच पाण्यात पोहायला उतरलो. मनसोक्त पोह्यल्यावर बोटीने परतीचा प्रवास सुरु केला. २ तासात साधारण संध्याकाळी ६ वाजता आम्ही बामणोली ला पोहोचलो.



गाडीने परतताना सुद्धा, थंड हवा, धुके अश्या रमणीय वातावरणात आमचा ट्रेक संपला.