Sharavathi Valley Trek 29th and 30th Dec 2008

Sharavathi Valley Trek 29th and 30th Dec 2008

I had missed an earlier oppurtunity with Sampath and couldn't afford to loose another!

I was taken ill for almost more than a week before this trek and the fatigue continued. To rub salt on it; I had a stomach upset through out this trek. That was the health I carried on to
this trek. Thanks to Sampath for booking a sleeper coach else ....,

An otherwise extrovert; I had to behave an introvert on this trail. All said and done. I had a good trek and a good company too.

Let me stop this blabber :)

Bangalooru to Sagara to Kargal

It was a good start on the Maharaja Travels sleeper coach bus. We had couple of groups who knew each other; a group from Thought works, a group from McCafee, we also had individual trekkers like me; It was a good mix.We had a well laid out mail from Sampath about the start point and the trek details. He even indicated about the weather being clear there in Kattinkaaru and the trail. But Bangalore had the side effects of a cyclone/depression else where. The bus moved and I hit the bed in no time. Most of us woke up before we reached Sagara. Narayan Boarded the bus and was introduced as the guide. Sampath dropped off at Sagara to attend another camp. We reached Karagal. Narayan took us to an okay hotel for the morning chores. Since it was mens only group, it didn't matter much.

Most of us had Idli, Vada, and coffee at Kargal itself; Narayan was busy organizing the vehicle. He later informed us about the breakfast arrangement being made at a different place. But
staying in an empty stomach after downloading was a tough task. Well Idli Vada coffee and the vehicle was ready. Some of the members took a little long to join but eventually the
journey started and were heading towards Kattinakaaru a quiet village place on this route.

We had a healthy breakfast a different kind of Kadabu, I dono how many realised the importance of having that kind of breakfast, adding to that was a ginger kashaya, hats off to the
organizers there. The Kadabu had all the carbos to give immediate energy and the kashaya was good enough for a trekker to be stimulated. The vehicles pushed all the lazy bones for a
little more distance and distanced away.

The start Day 1

We had the load distribution, mainly the groceries. Finally we were all set for the start. The weather gods were kind and it was a good weather to start any trek. I was on medication and a bad stomach upset. But I had to trek this trek was too good to be missed.

The Cameras had made their presence already. I vividly remember not long back; we had the aim and shoot Cameras, then came the SLRs and now people are all upgraded every body has either a digital or a SLR or D-SLR and all branded ones :). I still remember the jokes we used to cut on the STD booths being available at the top of the peak as a irony; But now we carry our phones and are able to make calls at the top of the peak. Well Technology and economy has had its effect on the trekking industry.

The trek trail was going downhill and I was wondering what's in stock. Before I could realize we had reached Basavanabaayi. We stopped and went for the a Water fall there. Folks enjoyed a lot, I didn't venture in to the water as I was recovering from a viral infection. Instead I ventured around and explored. We had a fantastic lunch there, thanks to the cooks and Narayan for a well prepared Rice Samabar, appala and of course pickles.

Post Lunch Day 1

Now the trail moved upwards and light showers had made their way during lunch time making us trek a bit faster, but the upward slope slowed us down. There were quite a few breaks as we moved in side the thick jungle, the whole group had to be intact a slight deviation and it would be calling for trouble. There was no path as such in most of the places and Narayan's ability in steering us in the right direction was amazing and commendable.

He took us in shortcuts as he knew the jungle inside out. We did see some of the pug marks of some animals and being close with Narayan in the front group helped me learn the animal trails as well. Leeches had made their route inside and were partying by now. There were few trekkers who didn't bother much and there were few who were busy removing it.

Lights off on Day 1

Photographers had a festive session all along, But the trek was tiring, some of the trekkers repeatedly enquired/asked about the end or destination :). We finally made it to the destination around 6:15 PM. First was to remove the shoes and then immediately remove the leeches. I was not well stomach was noisy. I relaxed till 8:30 PM and when I woke up dinner was ready. Folks had dinner and one by one searched for the sleeping slots. We did have some issues, eventually all of us got comfortable sleeping space. Few of them were busy photographing the stars and the night sky.

Day 2 Start Day 2

had a late start, we left the backpacks and headed for the water falls. First it was the view point; We were shown the horizons and explained about the place. From Murudeshwara to local villages, we could vaguely see the sea from there as there was haze cover. Later we headed towards another view point from where we could see the Belli Kambha Water Falls. It was a good one, again the haze cover was a little too much and not much of Cameras picked the image properly. We had a funny incident of a fellow trekker loosing the trail and shouting for help; He was talking over the cell phone and we had made our way to the view point. When the call was over he found none of us and the there were too many paths; some leading to dead ends. This trail is that dangerous if one doesn't know the area one should stick to the group.

Water Falls Day 2

We finally headed for the Water Falls. Naraya showed us the falls from the top and what a view it was, one has to see it to beleive it. All the trekkers showed skills of Photography. Now we headed down the water falls to see the magnificient of the 3 cascading layers of this waterfall. It was galmourous good and provoking. But for me every body bathed, danced and spent a good lot of time under the falls, I had no intention of taking risk and have a relapse of the viral fever. Sun bathing and relaxing followed suit after this.

Lunch and Return Day 2

We had hot lunch prepared by the cooks, as any treks should have; there should be some thing missing or forgotten, this time we had missed the plates. Narayan had some make shift plates in the form of jungle leaves. After a good lunch, we started heading back after having a value time at the water falls. We relaxed a bit and picked up our back packs; Rain Gods finally showered on us and made the return trail a bit faster. We had to wait a bit longer at the end of the trail as 3 of the trekkers slipped on to a different trail.

The Return

We took the local bus up to Kargal, and later the pride of Karnataka the KSRTC bus to Sagara. We had dinner at Sagara. We had initially booked the seater but our folks showed awesome negotiation skills and got few sleeper coaches, my special thanks to the ones who had saved a berth for me. We reached Bangalore.

For me, the day started with typical Monday Blues. 25 people laid off in our office on Monday, 1st Dec 2008, welcome to IT City Bangalore.