Kodachadri Trek

About the place:
Kodachadri is in Shivamogga (Shimoga) district, 1343 meters above sea level. A beatific hill abode that overlooks the panoramic Western Ghats. It is clothed with splendid evergreen forests. This place is is around 380 KMs from Bangalore and 20KM from Kollur. Kodachadri is famed for its glorious sunrises and sunsets. These hills (4411ft.) constitute one of the largest forest areas in Karnataka, and part of this region forms the Mookambika Nature Reserve.

[Day 1] Reached Shivamoga from Bangalore, early morning at 6:00AM (5hrs 30mins – Journey time). From Shivamoga, we took a bus to Nittur (3hrs 30mins – Journey time). On the way to Nittur, the bus stops at some place for breakfast. Don’t miss out having sweet fried buns with some spicy coconut chutney. Finally, we reached Nittur and had our breakfast at Hotel Shree Vinayaka.

After having our breakfast, we started our journey towards Hidlumane waterfalls. One can take a jeep from Nittur or go by walk. We preferred walking as most of us were fresh and we wanted to explore more.

We traveled for almost 4kms and reached Hidlumane. It is a small shop named after the famous Hidlumane Falls. They serve buttermilk here (also known as Mattha also known as Chaanch in Hindi) and it was the best way to kill thirst.

From here you trek your way to Hidlumane waterfalls. The path begins with a lush green field.

And then turns itself into a rocky vertical climb.

And finally we reached the falls. Breath taking view. Isn’t it?

After spending considerable amount of time at the waterfalls, we started trekking up the water falls taking the road less traveled to reach Sarvajan Peetha. A view of the path.

It is a very exhausting path and there are chances that one might run out of water. So, make use of the small water streams that you come across.

A view of our base camp for that night. It took us almost 4hrs from Hidlumane falls to reach this place. (6km uphill trek)

A dead snake.

We reached the base camp and dumped our luggage at the guest house. From here, it takes almost 90mins to reach the peak of Sarvajna Peetha. The Sarvajna Peetha or the Shankarapeetham on the Kodachadri peak is believed to be the place where Shankaracharya spent his days in meditation and attained the highest seat of knowledge. A view from the top.

It was a very pretty setting – white fluffy clouds, gray skies, green mountains and veritable forest cover interspersed with backwaters to the endless bounds. The winds speak the waves at this point. (30kms from this peak lies the Arabian Sea).

Sitting at the edge of the cliff and worshiping our very own Shankaracharya a.k.a Baba Hari Kiran. It is an amazing feeling that you get once you reach the peak. The monsoon effect was still in place rendering the mountain sides resplendent with lush greenery.  Clouds passed by us – above us and below us.

A lazy walk from here led us to the peak where yet another spectacular show was about to unravel. The grand sunset Kodachadri is so famous for! Overlooking the west coast in a distance, a clear unobstructed view with only clouds daring to get in the way which we have no complaints with whatsoever, was awaiting us. The sunset shoot was an elegant affair anyway.

Downhill night trek. As the sun went down, we were soon joined by the stars. We could even spot the semi-elliptical path of our milky way galaxy from this point. It was definitely one of those evenings I’d rather remember for a long time.

[Day2] What makes Kodachadri a special place, is the unobstructed view of sunset and sunrise on either side of the peak. A view of the sunrise.

Arishinagundi falls is one the spectacular falls of Western Ghats hidden deep inside the jungles of Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary near Kollur. Set amidst luxuriant greenery and wilderness, the falls are a sight to the sore eye. A few kilometers of walk will take you into the heart of the jungle where sunrays find it hard to get through and the track seems to be either never-ending or disappearing into oblivion.

The usual and saner approach would be to reach Santosh Hotel at Vollur and take a guide from here to the falls. This hotel is on the way to Kodachadri peak and while returning back, one could go to the falls which is a 2 hour steep descent through the thicket. Then after visiting the falls, you could climb up from the other side to reach a jeep track which meets the road head to Kollur, 2 kms before Kollur to be precise. A view of the steep decent from Sarvajna Peetha to Vollor. (Took us almost 2hrs to reach Santosh Hotel). One wrong step, that could be the last step of your life.

After reaching Santosh Hotel, we asked the hotel owner for a guide. Unfortunately there weren’t any guides available and we had to find the path to Arishinagundi falls on our own. On our way, we asked a villager for the path and he said take a left when you see a broken electric pole. We kept walking for hours to spot the broken pole, but we just couldn’t figure it out. Finally we reached a point which looked like a broken pole and took a left turn there. Soon, after traveling 30mins downhill we realized that we reached the same path that we had traveled earlier. At this moment, we decided to cancel our trek to Arshinahundi falls and reach Kollur before 4PM.

As we kept walking, we reached the highway road where we met Ravi – a village boy from Vollor. We asked him if he could show us the path to Arshinahundi falls, to which he partly agreed saying he will walk along with us till a deviation(the electric pole) comes and then from there onwards we have to figure it out by ourselves. He lead us till the deviation he had promised. From here, it was a downhill trek for almost 3kms with a path full of leeches and poisonous snakes. We kept trekking downhill and finally reached a stream (not the waterfall) though we could hear the waterfall.

A quick reality check said we were all too hungry and tired and so not prepared for a tough trek but the mind was not ready to accept defeat yet. Once your mind is set, it takes little effort to get past the hurdles overlooking the obstacles. Like I said before, the route looks completely abandoned and forests have a way of making one feel claustrophobic. No water, no food and no sleep were showing its effect – I was feeling giddy and I desperately needed water which none of us had. There was a moment when my head started spinning and I was about to crash on a path full of leeches and poisonous snakes. I ate some dates and had couple of spoons of jam to bring back my glucose levels to normal state. And finally after 3hrs, we reached this sign board.

Arasinagundi Falls. I think it was totally worth it.

From here, it’s 3kms downhill trek to a point on the highway which is 2kms from Kollur.

The trek to Arishinagundi and back would be close to 16kms and the route as such does not have a heavy gradient. Then you might wonder what made the trek so tough for fit trekkers that we were. Circumstances! Without lunch and a drop of water, and the most important thing – without a ready mind it can sure turn into a challenging task at hand. I had to constantly try and motivate myself to take each step forward. Body had given up long back but the mind continued to push forward – a true mind over body experience it was! Loved the challenge and loved the group – Rakshith, Vanamali, Pramod, Satish, Rajeev, Aditya & Hari Kiran. Arishinagundi will always be a special memory.

P.S: Down with body pains and fever, 30-40 leech stings and cuts and bruises to heal. Might take a day or two to recover

P.S.S: Liver Transplant 19 year old boy. Request for funds and help. http://fundacause.posterous.com/liver-transplant-for-a-19-year-old-hyderabad

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