Ombattu Gudda - Treasure of Tranquility

It finally happened – One year after the disappointment of getting lost and not being able to make it to the top of the mystical OMBATTU GUDDA. It all started when Vivek messaged “maga ombattu gudda”. I, of course, replied “let’s go!” without thinking twice!! I met vivek over lunch and discussed about things to do be done (hiring tent, things to carry etc).

Within a few days, we were all set to conquer Ombattu Gudda. Vivek had arranged for tents, sleeping bags and other trekking gear. We were a group of 7 - of which I knew only Vivek and Santhosh.

I was late to the bus, to begin with (thanks to Bangalore’s traffic!), but somehow made it!! After getting into the bus, the introduction session started, and I got to know Vinu, Rohith, Vinay and Shashank as we finally left Bangalore at around 10 pm (7/01/2011). After chatting with Vivek for a while I took a goodnight's sleep. The next day(8/01/2011) when I woke up, we were at Gundya check post. We reached the check post at around 5.30am and stayed there till we finished breakfast. At 7am, we started walking on the Highway till we reached ADDAHOLE BRIDGE, 1km from the check post. MISSION ‘’OMBATTU GUDDA’’ started!!

Addahole bridge (photo courtesy –shashank)

(Turn right to get into jeep track)

The peak is so named because there are 9 prominent humps on top, almost in a straight line (In Kannada, Ombattu Gudda translates to 9 peaks). The weather was pleasant and the locale was good -the jeep track first crosses the village houses, then the plantations and then narrows down and becomes a small path which leads into the forest. The leeches started savouring our blood from there on (especially from Shashank). With two more days to finish the mission, we enjoyed the walk and did not find the need to hurry.

       Into the dark,deep and dense

We had our first share of confusion when the road split. We discussed which route to take and decided to explore the path to the right (the left path takes you to Kabinhole River in less time and the distance to cover is less as well - I had taken this path the previous time). With the soaring humidity, I (we) were sweating profusely and the first stream came as a boon. We rested for a while, removed our shoes to cross the stream (we had to do this every time we came across a stream, except for Vivek who trekked with his sandals!).

Near first stream

On the way to the river, there were several photo sessions (I’m sure you will do the same) and even met another group. I shared my previous experience with them as I walked along. But later I realized that I had left my group long back!! I went back in search of them but couldn’t find anyone! The other group members didn’t allow me to go back alone!! So I had to tag along with the other group till the river crossing. After a few hours we reached the river and everyone started taking a dip in the clear water, while I worried about my group. After few minutes of waiting I could spot vivek! I could finally smile and we decided to stay together no matter what (which is very important).

Kabinhole River (photo courtesy –shashank)

After an hour of freshening up and resting, we were set to move to our next destination of the day - the falls in the course of the river. We walked along the river. Though we didn’t hurry, we were able to reach the falls in an hour. We reached our destination of the day at around 3oclock. We had decided to camp next to the falls (as we had two more days to finish OG). We relaxed for some time and while everyone else was taking a dip ,I and Vinay(sailor) decided to make teppa (a kind of boat) which didn’t work out !!.It was still a good experience and was worth trying.

The falls ( photo courtesy – vivek)

Boat, we called it so :) ( photo courtesy –vivek)

Closer view of falls

The view of the hills and the falls provide an excellent opportunity to click the perfect profile picture! We pitched the tent before it got dark and had few more photo sessions and relaxed on the rocks amidst the greenery, clear blue sky and - most importantly – the silence (except for chirping of birds and the sound of flowing water ). It felt like heaven had descended down here.

As the dark clouds rolled in, we lit the campfire at 6.30pm. The campsite turned out to be quite an attractive setting - we were camping on the sand bed under a huge tree, overlooking the flowing water. It was an excellent place to set up the camp.

First day campsite (photo courtesy –vivek)

Playing with fire.

After “chilling out” by the fire for some time, we decided to have dinner. We had cup noodles, chapathi with MTR Bendi fry and channa masala :) .The night was lovely and the fire was out by 7.30pm. Once the fire was out, the place turned pitch dark. We could hear nothing but the sounds of wilderness and every one soon settled into a good night’s sleep.

DAY 2 (9/01/2011)

Around 6.30am Santhosh woke up and made sure all of us were out of the sleeping bags and by 7.30, we were ready to achieve that day's target, i.e, to make it to the grasslands and as close as possible to Ombattu Gudda .

Ready to get lost. (photo courtesy –Vivek)

This is the place (falls) where most people go wrong. There are many paths to reach Ombattu gudda from this place, like taking the North West direction, or the north east direction as indicated in the map. After a few minutes of contemplation, we (especially me) decided to head DEAD NORTH - and luckily, it turned out to be a wise choice.

To take this dead north direction we had to cross the river, but the river turned out to be deeper than expected. We decided to take our pants off and cross it anyway, knowing it would be difficult to trek with wet pants and shoes!! Santosh tried to jump on the rocks and cross the river, but he fell and got himself badly hurt!!.

River crossing(pants down :D)

After managing to cross the river, we took a break for a while and filled all our water bottles. That was the last source of water in our journey. Again we headed north, which led us into a forest. As we entered the forest, we were welcomed by a giant creeper with thorns all over it.

The creeper

We had to make our own path through the bushes and thorns. Rocks and thorny plants dominated this section and we had to trust our instincts to guide us. After trekking for some time, we used the GPS to find the position and using the map we made sure we were on the right path. Obviously, we didn’t use the GPS to find the route - it would kill the thrill of trekking. The path we made, took its own turns, ascents and descents - whenever we got confused, we checked our position, just to make sure we weren’t getting ourselves lost! We had to climb slippery rocks, take really scary routes. (Words cannot describe the path we made and took; you have to experience it to feel it!!). After few hours of trekking, all of us felt really tired - but not completely exhausted. We took several pit stops and at one point, we realized we had just 3 and half litres of water left! With this we had to survive another day. We had to use water as modestly as possible. After few hours we reached a point where we couldn’t go up any further. We sat there for a bit, while Vinay (sailor) had charted another course. And again we started trekking and within a few minutes, had to climb an 8foot slippery and almost vertical rock!!! We took quite a while to do it and after managing to climb it, we checked our position and found out that we still had to climb around 200mts to make it to the grasslands. At this point, we were left with only 3ltrs of water and a juice packet which vivek refused to open till we reach the top of Ombattu Gudda!!! We dramatically decided not to drink water at all, untill we felt like we will die out of thirst and therefore depended only on fruits and glucose. Vinay and I led the group from there on and finally made it to the grasslands. There were big smiles on all our faces as we started shouting “we found grasslands!!” Of course lots of high fives went around.

Place where we reached grass lands

It was around 12.30pm and the sun showed no mercy on us still. With less than 3ltrs of water left, it was very hard for all of us. We spotted an isolated tree and decided to relax under it for some time. The view from that position was absolutely breathtaking. We could also spot Kumara Parvatha from there (courtesy shashank). We started climbing up the grasslands in the scorching heat. Our smiles didn’t get to last for long as we encountered another patch of forest!!! We had to cross that patch to reach the grasslands on the other side. It was already 2pm and we had to make it to the other side as soon as possible and find a good campsite before sunset. After several failed attempts, Vivek came up with another excellent route; we took that one and made it to the other side within a few minutes! Meanwhile I somehow managed to lose the map!! But luckily Santhosh had a pic of the map on his mobile.

Inching towards gudda

We decided to cover as much grassland as possible on that day but after walking for an hour, by around 5pm, all of us were totally exhausted and we decided to camp. We searched for flat land and pitched the tent. I, Vivek, Shashank and Vinay climbed a small peak to see the sunset and took few snaps. Vivek lost his camera's lens-cover there! With disappointment we climbed down the hill towards the campsite. After chatting and having dinner, all of us retired for the day (much needed sleep). This was the day which sapped the most from us during the entire trip.

Dusk (photo courtesy –vivek)

Sunset

DAY 3 (10/01/2011)

Next morning, Shashank got up at around 5.45 and was capturing the sunrise in his cam. Soon I joined in and took few snaps myself.

Sunrise

By then everyone was up and were all ready to make it to the top of Ombattu Gudda. We had less than 2ltrs of water left for the 7 of us through the entire day, and Vivek still refused to open the juice pack till we reached the top. After struggling a little bit, we made it to the top of Ombattu gudda by around 10.30am.Yay!!!!!! We made it!

On top of gudda !!(L TO R –vivek,vinay,me,rohit,shashank,santoshand vinu)

The view was beautiful and the entire struggle was beginning to pay off! As I sat there, my previous attempt and the night I spent in the forest with no clue of how I would get back to civilization, flashed through my mind.

       View from top ( photo by- shansank)

After another round of high fives and posing for group photos, it was time for the much awaited juice! After sipping the juice and having a few chocolates (and collecting trash left by another group) we started to walk towards the next few humps to reach the jeep track. Walking under the cruel sun was the worst nightmare. We took quite a few breaks before finally making it to the jeep track.

On the way from Gudda to jeep track

After reaching the jeep track, we rested for a while and then discussed which route to take again (left or right). We thought the route to the left would take us to the town and started walking, but it took us to Saraswathi estate!! Though we took the wrong route, it turned out to be a good thing as we got some much needed water. We rested for a while and requested the manager to drop us till lakshmi estate. But he flatly refused, forcing us to head off on foot once again.

                                                                   Path to saraswathi estate

Jeep track (photo courtesy - shashank )

We decided to walk towards Lakshmi estate - around 9kms. We started slowly and gained a little momentum as we progressed. Walking on the jeep track also was not easy as the sun still didn't show any mercy on us and with several necessary breaks in between sailor and I reached Lakshmi estate. After getting to know about the falls near Lakshmi estate, we decided to go there. By that time the others also reached Lakshmi estate and we headed towards the falls.

Bridge which leads to falls near Lakshmi estate

Falls near Lakshmi estate(Photo courtesy –vivek)

Bath in the falls was like taking pain killers as it literally made all our pain vanish, leaving us feeling fresh and breathing life into us. After spending some time in the water and taking pictures, we started towards hoskere.

After an hour of walking leisurely, we managed to reach the estate gate (or hoskere) where the jeep was waiting for us. After taking the final group photo, we boarded the jeep and reached mudigere .After dinner there, I left to Hassan and others went to Bangalore.

It was a great trek and I would like to thank everyone (vivek, santhosh, vinu, vinay, shashank) who made it happen.

Yesssssss we did it!! :)

Finally, my dream to be on top of Ombattu gudda came true and I would love to go once again, taking a different route J

Also, special thanks to Avinash, Sarayu row and vivek who helped me in writing this!!

Itinerary

Duration: Depends on you but ideally 2nights/3days (but we took 3 nights as we wanted to spend two nights in forest)

Day1: Overnight journey to Gundya check post - 270 Kms By Bus( Bangalore –hassan-sakleshpura-gundya cp)
Day2: Reach Gundya Village - Kabbinhole River – Falls- 10kms
Day3: trek forest- reach and cover as much grasslands as possible - 15 km trek

Day4: trek Ombattu gudda - reach lakshmi estate-hoskere – mudigere- 40kms

Night Journey to Bangalore. Arrive at Bangalore early in the morning.

End.

For future trekkers (who want to finish the Ombattu Gudda trek successfully)

1 .Compass is a must; don’t enter the place without compass. GPS and map are not as essential.

2. If you need a map, you can take it from The Maps Survey of India, Koramangala. India (map #48, p/9 1:50,000 or map #48 s/w and n/w, p/9 1:25,000)

3. Start as early as possible, and from the check post, walk on the high way for a few kms till you get Addahole bridge From there take the mud path next to the transformer (Right turn) and this path will lead you to the forest.

4. Follow the path - and mainly your instincts - and this will lead you to the river crossing many small streams.

5. Cross the river and walk on the banks of the river till you reach the falls (it takes time to reach falls; so make sure you are walking upstream, since the water will flow from the falls and leads you to it).

6. Once you reach the falls, there are three ways to make it to the top

• Either to go NW 8 to 10 degrees through the forest and then to the grasslands
• NE by 20 degrees through the forest and then to the grasslands.
• DEAD NORTH (the path we took)

The first two routes are suggested in the map and the third one- which we took/made - is easier because you have to just make your own path and trek in the DEAD NORTH direction through the forest till you reach the grasslands. Once you reach , you can easily make it to top of the peak by following your instincts. ( Meaning once you make it to the grass lands, you can clearly see the whole area and decide which path to take).

But the falls will be your last source of water, so fill as much of water as you can. (Don’t know how this route will be in the rainy season though)

Once you make it to the top, you can see the jeep track. There, the left route will take you to Saraswathi estate and the route to the right will take you to lakshmi estate.

7. Read through blogs. Its helpful to know what to expect.

Hope this helps you to get on top of Ombattu gudda successfully. All the best J

And most importantly, please don’t litter the place.

                 Explore nature but don't exploit!!!