Mullayanagiri & Bababudanagiri Trek
Mullayanagiri, being the tallest peak in Karnataka has always been at the top of our list. We've been talking about getting to this trek all the time, but we used to end up choosing other ones for some reason. Finally, we decided within a day and for the first time we're going to travel without reservations. This time it was, Giri, Alok, Harish and myself.
More about Mullayanagiri and Bababudanagiri:
·Distance from Bangalore: Bangalore --- 250 Kms ---> Chickmagalur ---- 15Kms ----> Sarpadhari (Starting Point of the trek)
·How to get: Numerous KSRTC/Private Buses are available from Majestic and we can either hire a Jeep or Cab to Sarpadhari.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5
·Distance: Sarpadhari -- 4 Kms -- Mullayanagiri -- 12 Kms -- Bababudanagiri -- 14 Kms -- Kemmanagundi
·Permission: For Mullayanagiri permission is not needed. Bababudanagiri, if we choose to trek through the Ridge, the cost is Rs. 250/Head. However, the Ridge Path is closed intermittently.
·Food, Shelter & Water Source: Mullayanagiri has water source and in the Mutt, we can request for beverages. Baba Budanagiri Peaks has a complex with all shops, including hotel, provisional store, Toilets with Hot water facility, Rooms @ 150/day and minimal medical facility.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Mobile Signal: Most part of the hike, Mobile signal is available.
Day 1
After planning the logistics and schedule, we gathered at Majestic on the last Weekend of Nov, 2013 to board the KSRTC Bus to Chikmagalur at 10 pm. Since we didn't have any reservations, the plan was to get onto any bus going towards Chikmagalur, however Rajahamsa was available at 11.30. After a quick shopping, we boarded the bus and took our seats. Once we got comfortable in the bus, the talks went on for an hour or so about the next and past treks. As usual, we tried catching up enough sleep but ended up sleeping only for a couple of hours.
Day 2
It was early morning 4.30 am we reached Chikmagalur Bus Stop, it was cold and it was nice to spot a couple groups with trekking gears waiting to start their hike. While we got freshened up in the public toilets, the Hotel within the Bus stop was already open. It opens at 5 am and has Idly, Vada, Chow-Chow bath ready. We had our breakfast at the hotel and parceled Chow-Chow bath for lunch. The Starting point of the trek 'Sarpadhari' is 15kms from the Bus stop, the place is pretty familiar among the Public. 200 for Auto or 300 for cab is a descent deal. We chose to go by Cab due to the luggage, it took 20 mins from the Bus Stop to Sarpadhari. We had a good chat with the driver getting info on the trek route from Bababudnagiri to Kemmanagundi and other logistics meanwhile got his contact number as well just in case if we need cab from Kemmanagundi.
It was 6.55 am and we were at Sarpadhari ready to start our trial. Without wasting much time, we started our big day with all the fire to get on western ghat's shoulders after 7 long months. The initial ascend was a good 40 degs climb gaining good altitude. With less number of breaks, we kept moving forward. We expected the weather to be cold which makes the trek much easier, but it was a sunny day :-( Good part of this stretch was, we took a couple of wrong routes and ended up climbing 90 Degs a couple times, it was challenging and absolute fun. Harish kept prompting if we were on the right track (Typical Harish - the care taker :-), but we kept answering him Yes! Yes! The climb continued for another hour and we reached Nandi at 9 am and the cave at 9.15 am. There is not much to explore, just took a couple snaps and moved forward to the peak. The climb from Sarpadhari to Mullayanagiri takes ~2.5 - 3.5 hours, its a 4 Kms climb. Mullayanagiri can be reached through road as well, there is a clear vision of roads from the peak, this road attracts a lot of bikers. We have a Shiva temple at the peak and a Mutt which serves food, tea, coffee for free (offline - very nominal price). Relaxed for an hour, filled our water bottles and started our trial to Bababudanagiri.
More about Mullayanagiri and Bababudanagiri:
·Distance from Bangalore: Bangalore --- 250 Kms ---> Chickmagalur ---- 15Kms ----> Sarpadhari (Starting Point of the trek)
·How to get: Numerous KSRTC/Private Buses are available from Majestic and we can either hire a Jeep or Cab to Sarpadhari.
·Difficulty Level: 3.5/5
·Distance: Sarpadhari -- 4 Kms -- Mullayanagiri -- 12 Kms -- Bababudanagiri -- 14 Kms -- Kemmanagundi
·Permission: For Mullayanagiri permission is not needed. Bababudanagiri, if we choose to trek through the Ridge, the cost is Rs. 250/Head. However, the Ridge Path is closed intermittently.
·Food, Shelter & Water Source: Mullayanagiri has water source and in the Mutt, we can request for beverages. Baba Budanagiri Peaks has a complex with all shops, including hotel, provisional store, Toilets with Hot water facility, Rooms @ 150/day and minimal medical facility.
·Best Time: Except Monsoon
·Mobile Signal: Most part of the hike, Mobile signal is available.
Day 1
After planning the logistics and schedule, we gathered at Majestic on the last Weekend of Nov, 2013 to board the KSRTC Bus to Chikmagalur at 10 pm. Since we didn't have any reservations, the plan was to get onto any bus going towards Chikmagalur, however Rajahamsa was available at 11.30. After a quick shopping, we boarded the bus and took our seats. Once we got comfortable in the bus, the talks went on for an hour or so about the next and past treks. As usual, we tried catching up enough sleep but ended up sleeping only for a couple of hours.
Day 2
It was early morning 4.30 am we reached Chikmagalur Bus Stop, it was cold and it was nice to spot a couple groups with trekking gears waiting to start their hike. While we got freshened up in the public toilets, the Hotel within the Bus stop was already open. It opens at 5 am and has Idly, Vada, Chow-Chow bath ready. We had our breakfast at the hotel and parceled Chow-Chow bath for lunch. The Starting point of the trek 'Sarpadhari' is 15kms from the Bus stop, the place is pretty familiar among the Public. 200 for Auto or 300 for cab is a descent deal. We chose to go by Cab due to the luggage, it took 20 mins from the Bus Stop to Sarpadhari. We had a good chat with the driver getting info on the trek route from Bababudnagiri to Kemmanagundi and other logistics meanwhile got his contact number as well just in case if we need cab from Kemmanagundi.
It was 6.55 am and we were at Sarpadhari ready to start our trial. Without wasting much time, we started our big day with all the fire to get on western ghat's shoulders after 7 long months. The initial ascend was a good 40 degs climb gaining good altitude. With less number of breaks, we kept moving forward. We expected the weather to be cold which makes the trek much easier, but it was a sunny day :-( Good part of this stretch was, we took a couple of wrong routes and ended up climbing 90 Degs a couple times, it was challenging and absolute fun. Harish kept prompting if we were on the right track (Typical Harish - the care taker :-), but we kept answering him Yes! Yes! The climb continued for another hour and we reached Nandi at 9 am and the cave at 9.15 am. There is not much to explore, just took a couple snaps and moved forward to the peak. The climb from Sarpadhari to Mullayanagiri takes ~2.5 - 3.5 hours, its a 4 Kms climb. Mullayanagiri can be reached through road as well, there is a clear vision of roads from the peak, this road attracts a lot of bikers. We have a Shiva temple at the peak and a Mutt which serves food, tea, coffee for free (offline - very nominal price). Relaxed for an hour, filled our water bottles and started our trial to Bababudanagiri.
The path to Bababudanagiri is quite simple, as shown the below map (Source: From Trek blogs), take the path behind the temple and walk towards the BSNL Tower which can be spotted on the far East. We need to ascend and descent several peaks to get to BSNL tower, from the BSNL tower, east is towards Manikyadhara falls and North-West is towards Bababudanagiri.
We started the trek from Mullayanagiri at 10.30 am, the initial hour is descending :-( which means we are loosing altitude and got to climb again. We need to cross a couple peaks to get to the forest office for permissions. The trial from Mullayanagiri to forest Office can be counted as Easy since its a mixture of descending and ascending. However the weather wasn't favoring, it was getting hotter and hotter. At 12.30 we reached the Forest office, from here by road Bababudanagiri is 12 kms and by trek is 4 Kms (Claimed by Forest Officers, but it was much longer than that). The interesting part after crossing the Forest office is "The Ridge". Anyways, since we had reservations through one of the forest officers a month ago, even though the Ridge was closed for Trekking, they allowed us. The Ridge was closed since they found Tiger & other wild life crossing the ridge at times.
We got the permissions, filled water in the Forest Office and moved ahead to the starting point of the ridge. We stopped at the Police Quarters which is at the starting point for lunch, had our packed lunch Chow-Chow bath and rested for sometime. We resumed our trek towards the ridge at 1.20 pm. Ridge was one of our interesting part of the trek, its about ~300 Mts falls on either side and we got to watch every step while on the ridge. Not to scare, but we were able to spot wild lizards with attractive colors a couple times and Alok spotted a wild lizard a feet long as well, adding to that we were the only group to trek through the ridge on that day. Please be informed that, while trekking on the ridge though we have enough room towards either side, be cautious at certain points. The ridge was quite challenging as expected and there we go, we missed the route as usual. The right way was to hike on the right side of the ridge until 3/4th of it (There is flag on the ridge to mark this point) and get on to the other side of the ridge towards BSNL Tower. But we continued our way on the right side and we couldn't find a path to take us to the other side. We stopped at a point, went back and figured a route. It took about 1.5 hours to cross the ridge and get on to the grassland. One other difference in this trek is, there is no Shola Forest at all till the peak, its only grassland and rocks. Combination of hot sun and grassland, doesn't favor much! We continued our hike towards the BSNL tower and finally reached at 4 pm. The last 500 mts before getting to BSNL is quite steep and is a mixture of loose mud and rock. The route from ridge to BSNL tower is unclear, just point the direction towards the tower and keep hiking. There is lake which can be seen from the BSNL tower, camping there wouldn't be a bad choice, but we chose to get to Bababudanagiri (which we later regretted). The route from BSNL tower to Bababudanagiri is pretty clear and its on mud road, ~2kms and should be able to cover it in 15-20 mins.
We got the permissions, filled water in the Forest Office and moved ahead to the starting point of the ridge. We stopped at the Police Quarters which is at the starting point for lunch, had our packed lunch Chow-Chow bath and rested for sometime. We resumed our trek towards the ridge at 1.20 pm. Ridge was one of our interesting part of the trek, its about ~300 Mts falls on either side and we got to watch every step while on the ridge. Not to scare, but we were able to spot wild lizards with attractive colors a couple times and Alok spotted a wild lizard a feet long as well, adding to that we were the only group to trek through the ridge on that day. Please be informed that, while trekking on the ridge though we have enough room towards either side, be cautious at certain points. The ridge was quite challenging as expected and there we go, we missed the route as usual. The right way was to hike on the right side of the ridge until 3/4th of it (There is flag on the ridge to mark this point) and get on to the other side of the ridge towards BSNL Tower. But we continued our way on the right side and we couldn't find a path to take us to the other side. We stopped at a point, went back and figured a route. It took about 1.5 hours to cross the ridge and get on to the grassland. One other difference in this trek is, there is no Shola Forest at all till the peak, its only grassland and rocks. Combination of hot sun and grassland, doesn't favor much! We continued our hike towards the BSNL tower and finally reached at 4 pm. The last 500 mts before getting to BSNL is quite steep and is a mixture of loose mud and rock. The route from ridge to BSNL tower is unclear, just point the direction towards the tower and keep hiking. There is lake which can be seen from the BSNL tower, camping there wouldn't be a bad choice, but we chose to get to Bababudanagiri (which we later regretted). The route from BSNL tower to Bababudanagiri is pretty clear and its on mud road, ~2kms and should be able to cover it in 15-20 mins.
Finally, the most awaited Bababudanagiri was right there, we could spot the Complex and the Darga before reaching the peak. Major turn off though, there was complex with food stalls, toilets, good number of crowd out there which we usually dislike while on treks, we need jungle and no one, absolutely no one around us. Anyways, we headed towards the complex for some tea and snacks. We inquired for some space to lay our tents and found a good spot. By the time we gathered the logs and started laying the tents, to our luck..it started raining :-) fun isn't it. Adding to that, we carried a 4 people tent and I guess it might be for 4 trekkers with 3 ft average height, I kid you not. We couldn't sit inside the tent, it was so packed and suffocating. The campfire idea was out of our scope anyways and the tent wasn't sufficient as well, Alok and I went inquiring for a room at 9.30 pm and to our surprise, we got one for Rs 150/day. Its a small 1 room good enough for 4 people to breath and not to get drenched. We quickly wrapped all our stuff and moved in to the room. As usual, we had some chit-chat for an hour or so and closed our day. If anybody needs any help/guidance on food, toilets, rooms or a space to camp, etc., contact the "Tourist Canteen" shop owner in the Complex, he seemed like a nice person. The next day's plan, Kemmanagundi was cancelled since Alok had a Ankle pain throughout the day and somehow managed to push till Bababudanagiri, and was worried if pain worsens the next day and Harry anyways doesn't like trekking the 2nd day :-p
Day 3
We woke up around 9 am, the complex had toilet facilities and hot water available for a charge of Rs. 25. The toilet was clean and a hot bath added to the ecstasy that we can expect in that location. After breakfast Parota and Bread Omlet at the complex, we visited the Bababudanagiri Darga, its a simple Darga takes about 5-10 mins to look around. However, looks like it attracts good number of devotees throughout the year. Luckily, we found the same cab driver who dropped us from Chikmagalur to Sarpadhari, spoke to him and arranged a cab from Bababudanagiri to Manikyadhara falls and then to Chikmagalur for a cost of Rs 1000. Jeep or cab, 800 -1000 would be descent deal. We left to Manikyadhara falls at 1.45 pm, its a 20-30 mins drive from Bababudanagiri to the falls. Basic food items like Parota, Omlet, etc., is available here as well. Good that we didn't visit the falls the previous day, its waste of time. Its good for Families to visit the falls, but not that exciting for trekkers. Spent about 30 mins looking around and started our drive to Chikmagalur. On the way back, there is place named Honnammana Halla, a good refreshment stop for a bowl of fruits. The drive continued and we reached Chikmagalur Bus stop at 4 pm. Found a restaurant opp to the Bus stop "Nandhini Deluxe" (Not the usual Nandhini that we find in Bangalore though), hogged a Full Andhra meals and found our way back through Karnataka Sarige at 5.45 pm. The Bus is not so comfortable for return, but onward should be good enough. Sarige also helps to keep the trek economical. The Bus reached Bangalore - Majestic at 11.15 pm, we boarded the BMTC Volvo and went back to our homes with lots of memories and a little disappointment about the trek.
We will for sure do this trial again and complete the trek till Kemmanagundi. As I always say, Trekking is not a spectator sport, trek to experience it. Every trek is different and our mighty western ghats doesn't let its lovers to get off its shoulders without any surprises!!
We woke up around 9 am, the complex had toilet facilities and hot water available for a charge of Rs. 25. The toilet was clean and a hot bath added to the ecstasy that we can expect in that location. After breakfast Parota and Bread Omlet at the complex, we visited the Bababudanagiri Darga, its a simple Darga takes about 5-10 mins to look around. However, looks like it attracts good number of devotees throughout the year. Luckily, we found the same cab driver who dropped us from Chikmagalur to Sarpadhari, spoke to him and arranged a cab from Bababudanagiri to Manikyadhara falls and then to Chikmagalur for a cost of Rs 1000. Jeep or cab, 800 -1000 would be descent deal. We left to Manikyadhara falls at 1.45 pm, its a 20-30 mins drive from Bababudanagiri to the falls. Basic food items like Parota, Omlet, etc., is available here as well. Good that we didn't visit the falls the previous day, its waste of time. Its good for Families to visit the falls, but not that exciting for trekkers. Spent about 30 mins looking around and started our drive to Chikmagalur. On the way back, there is place named Honnammana Halla, a good refreshment stop for a bowl of fruits. The drive continued and we reached Chikmagalur Bus stop at 4 pm. Found a restaurant opp to the Bus stop "Nandhini Deluxe" (Not the usual Nandhini that we find in Bangalore though), hogged a Full Andhra meals and found our way back through Karnataka Sarige at 5.45 pm. The Bus is not so comfortable for return, but onward should be good enough. Sarige also helps to keep the trek economical. The Bus reached Bangalore - Majestic at 11.15 pm, we boarded the BMTC Volvo and went back to our homes with lots of memories and a little disappointment about the trek.
We will for sure do this trial again and complete the trek till Kemmanagundi. As I always say, Trekking is not a spectator sport, trek to experience it. Every trek is different and our mighty western ghats doesn't let its lovers to get off its shoulders without any surprises!!