River Tunga. We had to cross the river. And we had three options -

1. By bus over the bridge.
2. Using a hanging bridge which was half a kilometer away.
3. By walk through knee deep water

Place: Hariharapura, 15 KMs from Sringeri in Chikkamagalur district.

People were busy washing their clothes, bathing.

He saw me. Stopped his work for a moment. Smiled at me & continued with his chores.

Crossing the river was quite an adventure. Trying not to get our clothes wet & along with carrying the camera. Though it was knee deep, currents were pretty strong.

Kuduremukha (or Kudremukha) trek log links consolidated -

• Basarikal gate to Mullodi on day one
  
• Somavathi falls @ Mullodi
• To Kuduremukha peak on day two
• General info on Kuduremukha trek
  
• Some random photos & more photos

Previous: To Kudremukha peak

Some general information on Kuduremukha -

• Kuduremukha in Kannada means horse (kudure) face (Mukha). And is approximately 350KM from Bangalore.
• Kuduremkha peak is at 1892 meters above sea level.
• Route (that we took): Bangalore - Kunigal - Hassan - Mudigere - Kottigehara - Kalasa - Kuduremukha.
• Refer Karnataka wilderness tourism website for detailed information on different trekking routes within Kuduremukha National Park range. And also for contact details to get permissions for the treks
• In case you want to stay at Mullodi at Sathish's place, call him up & inform before reaching the place - 08263-249595.
• Nearby places of interest: Horanadu, Kalasa, Sringeri

And here is the same trek story in Shashank's (fellow trekker) words

After a long break we started from 'Onti mara'. Path from there onwards is much steeper & again the group got split into smaller ones. Next stop was near a small stream in a shola. Though it was summer, water was trickling down and the water was refreshing & cold. Another long break there & we moved ahead, along the zig-zag path, inching towards the peak. When it was more than 2KMs to the summit, we were greeted by blood sucking insects bigger than house flies in size. They attacked us in huge numbers, we had tough time with them. As we moved towards the summit, cool breeze & clouds welcomed us.

Reached the peak by 1PM & it was completely misty. It was an amazing sight sitting at that height and watching clouds play hide & seek. We spent a good one & half hours there - lunch, lazed around, listened to some philosophical speeches, dozed. By 2.30, we repacked & started home. Trekking down was faster and by 4PM, few of us were near 'Onti mara' while resting of the gang was coming slowly behind. We feasted again on the jamun fruits & continued. With the help of gravitational force, we moved down quickly and to our surprise we found a mango tree near Lobo house. We had somehow missed this while trekking up. It was time for us to show our skills at throwing stones at the fruits - end result 3 mangoes, one each for us :)

While rest of the gang were still behind, we reached Mullodi village by 5.30Pm and headed straight to Somavathi falls to have a dip. Another round of slipping & sliding, a refreshing bath and we came to Sathish's house. We did a phone-booking for a jeep to transport us back to Basarikallu gate where our vehicle was waiting. 13 (including jeep driver) of us with 2 tents, 5 sleeping bags, 6 sleeping mats & 11 backpacks - stuffed into a single jeep. It was fun drive back on a bumpy road & took us half an hour. Our vehicle was waiting, we dumped our luggages & headed straight to the nearby hotel. Wonderful dinner - Dosas, rice, sambar, curd, tea, bananas. And we started back to Bangalore. The end of an amazing trek.

Related links:

• Trekking near Ooty
• A day's trek to Shivagange
• Trekking in Sharavathi valley

Somavathi falls is a very small but dangerous waterfall near Mullodi village. The falls is not more than 8 or 10ft height but very slippery. Each one of us who got under the water slipped at least once. Though it was fun, one fell down and gave back a piece of his teeth to the nature. We sat down under the water slipping & sliding, waiting for turns while others were slipping & sliding.

A late lunch of chappathis & teplas after a refreshing bath. And then we spent a quality time listening to gurgling water, bird songs (especially the long whistle of Malabar Whistling-thrush. We came back refreshed & recharged to Sathish's house (home-stay) where we stayed for the night. We played disk throwing & cricket till dark. And then it was round of leg-pulling & general chit-chat. After a nice dinner, we slipped into our sleeping bags & a sound sleep.

In case you are not interested in trekking & just want to have a dip in Somavathi falls, you can hire a jeep from Samse village to Mullodi. Have fun and come back same day. Or else, you can stay at Sathish's place which is a non-commercial homestay. Sathish's family are very hospitable & friendly. If you plan to stay there, you can call Sathisha & make arrangements in advance - 08263 249595.

Continued - trek to peak

Related links:

• Waterfalls of Karnataka visited in 2007
• Trekking in Western Ghats - Sharavathi valley
• Mallalli falls near Somawarapet

Friday May 18th 2007, eleven of us started from Bangalore towards Kuduremukha. Picking up everyone from nook & corner of the city took two hours and unfortunately I was the first one to get into the vehicle. Around 11 PM, we stopped near Nelamangala for dinner and took off. We reached Horanadu by 7, next morning. After a quick bath, paid a visit to Horanadu Sri Annapoorneshwari temple. From there we went to Samse via Kalasa, where we were planning to hire a jeep to trek starting point.

Seven of us got down in Samse village with luggage, while rest went to Kuduremukha town to get permission from the forest department. Our plan was to hire a jeep at Samse till Mullodi, (last village, afterwards its Kuduremukha National Park range). From there trek till Lobo’s house and camp. On day two, start early, reach summit & back, pack-up, trek back to Mullodi, take the jeep back to Samse by evening and back in Bangalore by Monday morning. But, whole plan changed as no one is allowed to stay/camp overnight inside national park premises & entry was restricted for just 12 hours time - 6AM to 6PM next day.

We changed plan accordingly. Instead of hiring a jeep, we started our trek first leg of from Basarikallu gate to Mullodi village. It was noon by the time we started. And we moved along the dusty jeep track towards Mullodi slowly on a hot mid-summer noon. The group moved slowly stopping for breaks, sipping energy drinks & water. We took 3 hours to reach Mullodi, an approximate distance of 8 KMs.

Reached Mullodi village tired, thursty, drenched in sweat. As soon as we heard there is enough water in the nearby falls - 'Somavathi falls', we almost ran towards it.

Continued...

Related links:

• Some random photos taken during the trek - here & here

Best thing to beat the heat in summer, is to just sit under a waterfall. This summer I got chance to visit & sit under 5 falls in a span of two months and all of them situated in western ghats. Here goes the list of them -

#1 Mookana mane Abbi fallsFirst dip of the year during our weekend bike trip around Sakaleshpur. Falls is not too high & water is not too deep. Just perfect. Perfect to get a free body massage. And my personal favorite.

#2 Bheemeshwara falls

We were there at the wrong time. Water was coming down as if someone forgot to stop the kitchen tap. Still to beat the heat, we sat under falls with water falling on us drop by drop. By the explanations from others who had visited earlier, I plan to visit it post monsoon.

#3 Dabbe fallsAn amazing falls, water jumping from a height of 300 ft. And only one & difficult path to reach it. Totally different experience when compared to Mookana mane falls. There it was body massage session and here it was acupuncture session. :)

#4 Jog FallsHighest water falls in India, falling from a height of 900ft. Again here also water was less when we visited, which gave us an option to sit under the falls. Arun has a beautiful picture of Jog captured in monsoon

#5 Somavathi fallsSmallest in the list & the place where we had more fun. The falls was just 8-10ft height, but slippery. Everyone who got into water fell down at least once. Step ahead, slip down, have a good laugh and wait for others to step ahead & fall. This cycle went on for whole time we were in water. This falls is near Mullodi village, on the trek path to Kuduremukha peak starting from Basurikallu gate.

Let me add a last one to the list, the one which I visited in December 2006 - Soochippara falls in Wayanad, Kerala.

Saturday, 5.15 AM, a cold morning on a summer, Peenya junction, group of 8 guys, 6 bikes. All of us were set to ride towards Sakaleshpur. It was a diversified group - Dwaraka on his Yamaha RD 350, Srikanth on his Yezdi Roadking, Murali on his Suzuki Shogun, Ganesh on his Thunderbird with Sampath as pillion, Sandeep on his Pulsar 150 with another Sandeep as pillion and me on my Pulsar 150, all set to ride. Our first destination was Mookana mane abbi falls are simply called as 'Mookana mane falls'. After coffee/break at Kunigal & breakfast at Kamat restaurant just after Channarayapatna, we were in Sakaleshpur by 10.30. Ganapathi alias Ganu joined us there and he was my pillion for the rest of the journey. We took a short break, while Sampath & Ganu went for shopping (groceries for the two days). By 11.30 we headed towards the water falls.

As we moved ahead, there was a change in the air. Roads got narrowed fillied with potholes. Green and green everywhere, pollution free air. Silence all over and thumps, roars & whoosh of the bikes breaking that silence. We crawled ahead as road condition was not that good. En route, Sampath's friends Rajit, Ratish & Santhosh, the local lads joined us. We reached Mookana mane falls by 12.30 after an off-roading of about half a kilometer. It was a welcome break to sit in the water after 275 KMs of bike ride. All of us got free body massage under the water falls. The whole of water falls was ours for the next 2 hours as no other group/people were there. After a quick lunch - sandwich & salad prepared by Sampath & Ganu, we were all set to continue our journey.

    

We reached Bisle ghat view point by 4.30 PM after a bumpy ride of 30 KMs which took us more than an hour. Six of us rested there while other continued on the pot-hole filled road to another view point. Few took a power nap while others sat enjoying the nature. After half an hour, we started from Bisle ghat towards our next destination - Herur hills. Plan was to rid up the hill and camp atop.

    
    

Next 2 hours was spent in chatting/discussing sitting around campfire. While we were chatting, snoozing, listening to natural sounds around, Ganu was busy preparing delicious dinner. After stomachs got filled up, one by one fell asleep & it was a sound sleep. Moring, we woke up to the chirping sound of the birds. After getting freshened up & with a cup of tea, we went for a short trek to the ridge, the view point. It was wonderful sight from top. From there we trekked down a bit to checkout the Herur hill cave, which made us to crawl on all four to enter the cave.

Back to campsite by 9 and after breakfast we were all set to ride back. Riding down the hill on the sand filled road was fun, but not at all same to onward journey we did at night. At the foothill we bid adieu to Rajit, Santosh & Ganu. Ratish was with us till Shanivara santhe. After filling up fuel & stomach-full of tender coconut and fruit juice, it was whirlwind ride back. Next stop was at Kamat near Chennarayapatna for lunch. Reached home (Kunigal) by 3PM content & tired, while rest of the gang continued to Bangalore.

Trip route:

Bangalore -> Kunigal -> Hassan -> Sakaleshpur -> Mookanamane falls -> Bisle view pint -> Herur hills -> Shanivara santhe -> Arakalagudu -> Hassan -> Kunigal.

Photos: On Picasaweb

Go to a less known, less crowded water falls. Jump in to the water and enjoy. - Mookana mane Abbi falls or simply Mookana mane falls.

Ride up the hill on motorbike. Total off-roading - on a jeep track with foot deep sand filled allover for a distance of 4 KMs.

Can you guess the original colors of these shoes?

Camp on a hill top in a Shola. Get up early & enjoyed the scenic view from the ridge - Herur hills.

Went on a motorbike trip towards Sakaleshpur. 600KMs in two days. More details to follow soon. :)