Monday 22 January, 2007

Arasinagundi Falls

A team of 12 members started off for a trek to Kodachadri and to Arasinagundi Falls in Kollur. Mr Prasanna who was supposed to lead the team had to back out due to some personal work. He had booked tickets to Kollur for the 8.00pm bus. There are 2 routes to Kollur. One via Mangalore and other via Shimoga. Never take the Bus via Mangalore, which is longer and also the road around Shiradi Ghat is horrible. Since the starting point of the trek –Nittur is 22 kms away from Kollur it is advisable to take the Shimoga route bus which stops at Nittur itself. By the time we reached Kollur it was 10.00am. After freshen up and breakfast we decided to reach Nittur by jeep to save time. (Cost Rs.350/- per jeep). We reached Nittur by 12.00 noon. Our guide Mr Vijay was waiting for us at Nittur.

Our plan of trek was like this;

Trek to Hidlumane Falls 9 Kms

Hidlumane Falls to Kodachadri 7 Kms

Halt at Kodachadri.

Kodachadri to Arasinagundi Falls and to Kollur 13 Kms

Since we reached Nittur very late, I decided to take a jeep up to Hidlumane Falls with packed lunch and trek from Hidlumane Falls to Kodachadri. The journey to the Falls was around 20 minutes. A week ago 1 Gaur (weighing around 10 quintals) had slipped and fallen dead right at the falls. Jeep stops 1 km before the falls. Forest offcials were burning it and the whole place was stinking. They also advised us to be careful while climbing the water falls. Hidlumane Falls is a very small one which is in 7 stages. On reaching the top one can find the path on the right side of the falls which will take u the road point to Kodachadri. But this is not advisable because of the slippery path and not frequented by many. We came back to the starting point and traced our trek trail which initially is a climb through the forest till you reach the grassland. From here the trail circles around the hill with the shola forest on your right side. After an hour’s trek the trail leads you to the jeep track which comes from Gowrikere. Here take right and trek for 3 kms to reach Kodachadri.

We camped at the Inspection bungalow for the night. The charges for the food are Rs.25/- for Break fast and Rs.25/- for Lunch. In case u ask for campfire it is Rs.100/-. Next day we went to Shankar peeta and to see the sun rise. We couldn’t get a clear picture of the sunrise because of the cloudy weather. After breakfast we started getting down for our next destination – Arasinagundi Falls. This is not frequented by many because of the long journey through the forest where there are many trails and hence quite confusing. Our Guide Mr Vijay was not aware of the route and hence I had to recollect my memory and find the route which I had done 6 yrs back. Trek on the same route to Karakatte till you reach the ISKON temple just after crossing the Hotel. After ISKON temple take a left deviation on the grass field and trek for 2 kms on the field before entering the forest. Once entering the forest one has to be experienced to find the trail which is not frequented by many. The trail is at some places a steep ascent, but generally traverses till you reach the stream. After crossing the stream in 3 places you can find a wide path which actually is the route if you approach Kodachadri from Kollur entering the Medicinal plant area (2 kms from Kollur) crossing Arasinagundi falls. Trekking on the wide path for nearly 1 hr you can see a board which guides you to Arasinagundi Falls. You need to descend down for 1 Km to reach the Falls.

From the falls again climb up to reach the wide path it’s a long trek of 6 Kms to the road. We were lucky to reach the Kollur main road just in time to catch the last bus to Shimoga (5.00pm) We reached Shimoga at 9.00 p m. After dinner took a bus to Bangalore and reached Bangalore at 5.00 am. Thus ended our trek to Kodachadri.

2 comments:

Nandini Mithun said...

Hi

Came across your blog on hidlumane falls, seems exciting, can you help us with one small info. i understand it took 20 minutes for you to reach hidlumane falls, via the mountain jeep, and then a walk fo 1 km to reach the falls. is this 1 km walk fairly easy, and can it be done by old people ?

regards
mithun

Nandini Mithun said...

Hi

Came across your blog on hidlumane falls, seems exciting, can you help us with one small info. i understand it took 20 minutes for you to reach hidlumane falls, via the mountain jeep, and then a walk fo 1 km to reach the falls. is this 1 km walk fairly easy, and can it be done by old people ?

regards
mithun