Ettina Bhuja and SubbichanD GuDDa - Part One (11th - 12th April 2009)
I was wondering what to expect in this trek due to multiple reasons. Some people had wished me a nice journey and experience whereas the others had wished that really bad things would happen to me.
It looked as though the latter parties would win when I realized that Subbu and Bhatta would lead us during the trek and more importantly, I forgot my camera!!! I realized this after ten mins of getting onto the Qualis and the guys were not ready to turn back. How could they miss the chance to rub it in my face throughout the trek.
A larger number were expected to turn up for this trek. A lot of additions and subtractions later, we were left with the six of us: Bhatta, Subbu, Mahesha, Jagga, Sandeep and me.
For some unknown reason, Bhatta had ordered so much food to be packed that would last us for three weeks. Also, he specifically forgot to get the Litchee flavoured Tropicana. Its simply impossible to figure this guy out.
There are a couple of routes that you can take to reach Ettina Bhuja. One is from Bhyrapura which is around 20 odd kms from Mudigere. This trek is very simple and can be completed in an hour or less. The other starting point is Shishila. This is a slightly longer trek. We decided to start at Shishila and end our trek at Bhyrapura.
Shishila can be reached by taking the DharmasthaLa road from Sakleshpur. You'll reach KokkaDa on the way and a small deviation from there will take you to Shishila which is around 15 kms from KokkaDa. The trek start point is a further 5 kms from Shishila. The directions to get there can be obtained from anyone in Shishila.
We reached Shishila and asked around for Ettina Bhuja. Everyone asked us only one thing.. Do you have a guide?
We said yes and pointed to Subbu!! (I know, I know.. What fools we are).
After reaching the trek start point which was a stream, we asked for directions there :D.
The person at the house said, "Cross the stream.. Take the left when you reach the stream. Don't cross", or something along those lines.
So, we set off after finishing our morning duties..Two minutes later we were quarelling as to which is the correct route.
Everybody remembered something about going left and so we went left wherever we could. After retracing and recorrecting ourselves a couple of times, we started heading on a decent path. Everything was fine till 11:30 AM.
At that time, the path abruptly ended. "We should have got a guide!".. "Who let these two idiots lead the way?" (To Bhatta and Subbu).. And other such things were said.
And then we did something which we do whenever we are in trouble. We took a nap. After an hour's nap, we headed out in different directions to find out where we were. Subbu got a sighting of the peak in one direction. All of us reassembled there, had lunch and got ready for what we do regularly.. Brute Force! By 1:30 we were on our way.
After a little prodding the shrubbery in the jungle, I landed on myself around 20 odd large red ants.
I spent the next five to ten mins getting them rid of my body.. A couple of them did bite me and that really stings.
A few more minutes in the bad shrubbery, and we had a huge slice of luck. We had found the path again!!
The only problem we were facing was the humidity. I was sweating like a pig.. Probably equal to the sum of the rest of the guys. Soon, we reached the grasslands. We found an opening from which we had a fantastic view of the Ettina Bhuja peak and the surrounding peaks. This was really a fantastic place to camp. Must do it sometime.
After a round of group photos, we started off to the peak with new vigour.
I was in no mood to stop and take any breaks. So, I left the others a little behind and reached peak a little before the rest.
At the peak, the things got better. We had reached there by 4:30 - 5. And it got all misty and really cool.
We sat at the edge of the precipice, enjoyed some tropicanas and the cool air till it nearly got dark.
We called Shilpa to check up the route to Bhyrapura and headed off there. It is a pretty straight forward route from the peak and takes only around 45 mins to reach there.
We reached Bhyrapura temple (which is visible from the peak) and our Qualis by 7:30 PM.
Since, I was wet to the bone, we decided to go to Moodigere and hire a room.
Some decent food and a good bath later, we were off to bed, dreaming of Deepadakallu the next day. (Yes, you read that right.. Deepadakallu. Not SubbichanD guDDa)..
More pics here, here and here.
And we still have absolutely no idea as to how to get here from Shishila.
To be continued...