TrAPC: KODACHADRI

Rakesh is improving..definetly....He is rapidly graduating from a feet to a millimeter.....thats nothing but the distance between the vehicle he is driving and the vehicle in front of him.

This long weekend we had been to Kodachadri for a trekking.
Day 1:
We started from Bangalore at 6.15 AM on Saturday. We reached Tumkur within one and half hours and had the famous tatte idli breakfast there. From here we had to go to Shivamogga (Shimoga) via Arsikere, but we decided to go via Chitradurga because road was good that way. Cost of this decision was extra 100 kms. We reached Nagara ( A small town with a fort built by Keladi Shivappa Nayaka) by 5 in the evening and had coffee at Krishna's cousin's house. Then We went to Devaganga (An old swimming pool which is only 4 ft in depth and which never dries out of water) and took bath and played in water for an hour. From here we drove to the fort and just went inside and came back because it was pitch dark. Had a good 'Malenaadu' style dinner and slept at 12 AM.

Day 2:
Morning 3.30 Kitty woke us up saying that we have to get ready by 4 AM so that we can start early. Just peeped into the kitchen and I was surprised to see Kitty's cousin cooking 'uppittu' for us to carry for breakfast. That was a nice to the power of N 'uppittu'. Took that and started at 4 AM. All of us were full flat for the couple's hospitality. And also we felt guilty for troubling them.
By 4.30 we were near the starting point of the jeep-track to the peak of Kodachadri. We parked the car near someone's house and started walking. We walked around 2-3 kms on the track and then we found a way which goes in to the forest. We took that way it was intersecting the jeep track a some points. So we were sure that we are taking the correct path. It was a good decision to take that way.
After walking for 8-9 kms we reached the IB on the peak. There are a few temples some houses. These houses serve as hotels also as they serve breakfast and lunch. The jeep track ends here. From here we have to walk around 2 kms to reach ' Sarvagna Peetha' where Swami Shankaracharya was worshipping. From here we walked around 1.5 kms to 'Chitramoola' which is nothing but a cave where you can find some 'Sadhus' even now. This is a hard trek where we have to walk down through a steep decline which is slippery also. But the place is worth the effort. From here we can have a clear view of Kollur temple.
From here we walked around 3-4 kms to reach 'Agasthya Teertha', which is a 8-10 ft water fall with ice cold water. Took bath there and walked back to IB.
From here we hired a jeep to go to the place where we had parked the car. The ride was even more exciting than the trekking. This coasted us 600 Rs for 8 kms.
We reached the place where we had parked our car at 3 PM and we decided to come back to Bangalore the same day.
We reached Bangalore at 2 AM.

Route : Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Arsikere -> Kadur -> Birur -> Shomogga -> Hosanagara -> Nagara -> Kodachadri Forest gate (On the way to Kollur)
Vehicle - Zen (Manu's) Team Size - 5
Team - Manu, Chethan, Krishna (Kitty), Rakesh and Myself
Total Expence per head - 1000 Rs
Trip Meter - 600+ kms

Note : Perfect for a long weekend, You can also visit Kollur and Murdeshwar.

Photos: