Trail Least Taken: Ombattu Gudda

Call it a trail least taken or a trail not to be taken; adivaas successfully conquered Ombattu Gudda in the Shiradi Ghats of Karnataka this December. It was a mysterious & thrilling experience; not to forget was confusing as well. Having us in its cradle for an additional half a day than planned, Shiradi Ghats indeed proved to be a thick & tough jungle to negotiate. It tested our skills to navigate using a map, compass, altimeter & even a GPS device. Each & every moment was exciting & Ombattu Gudda surely stood up to its reputation.

The decision to venture on an expedition to this mysterious peak was decided in October; but due to heavy rains, the plan was postponed to December – must say was the wisest decision. The preparation had already started though. We collected terrestrial maps from Survey of India; GPS maps & began gathering information from people & internet. By November mid, the dates were closed & the preparations were in full swing. The gears (tents, sleeping bags, rope) were arranged; food items were bought & tickets with KSRTC were booked. Couple of us even visited Gundya a week in advance to check on the logistics. We managed to arrange breakfast / lunch from a restaurant very close to the start of the hike. So we were all set on the night of 11th December to depart from Bangalore to an unpredictable wild weekend; few folks with a vague idea of what to expect & a few with no clue.

A pleasant cold morning at the restaurant welcomed us with hot tasty dosas as we arrived at Gundya the next morning. The lunch was also prepared & packed from the same restaurant. A special thanks to the friendly family which runs the restaurant. The gears, other food items & water were distributed among the tribe. We then started our hike, a few minutes past 08:00 IST. We also noticed about 3-4 other groups starting the hike the same morning.

Immediately after the bridge in Gundya, our hike started with an easy estate trail on the right. A mild confusion started as the main estate trail curved to left with another trail going straight into the forest. We were thankfully ushered by the estate workers to head straight into the forest. We crossed few streams before could finally hit the Kabbinhole river. Boom! This is where the actual confusion started – the map depicted a trail to our right & the peak was to NE, which was to our left. After crossing the river, we investigated & tried to find a path; but in vain. We then noticed a yellow arrow mark on a tree directing us to the left (also the NE direction). So we decided to go left making our way along the river.

We had to practically cross several streams, cut through the bushes using our machete & jump over uprooted trees. Not to forget the leeches biting every foot it found & several poisonous vipers alerting us to be very careful. Having hiked for few hours, we decided to break for lunch by around 14:00 IST near a stream & headed towards NE direction after lunch. People began to get exhausted & there was no clue of an open shrub until around 16:00 IST. We could notice couple of other open shrubs; but no glimpse of Ombattu Gudda. We decided to move ahead to the next open shrub to get closer to catch a glimpse of Ombattu Gudda. After reaching the next open shrub, we decided to camp as the area seemed decently flat & we were nearing twilight as the sun was setting. The first evening passed-by with pitching tents, relaxing & finishing our dinner. We also decided to monitor the camp in shifts from 20:00 to 05:00 IST; in teams of 2 for an hour each. People then surrendered to a deep sleep in their tents.

The next morning started with people shooting pictures of the lovely sunrise, packing the equipments & attending to nature’s call of course. We then continued towards Northward direction on the second day, making our own trail through the grassland & forest. We found our last water refill point at a narrow stream & our further ascend was completely through the grassland from one open shrub to another. Alas! At one of the open shrubs, we got a glimpse of the ridge that led directly to Ombattu Gudda! We were finally sure which way we were heading. The ascent got steeper & the weather got hotter. This slowed the pace & people were draining out of energy, which eventually ate up our time. Our breakfast (bread – peanut butter – jam) was around 10:00 IST & lunch (olige) was around 14:00 IST.

After walking for hours, we finally made it to the ridge overlooking the peak by 17:00 IST. We completed the peak summit by around 17:30 & it was indeed a sensational feeling. Our last confusion was either to camp near the peak or to take a chance to trek in the dark to reach Hosakere. Owing to our near extinct water sources & couple of consultations over the phone with the people who had already been there, we decided to move ahead. This part turned out to be an interesting, exhausting long hike. We finally approached the estate office by around 21:00 IST & to our luck there was a water source. Added to it, the care takers were more than happy to allow us to camp there. They also provided us firewood & a vessel for heating our ready-to-eat’s. Thanks to those folks; we had a sumptuous hot dinner & retired to a much needed sleep.

We cleared the camp by 07:00 IST Monday morning, had a cup of tea provided by the estate care takers & headed towards road. We reached by the road well before 08:00 IST & had to wait till 08:45 IST to board a bus to Mudigere. At Mudigere, people spilt in groups to finish breakfast & catch buses to reach namma Bengaluru by evening. Back in Bangalore, we got news from Dayanand (the restaurant guy) that we were the only group to have crossed over to the other side of the jungle & all other teams had returned to Gundya. This added to our sheer feeling of an achievement!

It was an unforgettable experience to negotiate the think jungles & steep slopes of Kabbinhole Reserved Forest. The wild moments are still lingering in minds as I pen down the adventurous experience. Ombattu Gudda truly stood to its reputation, my usual hats off to another wonderful expedition!

More Pictures: Sam's Picasa Album, Anu's Picasa Album, Pacha's Picasa Album, Anand's Picasa Album