72) Kabbaladurga trek: (17/2/2013)

Place: Kabbaladurga – Return of Goats.

Distance: 100 x 2 = 200kms

Directions: Bangalore – Ramnagara – Channpatna(left) – Kabblu.

Participants: Abhishek (Abhi) > Deepak(Deefu) > Karthik (Sp)

Bikes: Zeus > Pulsar.

Previous Visit: Nijagal Trek.

Budget: Rs350/head

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

This was another terrific trek to this superb hill. This time unlike last two I had company. None the less, it drained the living spirit of out our body. This hillock offers a much better challenge when compared to others such as Savandurga, ShivaGange etc.,.

INTRO & PLAN:

Well as far as the planning goes, I wanted the Deepu – the mountain goat to visit this insane hillock. I had climbed it a twice before and knew that he would be more than merely satisfied. At dusk of the previous eve, Deepu informed that Abhi also would be tagging along.

ASSEMBLE:

Yeah I was up at about 05:30, did a few push-ups, sit-ups, had a small cup of coffee and was all set to go. Deepu & Abhi arrived at about 07:30, after about 15mins of formal greetings, we departed Bangalore.

TIME: 07:45

RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Kabblu)

This was about a 90kms stretch on our home ground SH-17 (Mysore Road). After making our way through the early traffic, we cruised the next 30kms with ease to reach Bidadi for some smashing breakfast.

After a superb breakfast we rode along the road at a slow pace till Chennpatna and took a left deviation. After the deviation the roads turned into 2-lane but the surroundings increased in its brilliance.

 

After travelling for another good 15kms we got the first glimpse of the magnificent hillock about 5kms away from the town. Trust me till date every time I look at this hill, it sends shivers down my spine. I began to narrate the my last time experiences climbing this hillock alone. After a small break on the road we resumed to reach the town. We parked our bike and were all set for a good day of hike.

TIME: 10:00

ASCENSION:

The ascension took us about 1.25hrs(75mins) with a lot of breaks and rests. The ascension was a tiring one as the sun was directly above our head. But Deefu was as usual on fire and lead us to another successful trek. ( I definitely need to learn to shut my mouth as my non-stop chattering drained most of my energy :P )

i) Initial Walk:

 

As we started off the trek, fortunately I knew the route pretty well this time. So without any worries guided the other two across a few houses and into the fields. As we walked along the sun did rise behind our backs and temperature began to rise. We spotted a strange white eagle kind of bird in this stretch. After crawling through the bushes we made it out of the shade and into the furnace we were.

ii) 3 Point Stretch:

Ah yeah, our favorite part of this entire climb. As Abhi didn't want to climb straight up as it was super steep, Deepu decided to go along with him in a roundabout path and asked me to continue on the 3-point one. So after about 10mins of hmm, I wouldn't say trekking but hanging onto the rock we met a few meters above at a common point.

ii) Viper Stretch:

 

By now both Abhi & me were pretty beginning to wear out. ( Abhi wasn't use to hiking, but i have no excuse; my non-stop story telling drained every ounce of  living being out of me) But we kept continuing taking breaks at regular intervals. As we reached the Viper Stretch, we sat sown on the dry leaves and took one long break simple chatting away to re-gain the energy. But Deepu showed no signs of tiring as he eagerly awaited for us to rise from our tired butts.

iv) Last Stretch:

 After having completed the Viper stretch, we continued on the hot boulders. The steps I told others was something new and it wasn't present during my first visit to this place. After another 10mins of hike, we finally could see the top fort wall. We pushed along to reach the top of the fort to feel the cool mountain breeze.

TIME: 11:15

TOP:

As we reached the top, the first thing I did was to show others the place I had spotted the monitor lizard during my last encounter(62 – Kabbladurga). After which we walked one behind the other first to the main temple. Unlike last times the temple doors were open and we were greeted with warmth. We aspent about 15-20mins here and made it to the Nandi temple a few meters away. Again the doors to this temple were also open. So we sat inside the temple in the cool surroundings listening to the history of the place.(Aint’t religious but, it’s always nice to hear a story right?)

 

After reviving our energies we spent the next 15-20mins roaming around, exploring stables, storage buildings, ponds and other ruins on top. After the sun began hitting us real bad, we decided to hike down. Oh by the way we were out of water a long time back, half we had drunk other half given to some aunties :D.

TIME: 12:30

DESENCION:

The decension took usabout 1hrs (60mins). Throughout this climb down Deepu lead and I was stuck between Deepu and Abhi. The hike down was much simpler as all we had to do was walk down using our senses. At steep places we would sit down/walk backwards. So it was pretty much easy going as far as this stretch was concerned.

 

After finishing the Viper Stretch and 3 Point stretch, we were back on the intial walk through the thick bushes. There we got ourselves some “Hal-Ice” which I must say tasted very good as we had long run out of water. Chewing on the super cool ice we returned to the town of Kabblu. We had some coconut water and cold water near a shop nearby and was all set to leave.

TIME: 13:45

 

RIDE 2: (Kabblu – Manju Dhaba)

After a hot tiring trek we decided to crash at some Dhaba for some lunch. Leaving Kabblu we rode a few kilometres, then turned back and had one last glimpse at the hillock, promising her a return we continued further to reach  Channpatna on Mysore road. After which the stop at Manju Dhaba was confirmed. 

We rode back at a decent pace to reach the Dhaba. After which we sat back and enjoyed a heavy excellent meal. It felt extra good as most of our energies were pretty much low. After the meal we just relaxed at the Dhaba for a few minutes and decided to ride back to Bangalore.

TIME: 16:00

RIDE 3: (Manju Dhaba – Bangalore)

This was flat 60kms stretch. The cruise back was a smooth one as it was a 4-lane road. All we had to do after that heavy meal was to open one of our eyes and keep going ha-ha!! Deepu & Abhi split and Kengeri after a showing a thumbs-up. And I continued further to reach back home.

TIME: 17:00

 

CONCLUSION:

“This hillock never fails to disappoint true hikers, have climbed this hillock thrice, but every experience was different. So i shan't stop writing to bug you all :P Haha, Cheers”

Until Next time Cia \m/

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