The 100km Pearl Valley 'Death Trek': 6.5 Hours Lost in the Forest, Surviving on One Water Bottle, and a Close Call with Elephants | Chapter 21 (Oct 9, 2010)

Place : Pearl Valley (Muthayala Maduvu).

Bikes: Pulsar > Flames > Gs150 > Pulsar .

Participants : Manu > ES > Mithul > Kg > “s” > Hanuman :P > Madhu >Sp !!

Distance : 50 x 2 = 100kms.

Directions: Bengaluroo > BAnerghatta Road > Anekal > Right turn > Muthyalamaduvu ( Pearl valley)

Previous Visit: Maddur CCD.

PLAN:

9^th Sept had returned form Maddur at about 7pm… And well next day… had to be in Pearlvalley :D … So sent a text to people who were coming the next day regarding the timings ( 8am) , place to meet…And Crashed down !!

WAIT:

Next day 8 am there were no signs of anybody near my house .. so went near the college… nop nobody were there too.. after a few mins Manu showed up…followed By KG and S.. after about half an hour Mithul & Madu joined us.. Then Anurag (Hanuman) joined us half asleep… It was Mithul`s and Hanuman`s 1^st Trip with us and they had no clue what they`l be going through the next 12 hrs :D ( Neither did we :P )

Then the epic wait For chaitnya ( Endu / ES) began. 9 am – No trace…. 9 15 am – Got up now mach..brushing teeth.. will be there in 15min . We decided to have breakfast in our college mess … had a pretty ok breakfast. Manu & me had been to this placein Jan , so we were having a discussion about our past visit. Finally at 10am Endu showed up :D…Then we took the NICE road to reach Banergatta Road.

RIDE :

Pulsar – Endu & Hanuman

Flames – Mitul & Madu

GS - Manu & S

Pulsar – KG & Sp.

So we 8 headed off on Banergatta road towards Annekal !! The road is pretty decent with a lil pot holes here and there :D. Manu led the way and I stayed back last everybody else in between… made sure that everybody were on the right track. We stopped at a small bakery near anekal purchased a water bottle…. Then reached anekal… taking a right here would lead us to a main road , from here after a kilometer or so…a right deviation on a small road leads to Pearl vally :)

PLACE:

We reached the place , parked our bikes and climbed down the old , half broken steps which would lead us into the forest , it was 11 am ( Please note the time cos the next 6-7hrs = insane adventure :P )

First things 1^st ..we saw the Pearl valley Falls… spend only 10mins there and started walking into the forest…The Adventure/ trek was simply amazing…Trees fallen on the ground… butterflies around…Greenery everywhere…a small muddy ( hardly visible) path …

Then we reached a canopy it was pretty dark inside , sat there for sometime and headed further… then we decided to take an alternate route ( basically Alternate route = off route OR in simple words GETTING LOST in the forest :P )

INSANE ADVENTURE:

Holy shit!! Tat was one bad move man… we ended up walking though thick and very high grass ( pretty sure snakes were crawling all around us)… one second the person in front of u is visible…next moment he`s gone :O , “S” picked up a stick and started the samurai jack games…chopping away the Grass… :D

After heading a little deeper into the forest GULP!!! Well we saw something tat made our adrenalin rise…we were jumping around in excitement :D , (STOP IMAGINIG SO MUCH ) it was only Fresh elephant Dung :P :P HAhahaha!!! Well it was exciting , cos we realized tat there were elephants somewhere around us.

Alrit here was THE PLAN : “ If Elephant shows up , tiny ones ( Endu & me) hide behind bushes , Others hide behind trees and boulders , and our Hanuman ( mini Elephant) goes up to the elephant and says “ HEY WAZZAAA No SEE :P” “

After tat we came across a open area …to see elephant Dung all around us… we were in Deep Shit ( LITERALLY) :P

Found a stream , washed our faces, thought of following it…. After a few mins realized tat it lead to a dead end :(…so decided to head back….After an hour so of walking through thick grass…crouching , etc etc… we reached a place and we had two options in hand

1) head further normal route

2) (The insane one) climb up a steep hill and see whats up thre :P

We took the 1^st option (Don’t worry we`l never disappoint u guys....keep reading ) .

We took the path further….went further for 15 mins….the sat in an open area…opened a packet of biscuit and the bottle of water we had purchased earlier and finshed them off in a matter of seconds :D…had a about 30 mins of nap in the middle of the forest…and when we were up… decided to say Tata to the Boring route… and take the uphill route!! :D :D…then came a voice “ Oye here`s a butterfly , take a snap it`l be nice!!! :) “ we were like who`s tat…It was Madu speaking for a change Hehehe … he hardly speaks !!

We reached back to tat steep hill and there was no stopping Hanuman ( who was totally pumped up) went uphill like it was nothing, stones , mini-boulders rolled down and unfortunately I was behind him… had a hard time dodging the incoming rocks….

After reaching the top, the view was beautiful…. We found a small muddy path (Wheew!!! Tat was a relief) decided to follow it.

GOT WORSST :

But things got worse , it lead to a barren land, old cracked up , dry land… it was about 2pm in the noon…the sun was right above us…draining out all the water & energy we had. We could see beautiful Blue hills far far away..it was a wonderful sight.

We were really in the core forest…. Found a small dirty pond… besides it i.e along the pond was a killer sight.. Fresh elephant footsteps…, tat gave us the energy BOOST, we boom we were back and started following it…. Small branches broken down recently, grass bent down due to movement…. Aaahh yeah!!! We were dead on \m/

Then we had to squat and go further on… Endu , S , Kg And Sp(me) went further …others stayed back… further heard a Wild boars scream.. GULP!!! Well tats one animal u don’t wanna run into in the wild…we went back to meet others… had a long talk whether to go further or go back...finally decided to go back because

1) We were totally , I mean TOTALLY LOST.

2) Dehydrated

3) Energy levels very low

4) Brusies , scratches , rashes.

5) HUNGRY ( atleast the rest of them :P )

HEADING BACK:

Heading back was no easy task , we were in the middle of the forest in the noon , without a clue of our way back. We saw things( anthills , trees, bushes,barrenland,flowers) we had made fun off /spoke about while coming ….these came in real handy in making us feel that we were in walking in the correct direction. After an hour or two of walking like the living dead we saw the canopy…. Whew tat sight made us all very happy…we knew it was only 10-20mins walk from there :D

Sat under the canopy for sometime.. had to use the shade… finally in a matter of few mins we were back at the falls :D :D . washed our faces…we were glad tat nobody fainted due to the severe heat…Then walked up the same old broken steps which had lead us into the forest ( And believe me this was the hardest part )After reaching up we drank juice and went inside the restraint and started having lunch with a huge stick in our hands to shoo away the monkeys :P . ( it was about 4:30 pm)

And for the 1`st timers they were in shock watching me eat … I had exactly 3 spoons of fried rice and said.. “ Aahh im full… wher’s my drink?? “Haha!!!

RIDE BACK :

Then headed back to Bangalore, reached NICE road entrance… the final stretch :) . KG , Endu who were sitting behind , were fast asleep… everybody tired, knees , and legs yelling in pain… 6.5 hrs adventure walk though the forest is no easy job.

Reached College , sat near bakery had tea and decided to head back home as the sun went down.

We were a lil disappointed tat we couldn’t spot an elephant, but what a killer adventure it was …6.5 hrs in the thick forest. with bruises , rashes, cuts on our hands… survived the entire adventure with just a bottle of water.

It was battle to to hang on… overall a wonderful trip \m/

Extra`s:

1) Dont go too deep inside the forest, finding way back isnt tat easy.

2) Carry water if you go for the trek.

Thank you !! \m/

MAPS:



ALL PHOTOS:

⬅️ 20. Maddur 22. Talakadu ➡️

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The 100km Pearl Valley Trek: Running Down a Tractor for Directions, Fresh Elephant Droppings, and the "Invisible Devil" Canopy | Chapter 5 (January 9, 2010)

5) Pearl Valley: (9/1/10)

Place: Muthyalamaduvu /Pearl Valley.

Distance: 50 x 2 = 100kms.

Directions: Bengaluroo > Banerghatta Road > Anekal > Right turn > Pearlvalley.

Participants: Arun > Manu > Sp.

Bikes: Unicorn > Pulsar.

Previous visit: Nandhi Hills -Sunrise

PLAN:

It was about 10 days since we finished Nandi hills trip. We wanted to go for a short drive and trek a lil… then I came across this place called muthyala maduvu also called the pearl valley :) . It was a kickass place… It was decided it was the next place we would visit.
Called up my frnz and told them about this place.. arun was ready… Arv said he needed some time to decide..Ashok said he couldn make it :(.. So on 8th eve Arun & me went to Honda showroom to get his bike from servicing..then went to Arv`s house and asked whether he could come the next day… he said he had some work and couldn’t make it.

So we drove back ,sat in a chat shop havin chats totally confused whether we should go or not…we went back to our houses…then went for a long walk… finally decided to hit the road the next day!!!

RIDE :

It was the 9th of Jan…we met up in front of my house at about 6am..Manu joined us… Boi!! Was he pumped up… He was like don’t care where we`r going as long as we go :D..
We hit the road…the drive was very smooth…Arun and Manu on UNICORN…and me alone…we cruised at 70’s – 80’s. The road was excellent, but the only problem was getting to the actual place :( ..
We had to whistle,wave,shout,scream and sometimes ask politely for directions…still remb this incident.. was funny..ok here goes thre was this tractor..we had to ask for directions.. they couldn’t hear us…so I ran behind the tractor…jumpin high in the air…waving at them…”Oooye Oy..!! How to Go??? “ finally got directions, I turn back.. see Arun and Manu laughin at me :D

Finally we reached the actual place..we parked our bikes in front of a lonely lodge in the middle of the forest.. and we found some steps down near the lodge.. which lead us into the forest…as soon as we entered the forest we found an abandoned Shop… we tried to find something to steal :P..couldn find a thing…

THE FOREST :

We were the only three in the forest…could hear only all sorts of animal sounds..and all of a sudden water falling,… Yippee!! There was a super Dooper water falls..not a big one..small Kutti falls :). We removed our socks and sandals (Oh ya we forgot to wear shoes :D) and sat below the falls for sometime..walkin in the water exploring the place :).

After tat we decided to go deeper into the forest.The route was a narrow one..but a kickass one & pretty scary too..Lots of bushes and fallen trees aall around us..Im pretty sure there were lots snakes all around us ,had to be EXTRA careful about my knee.. it was still in pain thanks to slip in Mekedat…We decided to go deeper into the forest..
It was becoming more & more dense with every step we took… As we were heading further we saw a kickass stick insect..perfectly camouflaged:) :). Too much of man vs wild influence..so spotted it with ease.:D. As we went deeper we found some fresh elephants droppings.. I was over the Moon looking at the elephants droppings :P..
I always wanted to see an elephant in the wild.. we were the only three in forest as far as we know… couldn hear a thing.. I was lik,,Commmmmooonn!! One Kutti baby elephant then we head back.. I wont even go near it…promise :).
They agreed ,we went deeper and deeper…not able to spot any elephant..:( the forest got really thick now..Manu & Arun got me back to my senses and we decided to head back.. Hehe ..But we saw lots of other creatures..truely beautiful…Nature At its BEST :).There was this huge Bush ..a lil canopy kinda thing..it looked dangerous.. I saw it turned around.” Atleast we`l …” …Manu – ‘ No way!!!’ finally they agreed on one condition…I had to go there 1st ( Thanks a lot!! Hehe) . I walked slowly, whispering ‘ macha if I die?/?’ finally went inside it..it was pretty dark inside…then gave a thumbs up ..they came inside it too…sat thre for sometime.. just listenin to all the wild noises around us.. then Manu declared himself as the INVISBLE DEVIL :D

Then we headed back…while trekking back …we saw another group of trekkers who had come then..

Then we reached back to the lodge where we started the trekk..we had coverd about 10 km into the forest.. we were pretty happy with that and very satisfied.
While driving back Manu & me in PULSAr..and Arun alone…we stopped at a decent hotel and had very good food :) tat too two rounds…

RIDE BACK:

Everything was perfect , good roads.. good food…good trek.. nice funn throwin rocks … only part we weren’t happy was ashok and Arvi couldn join us :( ( Bro`s a re-visit For sure..promise !!).

We returned safely back home..Arun & manu left !!! Had a wonderful trip.. the only trip in the Mid sem Hols… 4th sem was upcoming!!!


And while comin back on the nice road we put our college id`s to full use :)

PEACE \/

AnD Hey..we got Cheated..we thought we could Find pearls all around us… there were supposed to be pearls as far as the eye can see … But It`s FAKIE :P

MAPS:



ALL PHOTOS:

⬅️ 4. Nandi Hills 6. T.G reservoir ➡️

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