Mullayanagiri and Baba Budangiri trek

Mullayanagiri and Baba Budangiri are peaks near Chikmagalur town in south west Karnataka. Mullayanagiri is the tallest peak in Karnataka, though, not the toughest. This was a long awaited trek for me since I was mesmerized by the beauty of Chikmagalur after seeing some photos in web. I have gone here a couple of years ago. But it was in April when the landscapes were dry and not at all attractive. Moreover that was like a picnic and not a trek. The van took us till the peak. But this time I went in September (27,28,29 weekend) after a heavy monsoon of 2013. And it was purely done by walk in a single day. The trek was organized by Bangalore Mountaineering Club (bmcindia.org). There were around 30 members including me and 5 of my friends.

This is one of the rooms at the home stay.

FRIDAY, 10:00 PM
We all started from Bangalore in two non-ac vans with push back seats. Journey was via Nelamangala, Hassan. Roads were pretty good and I had a nice sleep till we reached our home stay.

SATURDAY, 4:00 AM
We reached the home stay in Chikmagalur after a long journey. I forgot the name of the home stay but it was away from the town and in the middle of the forest in Attigundi road. The location of home stay was somewhere between Mullayanagiri and Baba Budangiri peaks. It was a chilling outside with the mountain ranges visible if you open the door.

The room in which I stayed was an ultra big one where around 12 beds were arranged in two rows, each adjacent to other. It could fit around 20 members. One other room (as shown in the pic) could accommodate 2 people. There was another similar one for the ladies too. Immediately we all started sleeping.

SATURDAY, 6:00 AM
After the short nap, one by one started waking up and got fresh. Breakfast was served at the homestay. I don't know what that was called. It looked like some rice balls. We had it along with sambar and chutney. Since I was so hungry I ate a lot. After a brief introduction session, we all proceeded towards Sarpadhari in our vans.

This is shot during the initial parts of the trek. It was treeless and steep.

SATURDAY, 9:00 AM
We reached Sarpadhari which is the starting point of the trek to Mullayanagiri. Within no time all of us started the climb. Initially it was steep and many got tired. Moreover this hill doesn't have any tree cover. So you will be exposed to the sun all the day long. Luckily the day we trekked, it was cloudy and cool. Sun was not much of a trouble for anyone.

SATURDAY, 11:00 AM
After two hours of hard work, we reached Mullayanagiri peak. There is a temple on the top which is usually a bit crowded by the tourists who reach there in hired cabs. For adventurists, there is a cave which you can explore. I along with another trekker tried it. We kept going inside but it was not ending. After some point we encountered bats hanging there. We felt there is no point going further and we returned.

SATURDAY, 11:30 AM
After taking rest and a few snaps, we started towards Baba Budangiri peak. This was the most beautiful part of the trek where we came across some stunning views. Moreover the weather was very cool and misty which made it a comfortable trek. Some of the best photos I took, were also at this time. A few of them are below.

from Flickr

This was how misty the weather was.

SATURDAY, 1:00 PM
We reached a Ghat road where we all had lunch. I am not a big fan of vegetable pulav/biriyani or whatever you call it but my friends liked it very much. I had a very light lunch and took rest for a while before we could proceed.

SATURDAY, 1:30 PM
After taking rest for sometime and refilling our water bottles, we proceeded towards Baba Budangiri. At this stage, the peak (a tower) was visible and anybody will get discouraged to continue since the tower appeared so far and it indeed was very far. According to our guide it was 8 kms. Those initial routes were interesting. We were walking on top of a hill where both left and right sides were steep downward inclines. You fall either side, you're gone. In none of my previous treks I have come across such a path. It continued for something less than a kilometer. Then the steepness increased but only on the right side. At some stage it was literally vertical where one could perform some bungee jumping.

SATURDAY, 3:00 PM
Yes, it was the peak which looked very much reachable. But I didn't want to reach there so soon because of the dazzling green landscapes. This is one of the stages where you can take lot of breath taking mountainscapes in your camera. Only obstacle for me was the cloud cover because of which I couldn't get much from the sky in my photos.

from Flickr: Baba Budangiri peak from a distance.

SATURDAY, 4:00 PM
We reached the peak and after a short rest we started descend to the other side. This is a shot which I took at that time.

From Flickr

After 1 km of descend you can see a couple of tea shops. We devoured everything we could and waited for our cab. For those who reach this spot early, you may go a bit further and see the Manikyadhara falls. We didn't feel like going since it was too much for us that day and usually Manikyadhara will be crowded since this place is accessible through road. After some time the cab came and we got into the cab and it took us to our home stay in an hour.

SATURDAY, 8:00 PM
All of us got fresh and waited for supper. For our surprise there was chicken curry even though it was not there in the itinerary. Although I am a pure non-vegetarian, I don't generally like bird meat, especially chicken. But according to everybody else, it was well prepared. Then there was a campfire where we played musical chair for some time and later when the antakshari started we felt it's time to sleep. Due to the tiring trek, we all got a nice sleep.

SUNDAY, 9:30 AM
Next day morning, one by one got up and whoever wanted to get fresh, they did. We all started packing our bags to leave the homestay. We finished breakfast (poori) prepared at the home stay and left for Dab-Dabbe falls which was a half an hour journey from the home stay.

SUNDAY, 10:30 AM
Dab-Dabbe falls is situated in the middle of a coffee plantation and you have to walk 1 km downhill to reach there, which means you have to walk uphill while coming back :P.The water was so cold. But it was a fun shower. This falls has multiple layers where you can climb each layer and explore. This is one photo of the falls which I have taken. Note the layers.




SUNDAY, 1:00 PM
After spending an hour in the falls, we continued our journey to Bangalore with a scheduled stop at Hassan for the self sponsored lunch. Most of them got into a pure veg restaurant whereas around 10 of us walked a little bit further and found a bar attached restaurant with good ambiance. I forgot the name of this place but it starts with S. If you have any plans to eat here, never miss the starters especially the mutton pepper fry. DON'T try any Biriyani here. It's not good. Better option would be to go for fried rice or some roti. The quality of food (except Biriyani) and the service was very good and the cost was reasonable. I had one beer too which gave me a nice sleep for the next 3 hours in the van.

SUNDAY, 6:00 PM
We reached Bangalore and that ends one of the best treks I have ever had.

All over it was a wonderful trip where we could witness some stunning landscapes. The trek itself is not so difficult and anybody can make it, although it will be tiring. And as always, BMC organized it excellently. From the photography point of view, until that day I was very poor in taking landscapes. This trek was the first where I shot reasonably better landscape photographs. If you are also into photography, make sure you carry a wide angle lens. You will be shooting mostly in the 15-35 mm range (crop sensor body). A tripod will come in handy at the waterfalls. If you have an ND filter, carry that too since most of you will be at slower shutter speeds at the waterfalls.

POINTS TO REMEMBER
1. Never mind about luggage. Take whatever you need. While trekking you may keep the unwanted stuff at home stay and carry only what's necessary.
2. Carry 2 liters of water per person.
3. Carry glucose and some eatables like biscuit or chocolates. It might come in handy. It was the mistake we did. We didn't take those.
4. Carry some cash while trekking, to eat at the tea shop.
5. Swim suits might be useful in the falls. Or at least have some clothes for change.
6. Leeches are not there since tree cover is not at all present. So don't worry.
7. If you have an electric kettle, carry it to heat water for bathing. I am not kidding. Water in the homestay is damn cold for bathing.
8. Mobile network will not be there except for BSNL.