Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Peak 1252, Jenkal Betta & Dipadakallu Betta

Introduction:
To begin with there were 8 members willing to make this trek but finally there were only 3 of the lot willing, after much persuasion Gururaj convinced a 4th member Karthik for this trek.
The idea was to trek from Bettada Bhaireshwara -> Peak 1252-> Jenkal Betta -> Dipadakallu Betta -> OG -> Gundia check post.

7th November:
We board a bus to Hassan -> Sakleshpur.
From Sakleshpur at 6:30 am

8th November:
The jeep is waiting for us at Sakleshpur that takes us initially to Bettada Bhaireshwara Temple.
From Bettada Baireshwara temple
The priest at the temple scared us away and sent us to trek from Hodachalli, he was somehow not happy about your plans. By the time we started trekking it was Noon... There was absolutely no cloud cover and 95 % of the time we were exposed to direct sun. Our first stop was at Peak 1252 as planned and then to Jenkal Betta.
From Hodachalli - Trek began here

Jenkal Betta:
Is the tallest among all the peaks in the vicinity. The view up from here is majestic and is almost at 75Degree inclination. By the time we scaled down Jenkal betta it was 17:00 hours. We decided to take shelter for the night in the thick forest cover in the adjacent valley.
From Janukallu Gudda from Peak 1252


From Twilight Killer.....


Night out:
The entry into the virgin forests with a sickle in hand was quite adventurous. The spot we chose was perfect, it had thick tree cover to protect us from strong chill breeze, stream near by to help us cook and plenty of fire wood to keep the camp fire rocking. Well the camp fire had more smoke in it than fire or warmth, the reason being the fire wood was moist and dew had set in..
From RED Hot Coke
However we kept the fire starting as early as 18:00 hours upto 8:00 next morn., special thanks to Purushottam who took special interest staying up almost all night. Well karthik was busy smoking his lungs out.
From MTR Breakfast


8th November - Dipadkallu Betta:
Next morning we started at 9:00 hours out of the forest and head straight to Dipadkallu Betta we were ontop by 10:30 hours.
From Dipadkallu.....
The view from top was quite good, but with limited visibility. However seeing the thick undergrowth in the forests leading us to OG we decided not to head that way due to lack of mind and resources and preparedness.. We decided to get to Maragunda via Bettada Baireshwara temple. The trek down Dipadkallu Betta was pretty challenging having to get past tall grass negotiating drops all along the rock face. Towards the end we had to cut through thick virgin forests we managed get past this which took about an hour to clear and make our way through it safe.
From Purushottam, Gururaj, Karthik & Rohit in Order

The Trek Ends:
The way back to Maragonda was pretty simple and did not take much time. We had to wait a long time for the KSRTC Bus to come by and pick us up and drop us to Sakleshpur. We boarded a bus to Bangalore at 18:30 to reach Bangalore at 1:00 hours.

From Dipadkal as seen from Jenkallu Gudda

Finale:
1.The weather conditions are extreme, hot during day and cold at nights
2.95% of the trek is in lack of tree cover/any-kind of shade
3.Water is available in plenty almost everywhere, carrying half to one litre is sufficient.
4.Carry fruits and vegetables those that can be eaten raw.
5.Jeep is an expensive affair, all places have bus connectivity from Sakleshpur.