A Scary Drive To Karnataka’s Highest Peak


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A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

It has been three months or more that we completed our last trip to Kanyakumari and Danushkodi and thought we would make a short trip somewhere we had not visited earlier. After discussing with my wife we concluded with the destinations and they are Kalsa, Horanadu, Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi and Mullayanagiri Peak.

The duration of the trip was only one night and two days. So as usual, me and my wife, and this time my son too joined us for the trip. Since it was only one night stay, and a sudden decision, we didn’t do any prior hotel booking as I do always. The plan was to stay at Kalasa.

We gathered the information from the Net about the tourist attractions of the places we proposed to visit.

Though we had a big list, we could visit only a few places due to time constrain, weather and road conditions. Anyway, the trip had given us an adventurous experience that would remain in our good memories.

Day 1 : Bangalore to Samse – 335 kms

On 22nd July, 2013 at 5.30 am we started from home, though we planned to start at 5.00 am. And the route we had taken was Hassan>Bellur>Kalasa>Samse.
We hit NH 48 at 6.20 am and the road was very smooth with less traffic for almost 100 kms. Before reaching Hassan, we stopped at Kamath Restaurant for breakfast. After 45 minutes we continued our journey. Around 9 am we crossed Hassan, and the road was very good though it was two lanes.

We deviated from this road and took a left turn to Bellur and after a few kms the road condition deteriorated. It was raining intermittently on the way and some places we encountered thick fog also with poor visibility. Though the road condition was poor, still we enjoyed the drive through the fog and green coffee plantations on both the sides.

Around 12.15 pm, we reached Hotel Yathri Nivas at Kalasa and checked in, after seeing the room was Ok.

Kalasa is 92 km southwest of Chikmagalur and situated on the banks of the river Bhadra. It is surrounded by lofty hills of the Western Ghats and is looked upon as one of the pancha-kshetras on the banks of the Bhadra. Close by are the pancha theerthas, the five sacred ponds. On a small hillock here is the Kalaseshwara temple is dedicated to Ishwara, with a Kshetrapala shrine of soap stone in Hoysala style nearby. The Madhawacharya bande, a large boulder at one of the theerthas here, is supposed to have been placed by Shri Madhawacharya the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy. A statue of this Acharya is carved on the upper portion of the rock.

We took rest for sometime and had our lunch at 1.30 pm. Later at 2.45 pm we reached Samse and after trekking down for almost two kms through the slushy path we reached near Bhadra River. The river was flowing very violently due to heavy inflow of rain water from the forests. After spending some time there, we went to a Hydro power generating plant. It was a 6 MW power generation plant and we had the opportunity to visit inside and see the working of turbines, it was really a unique experience for us.

At 5.20 pm we left this place for Kalasa. On the way back we stopped the car for taking some pictures of Tea plantations, different from the coffee plantations those we found all the way. Later at 6.30 pm we reached the hotel. We were bit tired after trekking and walking, and retired for the day after the dinner.
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Remaining pictures of Day 1
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Remaining pictures of first day
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Remaining pictures taken on first day
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Day 2 : Kalasa to Kemmangundi and back to Bangalore – 480 Kms.

We got up at 6.00 am and checked out at 7.30 am after the breakfast. We wanted to visit Annapoorneshwari Temple at Horanadu which is 8 kms from Kalasa. The road from Kalasa to Horanadu was not all that good, and it was raining as well all the way. Horanadu is 100 km southwest of Chikmagalur and has an ancient Annapoorneshwari Temple, which has been renovated recently. With the installation of the new image of Adi Shakti, now the temple is called Adi-Shaktyatmaka Shri Annapoorneshwari. The place attracts lots of pilgrims who are provided free boarding and lodging by the temple. The temple is surrounded by mountains and forests.

We reached the temple at 7.50 am, there was not much crowd and we had a good Dharshan.

Around 8.45 am, we started from Horanadu, after a couple of kms we stopped the car for a while to take the pictures of Bhadra River. Later we started our drive towards Chickmagaur. The roads were not bad but the scenic beauty was really great on the way. We wanted to visit Kemmangundi first, that’s about 56 kms from Chikmagalur

Kemmangundi: Also known as K.R. Hills after the Wodeyar King - Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who had made it his favorite summer camp, Kemmangundi is at a height of 1434 meters and is surrounded by thick forests and a salubrious climate through out the year. It is surrounded by the Baba Budan Giri range and blessed with silver cascades of mountain streams and lush vegetation. It’s beautifully laid out ornamental gardens and enchanting mountain and valley views are a treat to the eye. For the adventurers, Kemmangundi offers many peaks to scale and intricate jungle paths to explore. This place has a beautiful rose garden and other attractions.

Around 11.25 am, we reached Chikmagalur and continued our journey to Kemmangundi. Before taking the ghat section we just enquired about the road condition with some local people there, and we were told that the roads are good, but there would be thick mist and poor visibility. However, we continued the drive, after a few kms we stopped to have a view of the valley, but nothing was visible due to the mist and the wind was blowing with a whistling sound.
After few minutes we continued, but couldn’t drive more than 20 kmph speed due to the fog and zero visibility. After a few kms, we stopped near a waterfall, spent some 15 minutes there and continued.

We enquired about the road condition again with a jeep driver whom we met on the way and he told that the last 20 kms was really bad. Skeptical about his words, we wanted to take chance. But as he told, that the roads were really bad and found very difficult to proceed further. Due to that we had to terminate our journey further to Kemmangundi. With lot of disappointment we returned back and decided to go to Mullayanagiri Peak.

Mullayanagiri is part of the Baba Budan Giri Hill Ranges here. It stands 1930 meters tall and is the tallest peak in Karnataka. Its height is famous mostly for watching sunsets from. It is 22 kms from Chikmagalur town. Driving to Mullayanagiri is worth taking a risk. On the way is Sitalayanagiri where the water in the Shiva temple neither increases nor decreases. The road to Mullayanagiri is very narrow with a view from steep cliffs. From the topmost point of the hill, the Arabian Sea is visible on clear days. .

On the way to Mullayanagiri Peak, we had a tea break for 20 minutes. Later, we started and found heavy fog again with very poor visibility. Hardly had we found any vehicle passing by except one or two. The last 3 kms of the road to the peak was really scary. The road was very narrow, wet and slippery and hardly any barricade found on the sides. A small slip from the road would be fatal.
We reached the peak at 1.45 pm. We were finding it difficult to open the left side doors due to heavy velocity of the wind from that side, and the car was shaking too. I opened the right side door and came out, OMG, I was not able to stand, pushing forward by the wind and absolutely there is no movement of any living creature. The temperature up there was 18.5 deg C. Though it was really scary, it was an adventurous experience for us.

After spending some 20 minutes there we drove down, capturing video clippings. Around 2.45 pm we passed Chikmagalur. At 3.45 pm we stopped at a place called Kuppali for lunch and started from there at 4.30 pm.

At 7.30 pm, we were back at home. It was a wonderful trip left with lot of good memories.
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Picture are really nice. The landscape of the place also very good.
But what is the scary part.waiting to know.
 
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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Another interesting travelogue.
Thank you Sir.

Have you visited the Peak? That would be really scary as read in other travelogues !
Water water everywhere. :)
 
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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Pictures taken on second day
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Remaining pictures of Day 2
 

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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Driving down at that fast ? Scary roads with mist !
You have a bell in your car ? [;)]
So, you talk Tamil @ home ?

I felt you could have waited a little longer (till aug-september) for rain to stop and better visibility. You could have watched Arabian sea if it was on a clear day right?

Kudos to you!
 
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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

Ramji, thanks for posting the pictures and sharing your experience with us. Many thanks!
You should provide us some info about your car. Looks like you got a really good tough car.
Cheers.
 
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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

AR Sir,

All the pics are really Wonderful[clap]

I enjoyed reading your TL.

I'm planning to visit Dharmastala this year. If possible I try to cover this place.

I'm really happy to see a TN registered car visiting length & Breath of the country[clap]

BTW, there was a Nice conversation between you & your wife in the last video[:D]

Thanks for sharing the pics & Videos :)
 
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Re: A scary drive to Karnataka’s Highest Peak

ramji nice tlog and fantastic pictures and videos. the road to mullayangiri peak looks very narrow was there space for a vehicle coming from the opposite side or do you need to drive back to wider areas to let them pass ?
 

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