Amedikal trekking and kadamagundi (ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ) falls

Charmaadi ghat is source of many trekking places. Amedikal is one of beautiful trekking places available in charmadi ghat. I got few information from blogs available in website.

Plan:

·         Take a bus to Dharmasthala from Bangalore majestic on 13 Aug 2010.

·         Get down at kokkada and reach shishila.

·         Trek amedikal starting from shishila with guide Chennappa.

·         If possible stay on top of amedikal for the night.

·         Get down from Amedikal peak and visit Dharmasthala temple

    then start to Bangalore.

Trekking group consists of three people from Bangalore Shasi, Kiran Talur and myself (Hari). Harsha hegde was suppose to join us in Kokkada from Mangalore. We had plan to start trekking early in the morning from shishila. We reached majestic by 9:30PM on 13 Aug 2010. We enquired for Rajahamsa bus, we could not get seats for all. So we had to manage with the very famous “Kempu dabbi”. Got a bus and asked whether seats are reserved. Conductor told only one family has reserved seats, so we sat in the middle seats. Then family started coming, we were asked to move to next row seats. We moved multiple times and finally ended up just 2 rows before last row. The family was just 18 members.

We got down from bus, bus and looked for another bus. We got another bus and started towards dharmasthala. We thought we could get down in kokkada before reaching dharmasthala and then reach shishila. When I called Harsha Hegde in the early morning around 5:30AM before reaching kokkada, he was still in Mangalore and told first bus to dharmasthala starts at around 6:00AM. I thought we could go to dharmasthala, have bath, breakfast and complete morning calls. No room was available in dharmasthala, so had bath and got ready in general room available for sleeping.

Harsha Hegde reached dharmasthala around 9:30AM. Had breakfast and started to kokkada by a jeep. From kokkada also we got another jeep to shishila. Since we reached shishila late, our guide chennappa who told he is guiding another group and chendappa would guide us. Around 10:30AM we reached shishila and chendappa was waiting for us in bus stand. We went to Gopu Gokhale's house. Kept our bags and started to trek. We got an auto to starting point of trekking to Amedikal which is 4 km from shishila village. Another group who started earlier to us with guide chennappa were still on the way from shishila to trekking starting point.

Approximately 10:45AM we started our trekking. Our guide chendappa was saying we cannot reach top because of rain and we started late. In fact we are the first group to reach top of amedikal peak. Many other groups which started early morning were still on the way. Chendappa appreciated us for reaching peak so fast. This is approximately 16KM trekking from trekking point. 

Starting point of our trekking

New Way of drinking water with bamboo

Nellikaayi (Gooseberry) maradalli

On the way to peak we got a Nallikaayi tree, Shashi and Kiran climbed the tree and got lot of nallikaayi. 

Steep terrain made Beautiful by monsoon



WOW, Clouds all around.

It was raining during our trek to amedikal peak. The rain gods added lot to our enjooooooyment during trek. I don’t have words to explain the beauty of nature during monsoon. Chilly weather, the rain, blood sucking leaches and nice one liner from friends. It is inexplicable.

Grass is always greener!!! ..



This is amedikal peak. It looks like aame(Tortoise) from one end.

   

 

Nature’s wonders-Natural fluorescent green!!!

 Nothing on earth looks better than western ghats in monsoon!!!!.



Meditating  on top of Amedikal

From Amedikal peak we could spot Yettina bhuja, Ombhattu gudda . We hope to scale all those peaks in the near future.


Steep terrain with herbs in rocks



It was a rugged terrain. In spite of that it was a pleasant trek because of salubrious climate.

We are above clouds.

Back on road



We started our descent at 2 PM and reached the starting point at around 6:00 PM. We called autowala from shishila. He came to pick us from trekking place to shishila Gopu Gokhale's house.

Gopu Gokhale is a nice person. We spent the night in his home. They were very good hosts and we had a nice homely dinner which was necessary for us recharge and regain our energy

 
Dinner at Gopu Gokhale's house



Water stream from kadama Gundi (ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ)Falls we have crossed this 4-6 times to reach falls.



Shrama jeevigalu



On 15^th Aug 2010, Shashi and I got up early in the morning and we both went to see Gopu Gokhale's areca nut farm. There is a river at the end of areca nut farm, which makes a perfect setting for a good swim though we did not venture into it. We reached Ujire by first bus which starts from Shishila at 8:00AM. We had our breakfast in Ujire Guruprasad hotel. Immediately we got a bus which was going towards Didupe which is approximately 22 km from Ujire. We did not even know name of the falls, but I had a fair idea of a fall’s existence near Didupe. We got down at Didupe and there was a big sign board showing us the way to the falls. That falls is known as “Kadamagundi Falls” We had to walk for approximately 4km to reach the falls. The road to the waterfalls is very confusing and we had to pass through private farms to reach our destination. We were literally crawling through the labyrinth of bushes and creepers which made our walk all the more difficult and moist weather and slippery terrain was adding to our woes. But we did not succumb to all these difficulties and finally managed to reach the falls. Well just standing in front of this majestic falls was enough to forget all the difficulties we encountered to reach here.



Kadama Gundi (ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ)Jalapaata



This kadamagdi falls was one of very good waterfalls. We don’t have to dip in water. Falls has attraction to drag you into it by drenching you in water drops.



ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ(ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ) ended in Kiran's mouth.



We celebrated our Independence Day in Kadamagundi waterfalls by hoisting our National Flag. Students from Ujire Engineering College were also present and they too joined us. Surprisingly there were 2 guys from UK were very enthusiastic in celebrating without any hesitation.



Indipendence day celebration at Kadama Gundi(ಕಡಮಗುಂಡಿ) Falls

 We saw one beautiful snake when we were on the way from kadamagundi waterfalls.


See the beautiful eyes

 

By 3:00 PM we reached Didupe, from there we reached Ujire by bus. Fortunately for most of our trek rain god never troubled us. From Ujire Harsha departed to Mangalore and  Shashi, Kiran and I reached Dharmasthala and from there to Bangalore.

Contact numbers:

Accommodation available in Gopu Gokhale’s house.

Gopu Gokhale: 08251-269246. Mobile: 9483211246

Guide Chandappa: 9449907792

Guide Chennappa: 9480239185