Trekked Ombattu Gudda (OG) in 11 hours!!! (OG/7)

Trekked Ombattu Gudda (OG) in 11 hours!!!

Yes even it was difficult for us to believe! Started on Saturday (Nov 26th 2011) morning at 6:30AM from Gundya and reached OG at 5:30PM :-) :-) Even pushed ourself to reached Lakshmi Estate on Saturday night itself by 10PM! We trekked more than 30km in a day.

Ombattu Gudda (nine hills) Trek is very famous for its mysterious route! Its in Kabbinale reserve forest, at the height of 971m. OG is a trekkers paradise, and can scare the daylights out of even a hardened trekker. No trial to follow and in dense vegetation its damn easy to get lost. May be only 3 out of 10 team will conquer OG. If lost its not even easy trace back trial to reach the start point. Many teams have spent even 2 days to come back after getting lost on day1. Also wild elephants, bear, bison, poisonous snakes and blood suckers (leeches) add more toughness and challenges to OG trek.

Note: * Need permission from Forest department as this is restricted area.

OG is about 20-25km trek to peak depending on the trial we take, and to Hosakere its around 10km. Starting point is Gundya, around 38km from Sakleshpura or 260km from Bangalore. Dharmasthala and Mangalore busses will go via Gundya. Trek exit is through Hosakere in Mudigere. Last bus to Mudigere is @ 5:PM. From Mudigere there are many buses to Bangalore.

Usually Bangalore ASCENDers (BASC) gets huge response for OG trek events! Its really a tough task for organiser to select a team. Ours was a 13 member team (Abhishek Sooda, Ambareesh Karanth, Anitha, Avinash Kodikal, Naveen A, Naveen Mallesh, Rahul, Rajesh P Nayak, Samudyatha, Sanketh Shetty, Somashekara, Sri Harsha, and Vikas) with 3 trekkers experiencing first trek! and 2 guys never did 2 days tough trek. But they had tremendous spirit to summit OG.

We reached Gundya very early in the morning, so slept in TT itself for more than an hour waiting for the sunlight. We got down near Kabbinale bridge, took our trekking gears and all were ready for the tough trek. One can easily make out the excitation and eager in every faces to climb OG. After crossing Kabbinale bridge (1.5km from Gundya Forest checkpost towards Dharmasthala) we followed a mud road to the right which takes inside the Gundaya village. Houses are there on both sides of the road, but after about 15 walk no civilization, its dense forest. Still a jeep track continues till the point where Kabbinale joins Adda Hole. Its around 3hrs easy walk with crossing few small streams, experiencing beauty of dense forest. We saw fresh & old elephant dung on the way! We need to be very cautious as there are chances of deviating from jeep track as many paths will be joining (both left & right) and also due to tree falling on path. Always we need to follow wide trail and never trek off the track.

In the Kabbinale river crossing point, we relaxed and had breakfast. Water was crystal clear and very tasty. After spending half an hour we left @ 11AM, we crossed Kabbinale river and continued to walk on the jeep track. We were clearly hearing Adda hole river flowing to the right of us. 

After about an half an hour walk, track will join Adda hole (near big rocks), from here there is no jeep track, we need to move along with narrow foot path. Now the path is inside dense forest and is scary as we saw few poisonous vipers.

Ahead we got a 'Y' junction, right goes to Devara Gundi falls (below) and straight path is OG trial. We were not interested in going to falls as it was full of slippery rocks so very risky, also water was very less.. We continued to trek straight. After walking for 15 minutes again we got a 'Y' junction, right goes to Devara Gundi falls (above) or joins Adda hole and straight goes inside dense jungle. Right path is what is mapped in Survey map in red dots, which goes on the bank of Adda hole (which we followed in OG/3). But we went straight, can't justify why, but I always try a different route. As we moved further, path became very narrow and often interrupted by fallen trees. Around 2PM we reached a small stream, and decided to have lunch there. I was really surprised by the first time trekkers as they were walking without much difficulty, also didn't ask for breaks in between! and I should thank Rajesh & Naveen Mallesh who were sweepers till now were motivating & pushing the whole team.

Finished lunch and filled water now ready to move forward. Crossed the stream, went ahead slightly towards right as it was going towards top of a hill. We all climbed the hill, now forest was not dense and trees were very straight and tall. Rajesh checked GPS location in his iPhone, we were on the verge of the forest which will open up in OG range. All were happy that we were on right way and also didn't get lost in jungle. We continued further it was an uphill climb, by 3:30PM we were out of jungle and reached grassland of OG range. Actually we directly reached 2nd peak of OG from its south side (normal route is to take left from Addahole and reach OG range from its east side). All were so happy that we will be climbing OG on day1 only!

Now challenging task was to climb rest 7 peaks to reach OG that too under hot sun and heavy wind. This time Rajesh & Naveen Mallesh were leading the team and I & Somashekara were pushing the team as sweepers. It was not an easy task at all, wind was literally pushing out of the hill if we don't hold the grass for support. Now the pace has drastically come down. Finally @ 5:30PM we were on top of OG! It was a great feeling for all of us, after very challenging climb. We have climbed OG in only 11hours! This was supposed to be a 2 days TOUGH trek in Jungle, but the team made it a single day trek! Its great team effort, helping and motivating each other. 

We could clearly see Deepadakallu & Jenkal betta towards North-East direction and Jeep track (which leads Lakshmi Estate) towards North-West direction. We need to cross a small jungle patch to reach the jeep track. It was getting dark, so we hurried towards jeep track after taking few group photos. We were out of forest patch by 6:30PM and took rest on jeep track. Left (down path) takes to Saraswathi estate (may be around 1.5km) and right (up path) takes to Lakshmi Estate / Bhyrapura / Hosakere. It was already almost dark now, so we started towards Laksmi estate, its about 3hrs downhill (almost) walk on a easy jeep track. Again Naveen M and Rajesh went ahead, me and Abhishek were at the end. He was very slow and needed support to walk as he had pain in legs. It was dark night trek with dense jungle surrounding us. We were lucky to see 2 snakes on the path. It was really a wonderful experience with cold breeze and very silent jungle. First batch reached estate by 9:45PM, we 2 reached late @ 10:30PM.

We are really thankful to Lakshmi estate guys for proving us a room to rest for the night and allowed us to cook in the morning. We called our driver and asked him to come to Hosakere from estate landline as there was no mobile signal in the area. We reached back to Bangalore on Sunday night itself. Credit of this 'Single Day trek to OG' goes to the entire team. Great spirit shown by each and everyone, kudos to them.

Experiences shared;

Sri Harsha:

It was amazing adventurous expedition..! It was a wonderful experience and i will reminisce it for a very very long time..! You guys just rock..!

It was a wonderful team and more than that, it was a wonderfully co-ordinated event. Kudos to Ambareesh, Rajesh and Naveen for taking the baton and making sure we got the sense of an adventure trip as well as exploring new places.

Anitha:

No words to express.....,

Stillllllllll..Awesomeeeeeeeeeee......Inspiringggggggggggg......Adventuroussssssssssss....,

This was my first trek with BASC and definitely the most adventurous trek I love.

The experience was just thrilling, full of  extreme experiences and fun in the pure nature,

away from the civilization for the time period.

Thanks to Ambareesh for giving me an opportunity and being a motivation throughout the trek.

Thanks to every single hand who lent me to move along the trek. Ambareesh was leading the group, Rajesh and Naveen as sweeper making sure that everyone is in front of him and experienced trekkers in between the everyone was motivating me to reach Ombattu Gudda.

and  and and and............. Its the Great team which made it a successful trek.

Sanketh:

My second trek with BASC and a hell a lot of exciting moments this time as well. Thanks Ambareesh for the opportunity and the team as a whole for the wonderful experience. Oorige hogovaaga innodu betta torsi hemmeyinda adanna hattidini anbahudu...  Ha ha...   :-)

Photo Link;

Sri Harsha: Anitha: Sanketh: Rahul

Event Organized by: Ambareesh Karanth
Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE

Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE
Written by: Ambareesh Karanth

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The spirit of OG - Ombattu Gudda_OG/3

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Ombattu gudda is fondly known as OG. As SRK is Badshah to Bollywood OG is to Trekking. It is a hot favorite amongst southern India trekking circuit. Since I first came to Bangalore and started browsing for local trekking clubs, I came across this name and little information about it. I didn’t take it too seriously then. With my very first introduction with Bangalore Ascenders to Ankola beach trek, OG was always in discussion for its mystery and serene wild forest. When people used to talk about it they generated vibes full of energy and enthusiasm. I wondered, `what the hell! Stop it’ OG - Oh God!!

After long discussions Bangalore ASCENDers BASC in short finalized 25-26 December for OG trek. Since the day registration  was open along with the itinerary, the game started. Inputs regarding Planning, suggestions, reviews and discussion over the ultimate savior Mr. GPS (Global positioning system) and his working capabilities in dense forest etc started pouring in. They were waves of group mail and one could feel the energy level tide up as the D-day was nearing. Not joking, you could virtually feel the mails hitting you hard off the screen.

The journey started on 24^th Night from majestic bus stand. We were in all 29 of us (a huge count!) Trying to get to know each other and with aspiration of enjoying the upcoming tasks of the trek, we moved on. Who knew then what the mighty lord has in store for all of us.

At Gundya check post near Kukke, we halted at a house for a while. From there we headed towards the jungle.Didn’t strike then that we were leaving civilisation far behind. As we started the nature around looked so beautiful... river making its way through handsome looking rocks, as if a lady trying to seduce these manly creatures by her curves and moves. A ll these visibly beautiful concepts of nature started to fade away as we were moving deeper inside. Reached a point where feeling of being lost in this vast forest started gathering up in the mind. With no one around but just tiny wild creatures, forest, river and sky high above.

That time the only strength you have with you is your will power and your team mates whom you trust, believe and depend upon, more than yourself. Bunch of strangers whom you had met few hours before suddenly mean more than your own family. That’s the spirit of OG, it brings out all possible strengths, weaknesses and anxieties in you. Let you know yourself better than you ever had. It gives you a feeling of togetherness to fight against all odds.

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Whenever we had to cross the river, which we did `N’ number of times, those handsome looking rocks suddenly turned out to be bald monsters who just had an oil massage, slippery enough to give us shock treatments at all possible parts of our body. With one like me having basic balance problem, enjoyed it thoroughly with no extra charges for the repeats. Aaahh, so hard and warm!! So much so that I wished this rock and water series end and let us have a feel of the uphill terrain which I did wrongly imagined would be more comforting. At last with permission from GPS and superb brains of our core team members we said goodbye to this couple in love and took off towards the hill.

All through the trek I  was  wondering  about the group of core member’s and few other enthusiastic souls. When we had just enough stamina and spirit to follow the leaders, this people had all the energy to track the route, track us if not left behind, review and plan the schedule and of all to maintain the team spirit high. Hats off all of them!!!

Now starts the most awaited in my mind, the ‘UP HILL’ journey. I was happy as we started with a gradual slope which continued for about fifteen minutes. Suddenly the path in front of us vanished with no option left but to climb that 70 degree – 80 degree steep slope. I started with a short silent prayer in mind thinking about loved ones and GOD! We all started ascending in a train formation with a wrong thinking that the closer we walk the safer we would be. The  only thing we totally believed and trusted that time were our hands, legs and those heavenly trees, their branches, roots or whichever part of theirs we could grab and push ourselves up and a bit up.. Of course for me it was also Goutham, who in spite of obvious structural difference between both of us had all the spirit to manage me drag up and out of there. To my surprise he was also high enough to take snaps in-between, when I didn’t even dared to look down that steep valley. It looked all so beautiful to him... OG!! Thanks buddy, that stretch was impossible to achieve without you.

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With all combined circus ending, we reached the grassland. Being introduced to trees, pathway, river, rocks, dense forest and now this grassland, no form of nature was left un-walked by us. Grassland seemed prettier than sloping forest. For the first time  we felt that we might conquer OG and all ours day and a half sweat shall not go waste. These small pretty hillocks had their own charming wickedness hidden behind. As we reached at top of each hill there waited series of them smiling and mocking at us. No one would know which one was OG till we actually reached at the top of the one. Patience was low and body was giving up. I got my lesson, `keep walking and do not look forward for the destination. It shall arrive when it is destined to. So comes OG- after crossing eight hills, at the top of ninth one, OG stands all so strong and high! We all celebrated our joy of victory followed by an entertaining video shoot by Sathish ‘The Professional’, to relax our mind and body. Who else than him knew it better than that there is lot more in store and this guys need a dose to pull it through.

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We had to cross two hills, a patch of forest and a jeep track to reach back to a civilised place called Laxmi estate. A mini bus was to pick us up from there. By now two hills and that forest was not a big deal as we were so used to them. But this unending man made jeep track made us crawl. OG- one more lesson to go: don’t rejoice on your victory, that is not the end. Keep walking with the same pace and spirit because this is how life is meant to be.

Late evening we reached Laxmi estate and travelled back to Bangalore by early next morning to our routine life. The OG journey compiles within us, so much of strength, motivation and aspirations, to achieve the toughest and fight for the impossible. Thus `WE’ shall all move on.....Visit our Group @ CLICK HERE
Join Bangalore ASCENDers @ CLICK HERE

Written by: Deepti
Event organized by: Ambareesh Karanth /Satish
Image Gallery: Harishchandra,Satish,Vinesh,Gautham,Ameet,Shivshankar

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