Ombattugudda Trek- Failed

After a very successful KP trek, we were all very eagerly looking forward to another trek. Jain took the initiative when he proposed Ombattugudda in the first week of Dec, 2009. We did some online research about the place and were pretty much convinced that the trek would be more challenging than the KP trek. We gathered good deal of information about it. The trek trail went through dense woods and covered nine consecutive peaks (that’s why the name Ombattugudda- Nine humps in Kannada). We also came to know about the trek being infamous for its tricky trails. There are parts in the trek with no visible trails while others present too many options to confuse people. No doubt, the success rate of the trek was low and even experienced trekkers easily lost their way on this trek. That’s why it was strongly recommended that we carry a survey map and a good GPS during the trek. To add to my excitement, I came to know that the jungle was infested with elephants and some people had encountered bears also. Apart from these, every blog had their list of ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’, which we very conveniently ignored then and later regretted.

Finally, Sankalp Gulalti, Rajeev Pandey, Ankit Jain, Viraj, Siddharth and I were ready and decided to do this trek on 12-13 Dec, 2009.  Mudit missed out due to his commitments at work while Sankalp chipped in at the last moment. Customarily, we shared responsibility for arranging essentials required for the trek. Viraj took responsibility for GPS while I procured the maps (Map No.48 P/9/NW and No.48 P/9/SW) from ‘Survey of India’ office. Jain took care of the ration (milk, ready-to-eats, Gud and Chana, Glucose, electrolyte powder etc.). Sankalp took responsibility for the tent, sleeping bags, rucksacks, and mattresses. There was a small problem however. Sankalp could get only one tent (suitable for four people). We also arranged a medical kit. I was in charge for getting the tickets done. Having experienced the KP bus ordeal, I decided to book the tickets in relatively more comfortable Rajahamsa Bus. Luckily, I got all six tickets in a single bus- one third row seat and the rest last row seats. I did not book the return tickets as I did not know at what place our trek would end.

All set, we planned to meet at Kempegowda bus stand on Friday night at 9:30 pm. That day Sid and I had little work in the office and spent most of our time talking about the upcoming trek. Pandey as usual was busy in his work but assured that he would be free by the evening. The same day my company had organised a Blood Donation Camp. Even though we knew the trek would be physically very taxing, Pandey and I voluntarily donated a pint of blood each during the lunch break. We both regretted this decision later.

A terrible but funny thing happened with Sankalp in the bus. I had bought two litres of petrol on my way to Bus Stand. Bottles were in my hand when I boarded the bus. One of the bottles carried Appy’s wrapper. Sankalp mistook it for apple juice. He took the bottle from my hand and before I could have warned him, he gulped it in a flash. Rest of the journey he kept vomiting and cursing me for bringing petrol in Appy’s bottle.

It was to be a six hour journey to Gundya Post. We all were in high spirits, excited about the trek. While Sankalp had his share of miseries, the jokes floated freely, till we realised we might be disturbing fellow passengers. We decided to catch some much needed sleep. The bus seats were comfortable and we all caught some naps, only to be disturbed by intermittent wild jerks and Sankalp’s growling noise while vomiting.

We reached Gundya Checkpost before 4 o'clock in the morning. Kukke Subrahmania, from where we had started for KP trek, is another 30 kms from Gundya. The atmosphere reminded me of the KP trek and I prayed and hoped this trek would turn out be as adventurous as KP. It was chilly and windy outside. But, we were all in good spirits. Even Sankalp had recovered and felt better. We readily distributed the trek items equally and packed our rucksacks. It was still dark, so we preferred to wait for another half an hour. There was another group, a larger one, which was going for the same trek. I talked to one fellow and came to know it was going to be their second attempt, after they had failed in the first. After all the readings online about getting lost in this trek, we finally were meeting a group which actually had wandered for 2 days in the jungle, without finding their way to the top. Their experience further thrilled our group. To ensure that we find path on our own and do not benefit from their prior experience, we decided not to follow them. We bade them bye and wished them luck while they left.  We decided to wait for another 15mins. Meanwhile, we familiarised ourselves with GPS. Some of us had hot tea at the nearby tea-stall.

Our plan was simple. We would walk along the road, cross a small bridge, take right turn towards the hutments and then follow the jeep track. When we started, it was still fairly dark. The dense overgrowth of trees on both sides of the road filtered the moonlight on our path. The bamboo trees swayed in the wind and produced a fearful yet soothing creaking sound. We walked mesmerized. Just before the dawn, night was at its beauty best.

We started when it was dark.

Soon after we crossed the bridge, we took right towards the hutments on the jeep track. The barking dogs greeted us overwhelmingly but we did not return the favour. Only 200m on the jeep track and we realised leach menace had started. We all trod carefully, tucking pants under the socks. We had to use torches for the first 10-15mins before the morning set in. Walking for almost a kilometre on the jeep track, the group mischievously decided to have some fun. We could hear the gushing sound of a stream on our right. Viraj looked into GPS and found that the next marked point too was to our right. So, we decided to leave the jeep track and venture into the jungle!! Thus, we went wrong from the start. I remembered a blog strongly suggesting about following the jeep track till a river bank. Out of over-enthusiasm, over-confidence and too much reliance on GPS, we ignored all the warnings and ventured deep into the jungle.

Initially we stuck to a mud trail, crossing a few puddles of water on the way. We stopped frequently to get ourselves rid of leaches. Elephant dung was strewn all over the place, making us optimistic that we might run into a herd. Viraj took the lead and relied on GPS to suggest the path in cases we stood confused at junctions. The trail we were following led us deep into the jungle and then it disappeared. We were left in lurch. The only consolation was that we were close to the stream that still gushed at our right. We decided to take our refreshment break at this point. We reached to the stream bank and made ourselves comfortable on rocks. That place was awesomely beautiful. The woods were dense, the sun was trying to dispel the morning mist and we were in middle of a stream having gud and chana in breakfast!

Getting rid of leaches

Mesmerizing Morning- During the Breakfast Break

We spent some time at that place, clicking a few good pics and then planned to start. But, there was no trail ahead. Jain and Gulati went ahead and explored the area for any further trail. They did find one which by the look of it seemed to have been scantily trodden. Since, we were already an hour into the jungle, we had no choices left but to take that one. Later we realised what seemed like a foot trail was actually a stream which was dry at that time. The path was covered all along with bushes and fallen trees. It looked ugly by all standards and we had to be very careful about snakes and other creatures on our way. Sankalp took the lead this time and I was following him. He very carefully took his steps and his eyes were glued to the messy path. And, then this happened. There was a large spider in his cobweb just a foot away from his face. It was yellow and dark coloured spider, the largest I had ever seen. I pulled him back in time otherwise he would have definitely barged his face into it! We took a few close-ups of the spider and then carried on. 

The Spider Sankalp Almost Bumped into!

On our way, we also found a green snake, which shied away quickly. The stream trail soon began to climb up the hill taking us away from the main river. At this point, the feeling started to sink in that we were lost. The group stood divided at this point on what we should do. We all had become a bit cautious after the spider incident and did not want to run into further danger. Viraj was of opinion that we follow the stream trail up the hill so that we might get a view of places around and then decide our path. I strongly felt we should stick to the main stream and follow it till we reach the main river. The GPS had stopped working probably because it was not getting any satellite signal in the dense jungle. After a discussion, we agreed on Viraj’s idea, hoping we will get the signals at some height. We started climbing. There seemed no end to the climb and GPS still malfunctioned. We again had a discussion. We studied the map and decided that we should return back and follow the river. After almost half an hour of trekking along the river in seemingly very dangerous paths, we came out in an open area full of grass. At this point, we heard some people talking at the river’s bank towards our right. 

It was about to be 1:30 and we decided to scale down to the river and have our lunch break. When we reached the river bank we saw another trekking group on the other side of the river. The group we had met at Gundya was nowhere to be seen; probably they had moved far ahead. The group that we were with might have started later than we did and reached there before us. At that point too there was some confusion within our group. According to Viraj, we had to move along the river and take left. As for the other group we thought they would be crossing the river towards us. However, to our surprise and dismay, they had already crossed the river and were planning to move in direction opposite to what we had planned. We were convinced that they were totally mistaken and even tried to convince them to follow our way. But, they were pretty confident about their plan. Jain and Sankalp crossed the river with our GPS and the maps and discussed with them the locations and the direction. We figured out that it was we who were totally mistaken and they were right. We decided to cross the river and then plan for the trek ahead.

We had our lunch at the river side, filled our water bottles and got ready to move ahead. We again decided not to follow the previous group. After crossing the river, the same question loomed large- ‘which way to go?’ It was around 2pm and we had realised by then that we were way behind the schedule. We lost ourselves in the easiest part of the trek. What should have been covered in 2-3 hours, we took 9 hours to reach to the river. Panic had started to creep in the group. Energy level was also down. Rajeev was not at his spirit best. I too felt weakness. We had realised by then that it was perhaps not the best idea to donate blood the last day.

We knew beforehand there were two ways to reach the peak from the river. First one was through the jungles and consisted of steep ascent up the hills. The other was the longer route which followed the river and gained ascent gradually. We had some milestones marked in the GPS with respect to the second route. We all agreed to follow the second one. However, there was a small problem. We could not find any trails of the second route. We tried to explore the area of all visible trails. We followed some with hope but they all eventually disappeared into the dense woods. In the desperation, we climbed up and down hills several times, crossed streams many a times and even tried to find any trail in the dense jungle when there were none. We kept searching for it for another hour in the scorching sun. It was almost 3:30pm. We had started to panic. Pandey was visibly insipid, though he tried his best to hold up. At one point he was even contemplating of returning back all alone. We all knew it would be impossible to reach the peak the same day. After wandering around for almost 2 hours, we finally returned to the same place where we had started, the river bank. 

Lost in woods-Trying to find a trail!

However, this time there was a local villager nearby. We asked him about the route. He guided us to a jeep track which was 8-10 feet wide running parallel to the river.  I wondered how we could have missed such a trail during our last 2 hours. Anyways, the new discovery rekindled a new hope in us and we started briskly on the trail. We almost ran in order to beat the setting sun. For an hour or so, we continued at our brisk pace. The river was still to our right flowing down the valley. We were gaining altitude as we trekked. The light had started to fade. The jeep track led us to a small stream which met the main river at a distance. We crossed it, hoping that the track would continue after the stream. We took a break at this point and ate something to catch hold of our breath. We started again but the track narrowed down and eventually disappeared. We looked around and found a not-so-clean trail going up the hill. With no other option, we started climbing along the trail. After 15mins or so, we realised we had committed the same mistake which we did in the morning. What appeared to us a trail was actually a dried stream. It led us deep into the jungle on the hill, with no further trail. Suddenly it started getting dark. Light fades very fast in the woods. We were left stranded on the hills as light faded quickly. We had given up all hopes now. We all sat down on the slope. As the darkness spread, we started to get conscious of our surroundings. The outside gloom started pervading our body and mind too. We sat numb and did not even bother about what lied in the bushes we were sitting against, not to talk about the hundreds of leaches that were sucking our blood.

Jain and Viraj were still optimistic of finding a way out there on the hill. Rest of us had almost surrendered. While we sat on the slope in the darkness, they went ahead in the jungle further up the hill. Some of us, including me, were exasperated. I thought we should rush back to the river bank and camp there for the night. I thought it was very dangerous to camp in the jungle or on the jeep track, where the probability of an encounter with elephants was high, given that we had found elephant dung, fresh and old, all along the path. I was upset as we were wasting precious time sitting idle on the slope. Jain and Viraj returned in 15mins. They had found nothing. We had a brief discussion about further plans. Considering all of us were tired to the bones and not in position to exert for another 2 hours in the dark, we decided to camp nearby.

Resting at the Camp Side after Failed Attempt-Day1

By the stream, we found a good flat place for the tent. It was a bit off the track. There was a fallen tree behind which provided a natural protection from one side. Most importantly, the place was free of leaches. We dumped our bags and started working for the camp. We knew fire would be an important component of our safety at night. So, we planned that we would keep the camp fire up all through the night. We started gathering dried branches, leaves and wood, which were abundant and soon we piled up a good stock. Sankalp took charge of erecting the tent and preparing food. He even cut a couple of spear shaped branches with his knife and kept it ready for any unwanted confrontations. We loosened ourselves a bit while working together for cleaning the place, fetching firewood, erecting tent and preparing the food. Knowing we had no other choice but to brave the night, the group got its charm back. As soon as the fire was up, we boiled ready-to-eats and had an early dinner. Sitting around the fire, we chatted for a while.

As the night grew, darkness intensified further. The fear started to creep in again and we were all ears to even the slightest sound from around. We knew we were near to a stream and camping on an elephant trail. That had added to the risk. The stream was still making the same gushing sound, but now it was more intense and added to the frightening environment. We even started talking about chances of us making safe through the night! From deep within, I was cursing myself and repenting coming to this trek. Who on earth would relinquish comfortable bed at home for such a situation!!

Vigilant Rajeev Guarding the Tent

Terrified Group around Camp Fire.

I am sure that most of us were thinking the same way. But, we chose not to share such ideas and add to the already prevailing pessimism. Time had refused to fly by. Even though, we felt we had spent a good stretch of time eating and sitting around the fire, it was still only 8. We decided we would sleep in shifts. While four people would sleep in the tent, two would always be awake guarding the tent and making sure the fire is up all through. I paired up with Pandey, Sankalp with Viraj and Jain with Sid. Duration of the shift was 1 hr 30mins. Each pair would take two shifts till morning. It was a perfect plan as all of us got sleep and at the same time the tent stood guarded all through the night.

Taking turns to sleep

If that night was the most horrifying night of my life, the next morning was the loveliest morning I have ever experienced. When I woke up, the jungle was abuzz with chirping of birds. Water gushing down the stream was music to the ears. A cool morning breeze cut through the woods. The leaves rustled to add to the effect. The sun rays filtered through the leaves and cast a beautiful artwork on the flowing water. The hills covered with dense green jungle and the river flowing down the valley presented a picturesque view. Mother Nature stood bare and pure before me and I stood spellbound standing on a rock in middle of the stream.

Morning- Day2

Morning has always been the easiest choice among poets for a metaphor to symbolize hope, joy, optimism, fresh start etc. I, for the first time, experienced it literally. The group which was so low on morale the last night suddenly sprang to life in the morning. Everyone was talked optimistically. It seemed the morning had rekindled a fresh hope in all of us.

We freshened up. While Sankalp boiled water for cup noodles, I could not resist a dip in the stream. After the break-fast, we repacked our bags and got ready for the further action. We studied the map closely and were convinced that we are on the right path. 

Viraj, Jain and Sankalp studying the map

The problem was we could not find the subsequent trails. We again hit the jungle searching for the trails, only to be disappointed again and again. We even divided ourselves into two groups searching for trails in different direction. In this endeavour, we crossed the stream not less than 6 times. Crossing the stream was not an easy task. It was at least 40m wide at the narrowest point. The rocks at the bottom were very slippery and at places water was very deep. In addition, the current was fairly strong, adding to the challenge. We did not want to wet our shoes, so we had to cross it with shoes in our hands, further restricting our flexibility. Once trying to cross, Sankalp slipped and fell into the water. We all had a good laugh. Altogether it was a great fun braving the water currents.

But, still we could not find the trail. We had spent around 3 hours wandering around the same place over and over again. We had absolutely no clue what to do next. But, again to our rescue came a villager who was cutting wood on the other side of the stream. We asked him the way. He said he was going in the same direction. So, we trekked with him for 3-4km. He led us to another point where we had to cross the stream again. Here we decided to rest for the lunch. According to the villager, the peak was another 3-4 hours of steep climb from there. He even led Sankalp to a junction where two trails originated and showed him the path we had to follow. But, our luck to blame, Sankalp could not understand him. So, when we started we again took the wrong path. After moving for an hour or so on that trail, we were again lost. The trail vanished into the woods. We again wandered around in desperation in search of any other trail, but no success.

It was past 2 o’clock when we decided we give up our quest and return back. We wanted to return to Gundya Post before it would get dark. We knew we did not have much time in our hands. Moreover, we did not know the exact path from the river bank to the Gundya Post, since we had reached there through jungles. So, we decided to rush. We started briskly on the return journey. Even on the return journey, we lost our way couple of times. When we reached the place where we had tented, we rested for 5mins and then again paced up towards the river bank. We reached the river bank at 5:30 pm. We rested there for a while, had glucose and then after crossing the river proceeded on the same track. 

Group at the River Bank-On Return Trek

It was getting dark quickly. We needed to pace up. The jeep track was surrounded by dense trees on both the sides and was also full of leaches. On the top of all, we were not sure if the same track would lead us to Gundya. Still, we had no choice, but to carry on. No one wanted another night camp in the jungle. We crossed 3-4 small streams on our way. Darkness was intensifying. That slowed down our pace considerably. There was no visibility of any human settlement. We took out our torches and kept moving. The group again started to panic a bit. After an hour of walking in darkness, finally we sighted an electric bulb at a distance. That was moment we all let our emotions out and screamed in unison. We now knew we were safe. In 15mins we were on the highway. At the dabba, we got ourselves rid of leaches for the last time. From the booth nearby, I called Swarnim and informed her of my well being. After a delicious plate of Sambhar-chawal, it was time to worry about our return journey to Bangalore.