Amedikallu!

I have been wanting to go to Amedikallu for quite some time now. In fact, in the good old days when Moch was around, we had made several plans. But we never ended up going there, for whatever reasons. Buoyed by our last weekend's trek to Ettinabhuja and subbichendgudda, when the weather was good for treks, we decided to give Amedikal a shot on the weekend of 18-19th April.

The team: Subbu, Sirish (yes!), Flavia, Mahesha, Jagga, Sand, Adithya, Balaji and yours truly!

Amedikallu, as quite a few blogs have claimed, is considered one of the toughest climbs in Karnataka.. But is it? Read on!

There are two trekking routes to Amedikallu. The first one is from Neria estate which is relatively easier. But the estate owners supposedly donot let trekkers go through the estate these days. The second one is from Shishila which is tougher. We, needless to say, opted for the second route.

Bangalore - Hassan - Gundya - Kokkada - Shishila.

We considered going to Amedikallu without a guide, with just a GPS for assistance. But we realized that without a guide, it would be difficult for us to return on the same day, knowing our fearsome reputation of getting lost during treks! Not returning on the same day in no big deal, we were ready to spend the night on the peak, but the unavailability of water along the way bothered us. If you go along the path, there is no water source right from the beginning till the peak. But there is a water source near the base of the peak where only a guide can take you to. So we went to Gokhale's place looking for a guide. (At Shishila, anybody will guide you to his place). He immediately arranged for a guide called Chennappa, although it is advisable to call him in advance and book for a guide (contact number: 08251-269246). We soon reached Kandechhar, which is the starting point of the trek.

Amedikallu from a distance!

Take a left turn on a narrow trail from Kandechhar and you are on your way! Again, without someone telling you, it is impossible to figure this narrow trail. The walk to Amedikal peak is one of continuous ascent and the first break you get from this monotony is only after about 2 hours of climb in the forest. Once you complete this stretch, you get a magnificient view of Amedikallu in front of you, and what awaits you next! The left side of the peak has three rocks neatly arranged to look like a stove. The main peak, at the center, looks like the outer shell of a turtle (ame = turtle, dikkel = tulu word for stove). The climb from this point to the peak is steep. But to get to a water source, we took a left turn just before the ascent. Ten minutes into the jungle, we came across a stream where we refreshed and had our packed lunch.

The climb from this point is steep and is without any forest cover and with good pace, can be done in about 1.5 hours. There are plenty of rocks en route, sitting on which you can enjoy the views all around. All along this path, we got to see the other side of EttinaBhuja (we now have 360 degree profile shots of it). Also, thanks to the showers a few days back, the entire stretch was green. To get to the main peak, we had to cross a thick forest and come out on the other side. But there is a clear trail to follow. After checking out few view points on the right side of the peak, we reached the main peak at about 1630 hours. And I must say, it isn't as tough as it is made out to be. In fact, it is nothing compared to the ordeal we went through on our way to OmbattuguDDa. Amedikallu is amongst the highest peaks in it's surroundings and we could see EttinaBhuja, Minchukallu, ShinganiguDDa and other peaks. Conspicuous by it's absence was the OmbattuguDDa. The "intelligent-looking" Mahesha has this habit of spotting any arbit jeep track and calling the nearest peak OmbattuguDDa, randomly. Here too he didn't let go of an opportunity when he spotted a jeep track.

The team at the top...

After spending a good 45 minutes at the peak, we started the descent. By the time it was dark, we had reached the forest cover from where we had got the first glimpse of the peak during our ascent. The descent from this point to the road was done in darkness and was the most boring part of the trek. The descent took us so long that it seemed like a journey to the center of the earth. Finally when we reached the road, it was around 2030 hours, where our TT was waiting for us.

Some useful info:

Although considered a tough trek, the whole stretch (up and down) can be done in a single day. I would call it a moderately tough trek.

Contact number of Gokhale: 08251-269246.

Guide charge is around 200 per day. But since Amedikallu is considered a two day trek, you may have to pay 400 as guide charges.

Photos of the trek are here.

Thus continues the quest...