[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I wonder what would have happened if that little incident happened after the engagement (& before the wedding)



Oh OK! I thought I was the only one on Team-BHP to have done the trek (because I did a search and there are no Yedakumeri travelogues)

Did you go all the way to Kukke? Where did you start the trek from? We started off from Gundya, and got off at Yedakumeri.

In fact we the other way.

We started from Kukke and went till Yedakumeri!

[pramod]

I have done Yedakumeri trek twice:

1. started from Gundia and ended in Arkalgod road (deroute from Yedakumeri)

2. Started from Donigal and went till Gundia.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pramod

I have done Yedakumeri trek twice:

1. started from Gundia and ended in Arkalgod road (deroute from Yedakumeri)

2. Started from Donigal and went till Gundia.

Now I am confused. We got down at Kukke trekked towards Yadakumeri. I remember we walked for 15Km on the track and crossed all the famous bridges (which I hope cat will post !). We then hit a station and I am not sure it was Yadakumeri. The guy at the station told, we can hit the main road if we walk for another 6Km. We did that through the jungle and were on the main road. We then got a ride back to Kukke and were there by 7 in the evening.

Now I dont remember which station was that ! Cannot wait to see those pictures !

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by pramod

I have done Yedakumeri trek twice:
1. started from Gundia and ended in Arkalgod road (deroute from Yedakumeri)
2. Started from Donigal and went till Gundia.

Our original plan was to proceed to Donigal from Yedakumeri, but we ran out of food! Karthic, Binny, Jagga etc - they have very poor "food" efficient engines. They ate all our food supplies.

Originally Posted by ampere

Now I am confused. We got down at Kukke trekked towards Yadakumeri. I remember we walked for 15Km on the track and crossed all the famous bridges (which I hope cat will post !). We then hit a station and I am not sure it was Yadakumeri. The guy at the station told, we can hit the main road if we walk for another 6Km. We did that through the jungle and were on the main road. We then got a ride back to Kukke and were there by 7 in the evening.

Now I dont remember which station was that ! Cannot wait to see those pictures !

Going by your description, I don't think you started from Kukke. You started your trek from Gundia, just like us. The reason why you are confused is - Gundia is a junction on the Hassan Mangalore highway where buses take a left to get to Kukke Subramanya. So you probably took a bus ticket to Kukke from Bangalore, and got down at Gundia.

But why did you take a ride back to Kukke (most probably Gundia, I think) from the highway? We hitched a ride on a truck allright, but went to Sakleshpur instead.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Going by your description, I don't think you started from Kukke. You started your trek from Gundia, just like us. The reason why you are confused is - Gundia is a junction on the Hassan Mangalore highway where buses take a left to get to Kukke Subramanya. So you probably took a bus ticket to Kukke from Bangalore, and got down at Gundia.

But why did you take a ride back to Kukke (most probably Gundia, I think) from the highway? We hitched a ride on a truck allright, but went to Sakleshpur instead.

Oh no. I am very sure of that it was Subramanya road station.
Thats as clear as a day.
Let me see if I can scan those snaps.

[pramod]

1 more thing which i really wanted to do but couldnt accomplish before the train services resumed was that, after a night halt at Yedukameri, i wanted to get down the mountain on a narrow path which leads us directly across the Nethravathi river, which runs parallel to NH48 before Gundia. In summer months, one can cross the river and reach the NH48, to hitch a ride back to Sakleshpur.

[SmartCat]

Pramod, we did exactly that (crossing the Nethravathi river) during our trek. Water was 4 to 5 feet deep, but a few truckers helped us cross the river using ropes.

YEDAKUMERI RAILWAY TRACK TREKKING

Yedakumeri is a small railway station on the Bangalore - Mangalore railway track. For a long time, no train was running between these cities, although the track was laid. The official reason - too many landslides make the train travel dangerous. Unofficial reason - lobbying and bribing from thousands of private bus operators.

The year was 2003, Karthic & myself searched the internet for good trekking locations. We found a brilliant Karnataka trekking guide website called dreamroutes.org. Of all the treks listed there, we picked Yedakumeri - because there were rumours that train services between the two cities would be resumed in a couple of months. We hired tents & sleeping bags, and since this was our first trek, we went to Burma Bazaar and bought a couple of rucksacks too.

Pic 1: We boarded the bus to Kukke Subramanya, and asked the bus driver to drop us at Gundya checkpost. We reached Gundya at around 4:00 AM. Jagga, after watching a number of Kannada movies, had started growing a moustache, regularly applying Urea and DAP (Diammonium Phosphate). This is how he looked in 2003.

Pic 2: Karthic was hungry as usual and was stuffing himself with Neeru Dosa at the roadside shop.

Pic 3: Christmas was three days ago, but the shop still had a nice "Christmassy" look.

Pic 4, 5 & 6: Sunrise! This was the first time in my life that I had seen a sunrise (I usually get up at 8:30 AM). And the Western Ghat starts looking like Scotland - except for the bridge photo - that looks Indian allright.

Pic 7: We climb down the bridge and do some interesting stuff like pee, brush our teeth and take a bath - all at different places.

Pic 8: And further down the bridge, there a leafy path leading to the railway track. Since we had just started, all of us were in good spirits and mostly grinning ear to ear. The first thing we do is find some nice long sticks to "beat around the bushes".

Pic 9: After a rather steep 30 minute climb, we were relieved to spot the railway track. Unfortunately, we find ourself UNDER the track. Check out the impossibly steep climb to get on top of the bridge.

Pic 10: Jagga is the first one to reach the top. While all of us were huffing & puffing when we reached the top, he was already sitting on bridge, dangling his legs and yelling "Come on Guys! Buck up! Doesn't your Mama give you food? Lazy Buggers"!

After all of us got on to the bridge, we promptly transferred some heavy stuff from our bags into Jagga's rucksack, and after that, we didn't hear a peep from him during the entire trek.

[addyhemmige]

Really dude, this is easily one of the best travelogue (if you can call it that) I've ever read. I've just read each and every page till now and I'm really amazed at your writing skills man. Definitely deserves 5 stars. Still waiting for more. This is really an inspiration for bachelors like me

Note: All your tips for bachelors have been duly considered and hopefully be implemented when time comes

Originally Posted by ampere

Now I am confused. We got down at Kukke trekked towards Yadakumeri. I remember we walked for 15Km on the track and crossed all the famous bridges (which I hope cat will post !). We then hit a station and I am not sure it was Yadakumeri. The guy at the station told, we can hit the main road if we walk for another 6Km. We did that through the jungle and were on the main road. We then got a ride back to Kukke and were there by 7 in the evening.

Now I dont remember which station was that ! Cannot wait to see those pictures !

I guess that must be Shribagilu station. That is the only station between Yedakumari & Subramanya road. Do you remember the milestone where it was situated? Yedakumari station is on the 67.5 kms milestone.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I guess that must be Shribagilu station. That is the only station between Yedakumari & Subramanya road. Do you remember the milestone where it was situated? Yedakumari station is on the 67.5 kms milestone.

No addy. Dont remember anything about that station. It was almost 6 years back. The guy at the station mentioned no to go forward as it was already getting evening. So we just found a jungle trek back to the main road. But I do remember crossing the big bridges; the ones that are shown in most treklogues on the various forums on the net.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

No addy. Dont remember anything about that station. It was almost 6 years back. The guy at the station mentioned no to go forward as it was already getting evening. So we just found a jungle trek back to the main road. But I do remember crossing the big bridges; the ones that are shown in most treklogues on the various forums on the net.

If you have not crossed a river while crossing the jungle trail, then I'm sure it is Shribagilu station.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Note: All your tips for bachelors have been duly considered and hopefully be implemented when time comes

Statutory Warning: Don't try those tips if your future wife happens to be physically stronger than you.

Originally Posted by ampere

No addy. Dont remember anything about that station. It was almost 6 years back. The guy at the station mentioned not to go forward as it was already getting evening. So we just found a jungle trek back to the main road. But I do remember crossing the big bridges; the ones that are shown in most treklogues on the various forums on the net.

And your pics don't look like my first set? Especially the approach to the railway track? Gundya is the start (or the end) to this Yedakumeri trek for most trekkers. Scan your photos (especially the start of the trek) and we'll investigate!

Kukke is 22 km from Gundya by road. Yedakumeri is 14km from Gundya on the railway track. You couldn't have possibly covered 30 plus km in a single day!

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Kukke is 22 km from Gundya by road. Yedakumeri is 14km from Gundya on the railway track. You couldn't have possibly covered 30 plus km in a single day!

This I disagree. I once walked from Bajpai airport to Mulki. It was damn tiring. There was a flash strike of buses because of an alleged bashing of a bus driver by a cop in Lalbagh mangalore. I set out of foot from airport.
Once I reached suratkal, I decided to continue the walk.
Luckily, I saw a kempu banna bussu when I reached Mulki and managed to get in to that till Udupi.

Distance I walked (alone) that day was 26 kms. Time taken 6 hours.

[SmartCat]

Seriously impressive stamina. That was a brisk walk (avg speed 4.3 km/hr) allright. That's the avg speed in Bangalore city during peak hours for cars.

But remember that this is a trek on a railway track, with a few kgs of weight on the back. Also, trekking on a railway track is extremely scary (& hence slow) on the bridges. At some places, the bridge is almost 100 - 150 ft from the ground level. The wooden planks are not very close to eachother - you get the feeling that you can go down in between the wooden planks if you miss a step.

It took us 12 hours to cover 14 kms - of course, with lots of breaks for photo sessions, taking bath in waterfalls on the way etc.

[addyhemmige]

When I did the trek, we took 8 hours to cover 17.5 kms. We started at 6 from Donigal station and reached Yedakumari at 2pm. It is tough walking on the tracks even though there are no steep inclines or declines.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Seriously impressive stamina. That was a brisk walk (avg speed 4.3 km/hr) allright.

Ok. let me also add to it. This was in the year 1996. Now I don't think I can walk that long.
I also climbed up girnar and got down in a total of 9 hours in 1999.
Now I can probably make 10 kms in 4 hours.