Trekking on railway track, Donigal Village to Yedakumari & Shiribagilu – 25 & 26 December 2009

From the Memories:

One might have heard about the well know railway track trek from Sakaleshapura to Yedakumari. This trek is also called Green route trek. People generally start trekking from Donigal Village railway station and end up at Yedakumari. Some will go further to Shiribagilu station and some even ahead till Subramanya road. But it all depends on how much of time and days you are willing to spend on this trek.

For me it was a much awaited trek for many years. Initially I did not find any company to go for this trek. But when some of my colleagues from the Kennametal Global Engineering services approached me to join, I could not resist that invitation. I was very much excited and blindly planned for 25th & 26th of December as it was a general holiday because of Christmas. We really realized the worse situation of traffic on the 25th when we were in the Bangalore main KSRTC bus terminus. Ram Sandeep from the troop had already made a reservation for tickets from one of the private transport agency.

We were a group of 5 – Me (Naveen), Ram Sandeep, Shiva Kumar, Viswanath Lande & Mayur Mali. Of them Mayur, Shiva Kumar & Lande were amateurs. It was a first trek for Mayur and a second one for Shiva Kumar & Lande. Ours was a very active group. All the way we had lotz of fun and some good sharing each other experience from the previous adventures.

Well traveling on 24th evening from Bangalore was a nightmare. If I start telling about that, that itself would be a long story. So I just would say that we had lotz of patience to bear that journey till we were out of Bangalore. We got down near the tea stalls junction just outside of Sakaleshpura. Right next to these tea stalls is the Manjirabad fort on a small hill belonged to Tipu Sultan of Mysore. It was early morning 5 AM. We had tea and started walking to Donigal village (Left Manjirabad fort to explore some other time). I could see that the amateurs in the group are so exited that they were dancing all along the streets. Every corner on the road looked so different that they just wanted to have their photos clicked. Actually on this route right after Sakaleshpura the ghat section starts & that’s what makes the stretch so different. I gave my digital camera to these amateurs to click as I was eager to try my hands on the handy cam through out the trek. Later when I checked the video I had to appreciate my work (may be I am doing too much of boasting here). By the time we reached Donigal station there were few more trekkers. One such group was friends of Vishwanath Lande. We shook hands with his friends, little bit chitchatting and then some photo session near the tracks and then it started, one of the unforgettable treks of my life.

Our Initial plan was to do the trekking up to Subramanya road. We thought that we could do this in Two days, but we could cover the route only up to Shiribagilu. All the way this trek is more enjoyable for the reason that one will pass thru many bridges and tunnel, passing thru that is a great adventurous feeling. Now since the train move on this route, it is little dangerous, but if one can exercise little caution and show some alertness then any chances for mishap could be avoided.

The serene beauty of the Western Ghats is mesmerizing. The early morning are more enjoyable and gives a comfortable feeling to start the day in a very fresh mood. The silence is more pleasant and the chirping of birds is more soothing to the ears. With a very fresh mood and energy the group started the trek from Donigal railway station. Though many people (apart from our group) started the trek together, we just parted our ways soon after sometime, some went ahead and some were left behind. When we reached the first bridge, everyone was just curious to check the height of the bridge. On either side of the bridge you don’t see any support, only at two points there is some place for one or two people to be away from the track if a train comes. The iron plates in the middle of the track was vibrating & made a huge noise as one walked over it.

We people enjoyed the moment, for some it was exiting, for some it was an adventurous feeling. Overall all 5 of us were begun to think that we are going to do some real adventurous activities today. Having done with the first bridge, we moved on for another kilometer or so. And then there we could see a small stream coming out of an estate, It was very small but good enough to prepare ourselves for the rest of the day. So everybody brushed, washed face and ate breakfast at that place. Shiva Kumar had brought chapathi’s from home. The combination of Chapathi’s with Chatnipudi and pickles made it very tasty and that heavy breakfast was very much required for us for the rest of the day (we dint knew that we will be doing lotz of walking that day).

As we moved on we got another two bridges and then it was the time for the first tunnel. Everyone was so excited that all started to shout in excitement. It was obvious to expect that when boys are on holiday spree. While passing thru the tunnel one, we could find a small exit to the right side which leads to the beautiful view of the Kempu Hole. The river was flowing full at this point and roaring noise of the waters was orsom to listen.

 

Slowly we by around 11 AM we reached Kadagaravalli. After resting for few minutes we started again and may be about 100 meters from the station was another tunnel. It is here that we encountered with the first train on the track. As we neared the tunnel we could hear the heavy cranking noise of the engine. After waiting for few minutes we could see two engines slowly coming out of the tunnel very slowly. We waited till the train passed out of the tunnel. Believe it or not, it took more than 10 minutes for the complete train to come out of the tunnel with two engines pulling it from the front and two engines pushing it from the rear side.

This trek is wonderful for two reasons, one for the number of bridges that we cross at high altitude and the other for the number of tunnels that we pass thru. Apart from these two the serene beauty of the Western Ghats also draws your attention and makes the trek more memorable .
As we passed on we made jokes, recollected some hilarious moments from the previous treks, shared some exiting information that each one knows. All the way the railway track was moving on the ridges of the mountain. Sometimes it is covered by mountains on two sides, sometimes revealing the deep valleys, sometimes unwinding the beautiful distant mountains covered with lush greenery on its belly.
By around 1 pm we reached the bridge which passes over Kempu Hole River. Almost all the people who had come to trek rested there. Few were playing in the waters and few busy in taking photos. We halted there for few minutes and then moved on. Immediately after the bridge appears the tunnel, it begins with at a curve making a blind spot and path inside the tunnel is also curvy throughout. We would have gone thru 1/3 way into the tunnel, we started hearing the engine cranking noise and then we were unable to visualize and gage the distance of it from us. All of a sudden we started to see the light. Immediately every body ran to the rain water flow drenches created inside the tunnel (we neither had time to look for the manual stand points nor there do any light to react in a better way). As the engines in front of the train passed thru we could feel that extensive heat from the engine and also the smoke. It was almost choking. Till the train completely passed thru, I was feeling as if I am in an Oven. When we came out of tunnel into the natural light, we could see that all our dresses are turned black, caused because of the smoke & dust on the walls of the tunnel.
At around 3 PM we reached Yedakumari. By the time we reached Yedakumari, the Yeshwanthpur – Mangalore train also reached the railway station. Most of the people who had trekked till that point wanted to catch the train and then go to Subramanya road. But the train was crowded heavily and I think only few could make it. We had our lunch there. By 4 PM there started confusion among ourselves, whether to move further or to stay back. Mayur and Lande seemed to be very tired and they wanted to rest. But Ram, Me & Shiva wanted to move on. We knew that if we don’t move on then we would not be able to cover the distance. By then we had already walked nearly 13 Kms. Finally we decided that we will walk another 9 Kms to cover up to Arebetta station (Which is abandoned and not in operation). It was 4 PM and we had to move fast. Since we had late lunch our legs were naturally slowing down. Added to that, the mesmerizing beauty of the Mother Nature could not allow us to walk without enjoying that.

All the way having fun, cracking jokes and with heavy legs we moved on. It may be around 5.30 PM the sun was going down very fast in the west. We had just crossed tunnel number 22 (I think I remember it correctly) we found a beautiful spot uncovered in front of us which was very suitable to spend the night. My friends were in dilemma as they wanted to walk to a safe & secure stay area such as a station rather than in middle of the jungle. The place was beneath the bridge, around 70 to 80 feet below the bridge and was partly cleaned to make it flat (may be some deforestation activity) with a little stream of water flowing next to that. Shiva voted for me and then slowly everyone agreed.

 

We got down, uncovered and pitched the small tent we had and then it was Ram’s turn to cook something good for us. He was the only known best cook among us. As per his plan he had bought little tomato soup pockets and active pop cork pockets. Gathering the woods around we put up a bonfire and started enjoying the popcorns and the soup prepared by Ram. After a heavy walk through out the day the dinner in the night tasted very delicious and I give all the credit to Ram for having patience & skill to prepare such a great food.

The weather was playing with us, sometimes it used to look like as if it is going to rain and sometimes there would just wind blowing. To be at our safety if it rains we just cleared the woods, little rocks & prepared the little area below one of the bridge column suitable to use and to take shelter. Then to be safer from any reptiles or animals coming near our tent we had to put one more fire on the other side of the tent. Later all of us went to sleep.

Early morning, I woke up little early to try my photography skills. Took some snaps of the location, some near the stream and then climbed up till the track to take some more. After having the breakfast we started our day two trekking. Since the day one was very hectic, everybody had a heavy leg and it took some time for us to get the rhythm while walking. Ram already had cramps. When we reached Arebetta, we found that it is an abandoned station without any water facility. We were lucky to stay back near the bridge. Here in Arebetta all the abandoned buildings were looking like bhoot bungalow. But the scenery at this place is breathtaking. If somebody is passing by this place early in the morning or evening, they can just sit here for sometime and enjoy the beauty of the nature.

The day was very hot and it was sucking away all the energy in us. On the way we met few more guys who were desperate to find a way out of the jungle to reach the road. On the way we again encountered with a goods and a passenger train. In whole it was a fun but the hot day was making it tough for us. At one point we rested for almost an hour before continuing our journey.

We passed thru many more tunnels and bridges and finally reached the Shiribagilu railway station. A goods train was suppose to pass thru that station in another few minutes. We thought if we take that we could go till Subramanya road and from their in jeep to Kukke Subramanya. So Ram & Shiva went to talk to station master but that fellow disagreed. For a moment we thought that we shall trek till Subramanya Road. But Mayur & Lande were almost given up because of heavy leg pain. Then the workmen who were working on the train tracks helped us to reach the road. On the way we saw the diesel engine fallen in valley below the bridge. Looks like that happened long time ago and the engine was not removed from there

Slowly following those workmen we finally reached the road. The group was thrilled as we reached the road. Everybody had tender coconut milk, some coffee/tea and then took the bus to Kukke. Upon reaching Kukke we went to Kumaradhara, swam to our satisfaction. That gave us a little relief from the body pains we had. After that we visited the temple and spent the night there.

Next day morning after breakfast we took the bus back to Bangalore and by evening we reached our homes. On the way back there was lot of discussions and lot of laughing remembering some of the funny situations that we had during the trek.