Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

6th Sep'2008, the day when I did my longest bike ride in terms of total distance travelled in a single day.It was 503 kms.There were four of us,myself ( apache RTR ), Srini ( wind 125 ) and Uttaran ( pulsar 150 ) with Setty riding pillion.We met at silkboard junction at 05:45 AM and started towards mysore road.Our first stop was MTR shop ( if you don't know, its adjacent to the famous maddur cafe coffee day ) at maddur.We had our breakfast, including pongal,dosa's and idli's.We started again and drove non-stop for 126 kms till Nanjangud. We took a break there, had tender coconut water and srini took some snaps with his vintage SLR.We started again, crossed Gundulpet and we were there at the top of the hill at around 10:15 AM.

Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta, is a hill, located in the Chamarajanagar district of the state of Karnataka,at a height of 1454 m.It is also the highest peak in the Bandipur National Park. It lies in the core area of the Bandipur National Park and is frequented by wild life including elephants.So sad, we were unable to sight them.The name of the hill is prefixed by Himavad due to the fact that it is covered by fog for almost all seasons of the year and Gopalaswamy is due to the lord Krishna temple and betta means hill in kannada, thus the name Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta.

However, when we reached, there was no sign of fog, but the view of landscape from top was breathtaking.We sat there for around half an hour and enjoyed the breeze.It was so fresh.

Uttaran was very keen to have the sight of elephant's, so we trekked a little to the Bandipur forest side till we reached a big rock and realized that we can't go ahead now.We climbed the rock and sat there hoping to see some elephants.But all in vain :(

Around 01:00 PM we started our journey back.we stopped at Gunduplet for lunch.We took a few halts in between.Our last stop was the famous maddur cafe coffee day.We had coffee,brownie and ice-cream's.And we also went to the adjacent MTR shop and had famous maddur vada.After one hour we were back in bangalore traffic.

In all, it was a long ride but a good one, it was worth driving 500 kms :)

Route: Bangalore-Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundulpet-Gopalaswamy Betta-Gundulpet-Nanjangud-Mysore-Bangalore
Total Distance Covered: 503 kms
For further information visit: Gopalaswamy Betta
For more pics visit: GopalaswamyBetta Album

Skandagiri

Finally, after so much of cajoling to my team mates, they got ready for a team outing.Infact they were always ready but they always ended up in making plans only but not executing them.This was a night trek to Skandagiri ( or Kalwarbetta ).

Skandagiri is around 75 kms from Bangalore near Chikaballapur.Few kms ahead of famous Nandi Hills.The height of the trek is around 1750 ft.Its a small mountain, and the level of the trek is moderate.

We all decided to meet at Srini's place which is near Hebbal.There were 8 people and 4 bikes.We started at 11:00 PM from Srini's place.At 12:30 AM we were there at the Papagni temple, which is at the foot of the mountain.We parked our bikes, hired a guide and started our trek.Just before the real trek was about to start, there appeared a shop in the mid of nowhere.A man was there in his tent serving omletes,tea and of course cigarette's at 01:00 AM in the night.Some of us had omletes and tea, and then we started.

We reached the top at 3:10 AM.The journey of climbing up was amazing.Due to clouds at the top, it was getting misty as we were climbing and the visibility reduced which was making it difficult to trek,as if the dark night was not enough.Thanks to Hari, who insisted everyone to bring torch with them, it helped a lot.

It was too chilling at the top due to the blowing wind and dense mist.We were there till 06:30, when we started to come down.At 08:30,we decided to go back to our respective places without any further halt in between and started our journey back home.

Route: Hebbal-Devanahalli-Chikaballapur
Distance: around 75 kms from Bangalore
To carry: some snacks, juices, fruits and plenty of water and better if if you carry some first aid.
For further information visit: Skandagiri
For more pics visit: Skandagiri Album