Trek to Benne Kallu Gudda

...continued from Sunset point near Forest Homestay

After a hectic day of traveling by bus and cross country trek, that too with a bad cold, I was exhausted. Sridhar and Pushpa too were tired. Back at our cottage we freshened up and eagerly waited for the caretakers to fetch dinner. The most tasty relished items in the dinner were rice and thili-saar popularly known as rasam. I popped in a tablet to tackle the infected sinus hoping it improved my condition. By 9-30 we had switched off the light and hit the sack.

December 21, 2019
We were up by 4-15 AM. With undisturbed sleep, my condition had improved. With two bathroom at our disposal, were ready by 6-15. Our caretaker-guide Pradeep turned up at 6-30 with hot tea. He had also got a bottle of ragi-ganji, our hilltop breakfast at the end of the trek. Our trek commenced around 6-45. We were six of us including the guide and two co-guests. Pradeep lead the way and I was at the tail end. I kept little distance.. had to blow my nose now and then. Also, I didn't want to bother the group with my coughing noise. This is the newly carved path through the hills, I believe this will soon be a metaled road. The spot of light seen in the distance is from Pushpa's phone, she was shooting along the way.

The path became steeper, the heavy breathing actually helped me. At one point Pushpa wanted a long stick, it was easy to find one from the rubble the excavators had made. There she is, with her stick, bag and phone. This was the end of the machine-cleared path, we would be entering the wild path.

One of the points where the leading group paused for Pushpa and I to catch up. Good chance to take a picture. The young couple from Bnaglore, Sri and Pradeep. The rock is light grey under the black surface, same as the rock seen at the sunset point.

This jungle is natural, not the plantation type seen in some parts of Western Ghats. The thick vines are proof that the jungle hasn't been disturbed much. However, at some point of time, probably several centuries ago, large trees stood here. The jungle cover and the neighboring hills had cut off the sun from our view until we..

..reached this point. The gold-brown-blue sky.  One cloud formation close to the horizon looks like a long fish.

Another view of the sky, hills and jungle. What a glorious sight it was. It was quite silent, there might have birds chirping around which I missed because of my own noises.. blowing nose and cough.

This part was quite steep but climbing was easy because of the comfortable grip. Its fun t climb such rock faces. There were low mounds of dirt held together by grass roots. The grass must've been green until November end.

I liked the shape of the grassy outline, looks like the peninsular India and black rock is Bay of Bengal. There's one mound in place for Andaman & Nicobar islands. Inside the green cover, there would be creatures of the Nature minding their business.

Our climb progresses, the column marches in the same order.. lead by Pradeep and me at the tail end. Actually the last person watches over the group, ensures that all members are present.

I took my time, pausing to see and shoot. These arches and circles of grass are admirable. How the invisible cracks have formed and grass managed to take root along those cracks. They look like rings of fire.

I shot this picture to give the viewers an idea of the slope. Not too steep at this point. Notice the undulations in the surface which let the rainwater play as it flows down in little streams, forming little overflowing ponds. I guess this part wouldn't be too difficult even during rainy season.

While I gave all the attention to Bhoo Devi, the sky was jealous. Our Surya Deva was peeking at the horizon while Varuna Deva's army dominated the sky.

Sri had caught us unawares. I thought he was shooting the landscape. Its a great shot, its like Pushpa and I were standing on the horizon. Somehow Pushpa is lagging behind. Some plants have managed to green here, perhaps this is close to the edge of the exposed rock.

I guess that's where Sri shot the previous picture from. Yes, we are close to the edge of the exposed rock. There would be much more moisture trapped in the soil here which would have kept the little plants alive. Anyway, even dead plants are alive in a way, all they need is water to become life again. Here we enter the jungle again.

Few meters into the green cover we saw a barbed fence of a coffee estate. Our path went along the fence for some distance and then we turned left and climbed again and came into the open again to see this amazing sight. The butter ball stone ~ Benne Kallu.

In the following post, I'll share the sights of the valley, hills, jungles and sky from this point. Do check  out Benne Kallu Gudda.

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Sunset point near Forest Homestay

December 20, 2019
The distance between our cottage and the sunset point was a kilometer of ups and downs. We had tea around 5-30 and left immediately. Pradeep was our guide. A newly wed couple from Bangalore had arrived at the home-stay, they joined us for the trek. Our four-legged friends joined us as well, either following us or leading us. They knew our destination, smart guys. This is one of the uphill stretches. Just before this we passed by a group of village people heading back home after day's work. They were wary of us, I think Sri's mustache was an attraction. I told the group Sri was Veerappan's brother. Their eyes widened for a moment and turned back to take another look at Sri. Nice to have a light moment :) We passed by couple of houses, a bunch of village kids were playing. They seemed to be tribal people.

The twin peaks of Maradi. Pradeep told us that our morning trek will be to the peak on the left.

We covered the kilometer in about 15 minutes. This is the sunset point. The ground was black-grey rock covering an acre or two. Nice place to relax, lot of space to meditate. As soon as we reached one of the four-legged friends suddenly became alert. Sri noticed he was focusing his attention in one direction. He had spotted a peacock and Sri got a glimpse of it before it vanished into the vegetation. Sri went in search but ended up disappointed. Pushpa settled down at one spot.. there she is looking at her phone screen.

The young couple found a spot for themselves. That's the western direction. Sun was partly behind clouds which seemed to be still, hardly any air moved.

I climbed down a bit to see what lay below. It was getting steeper with every step down and the vegetation got thicker. The rock type had caught my attention. It looked like igneous rock. Up there the rock was solid, not many cracks. Down here there seemed to be lot of cracks and grass had grown on it. Or may it was dirt which had settled over the rocks which was convenient for plants.

The crisscrossing cracks covered with grass. There were signs of quarrying here, not much just a little. Beneath the dark surface is light colored rock. It seemed to be relatively soft.

The canvas of Nature in the sky. Sun was over the horizon. I felt we might not see the Sun go down the horizon because of the clouds. Also, it would be misty as the temperature dropped.

By now three groups had formed- 1. Pushpa. Braveheart and Lionheart, 2. the young couple and 3. Pradeep and Sri. All groups were stationary, I was the only one still moving around. The rock formations were fascinating, wanted to see most of the surface. One of the sloping sides was covered with mounds and channels. This spot would be interesting during rains.. water would be flowing in little streams.

As the Sun got close to the horizon, the clouds grew darker. A huge triangular cloud had formed over the Sun.

The rock formation was getting intriguing, as I went further down, the mounds were more distinct. Looks like liquid rock had hardened, uneven cooling must have made the surface uneven.

This particular formation looked like a fish's backbone. So many surface cracks.. surely this is igneous rocks, probably this is relatively new.

The same formation seen from the opposite end. I must come and see this place during rains. It would be like looking at islands and rivers.

Sri and Pradeep. In the background is the slope of the hill we would be climbing soon.

A close look at the rock surface. Beautiful, isn't it.

Scale model of a gorge. The white stain is the result of slow moving water.

A little pit. The dirt trapped in the pit was home to this grass. The specialty of plant life is they are beautiful even in death. The mix of colors is pleasant.. shades of grey, off-white and mild red.

A natural bowl. This seems natural but there a good chance this is man made. Prehistoric men are known to make bowls or plates in stone and ate out of it during a particular festival. Or the bowl was made to grind seeds or mix paint for artwork. Need to explore more to understand the place better.

Pushpa talking to Braveheart. She was talking softly, while he was pretending to be listening and some times looking away to imply that she was being ignored. Lionheart kept little distance though part of the group. I sat for some time but did not want to intrude the gathering.

Another day passes by. If you happen to see the sky and rock floor below, they are of the same color!!

The final moments of our sunset. We decided to leave as we had to walk through the jungle and reach the estate before dark.

Back at the cottage, we had Pradeep bring in wood and make a fire. It was getting chilly and sitting around a fire would be the best thing to do.

We had had a hectic day, and I hadn't slept the night before. We finished dinner around 9-00 PM, spent some more time at the fire, until we almost ran out of wood. At 9-30 we called it an evening and turned in. We needed a good night's rest for the early morning trek up a hill.

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