Hanging Rock Creek | Budangiri - Trek Notes
Clicked in Jan 2004 / Budangiri Trek (*album)
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV
On the day 2 of our hike - Just a few paces on the trail away from Gaalikere (Lake of winds) we came to a fork - one path went downhill to the left and the other, to the right which went into a small shola. We took the right here. A small shola, but a relief from the sun that was blazing down upon us.
Once you come out of the shola you can see the trail going all the way up and around mountains up to a point where it disappears on to the other side. It was hot and we were really hoping for a cool stream along the way.
After a 2.5 hrs trek, around 1300 hrs we crossed a small shola which was like a streak between the cleft of the mountain. Once out of this, the trail went up the hill along the black rocks which were placed in a line. There was shola onto the left away from the trail and we could hear the sound of water. We ditched the trail and went towards the sound. It was indeed a good decision.
We hit a stream with a small waterfall falling into a puddle large enough to hold a cow. The stream was extremely cold and I couldn’t keep my foot in the water for more than 10 seconds. Still, we guys took of our clothes and cleaned ourselves without getting into the water much. Ravi took a long dip, his fat lining gave him some real good insulation. (he had come from UK a few days ago and I believe the temperature there was subzero).
Vivek setup his tripod and was shooting for what looked like hours while I explored the area, and found another small falls up stream. It was fun and a good relief. We guys had bread and biscuits and got ready to get back onto the trail… we had spent an hour.
The rest of the route is tough to describe but I will try. We walked through tall ferns and burnt grass. Later we saw lots of smoke coming from the mountains/valley behind, it was another forest fire. Many times we lost the trail and in some parts we walked along trails made by animals, as they looked similar. There were times when we thought we were completely lost. But we pressed on. We had some idea of the geography of the mountains and that helped us maintain a sense of orientation.
In search of the ruins called Paalu Mane we went off-track many times exploring every hill that appeared to have an erected structure. They were all false leads and we kept coming back to the trail. It became evening and we had not found a spot right enough to pitch our tent. By around 1800 hrs, the trail started going downhill and we were to hit a big shola. The trail seemed to go through it. We could see it coming out of the shola and going up hill, which seemed to enter a huge shola after some distance.
Despite the situation not appearing very hopeful, we continued on this path downhill and through the shola. The shola had a large stream that we crossed. As soon as we crossed it the trail popped out of the shola and we found our camping spot. There was enough space under a huge rock overhanging to setup our tent and there were plenty of evidence around to say it was used by people in the past. We managed to pitch our tent and squeeze in enough space to have a fire too. This was one of the best camping spots I had come across so far. We called it Hanging Rock Creek (above pic) (Viv’s idea).
The downside was that we would miss both the sunset and sunrise… that meant only one thing ‘more sleep’. We ate and talked around the fire for a long time, before we retired for the night.
