Infinite Ombattu gudda

Ombattu gudda (OG) trek was one of my most exciting adrenalin -surging treks. Treacherous, (def :Marked by unforeseen hazards; dangerous or deceptive: treacherous waters) is most fitting word to describe it. This trek lived up to its harsh reputation described in many blogs.
All the travails of trekking: no trails, GPS not working, humid and hot condition, leeches, snakes, no proper camping sites, frequent periods of uncertainty, low morale, water shortage and you name it, you have it on this hike.
It all started when I was checking on the website my co trekker on previous hikes,Rajesh, had forwarded; Adivaas.com. They had OG program for the weekend which suited us. We three; me, my wife Shubha and my nephew Shyam registered with them for this trek.
We (18 of us in all) left on Fri day (11/12/09) night by Dharmastala bus (Volvo, unlike rickety buses by BMC). Slept well in it. Next morning at 5.30 we were at Gundya, near Addahole bridge, from where this trek begins. We had to wait for the guide arranged by our organizers. We had our breakfast there and distributed things to be carried amongst us the. Finally the guide showed up around 8. He appeared very unwilling from the beginning to take us. He didn’t finally anyway. We don’t know the exact reason. According to organizers he demanded unaffordable fee.
Anyway Adivaas had no choice but proceed with the trek without a guide. They probably thought we were well equipped with GPS, maps and compass. We started immediately from there. It was approximately 4 to 5 km trek for 2 hrs on a trail, till we reach the main river; Kabbinale. That’s where I think was the first lapse of the trek. There were no trails seen any where around . So, we decided to move northwards, in the direction of OG as it was the only option. We had to create a path with a Machete to move on . As we moved on the jungle became thicker and thicker. Sun was harsh and it was very humid under jungle canopy.
“Go north
If there is a river, cross it
or go along with it till you
head north again.
If there is a hill, cross it .
If there is a ravine, pass through it.
But stay northwards”
That became our silent marching song. We had little choice any wa :GPS was little too complex to comprehend for the owners ,neither were we well versed with map reading and we were bunch of amateur trekkers. In fact, for a few it was the first time. So going north in straight line was the only option.
In doing so we crossed the river many times, climbed few hills, crossed few ravines.
Around 5PM we decided to camp on a bald hill. Bald is a misnomer. It had indeed few trees but was carpeted by tall grass, elephant grass probably .It was all over with out clear patch any where . The ground beneath the grass was knotty and hard like mineral rock. We somehow managed pitch tents on this ground. We had early dinner and slept like logs despite bad ground conditions ‘cause of exhaustion.
Next morning we started after breakfast at 7.30. This time we had a huge ravine and two hills to cross.It took 2hrs to do so. No stream anywhere near for water and we were in fear of running out of it. Sun was getting hotter. Destination was nowhere in sight . This was when some of us found it very hard to proceed. Normally, in an uphill walk, few of us would go little ahead forming one single long line . Now and then you would look back to see if others are behind you. Very often we do the count to 18(size of our group) to make sure that no one is left behind.
Few of us were resting mid-way up a hill under a lone tree waiting for others to join us. We were extremely tired. Few of us were feeling nauseous ‘cause of exhaustion. Then came a shocking news. Someone who just joined us then announced that Someone was refusing to continue. We assumed that it was normal for some one to give up for sometime but start again after some rest. Little later another person who joined us said same thing and added that he even called his people home (phones used to pick signals in patches) and described to them the mess he was in and that he cannot walk any further. That situation sent shivers through us. We began to worry about him and the helplessness of his people at home. Someone, immediately then,called back his people and reassured them to our partial relief. We were on the ridge of a hill, a vantage-point, yet no sign of human habitation anywhere in sight. It was either thick forest or hills or ravines around. Where to get help??
We decided to share the weight he was carrying. To think of carrying additional weight was little hard to swallow.. After a bit of cajoling and coaxing Anand started walking. A good samaritan amongst us, Mahesh, carried Anand’s entire pack for a while .Anand eventually made it fairly comfortably. Kudos to him for proving many of us wrong. His apparent newly manifested grit was commendable.
We reached hill top around 12 pm. We rested there and ate lunch. We started to move further north. It was along the ridge for an hour or two. Then some one shouted that the hill we could sight on to our right looks familiar and similar to a photograph of OG in some blog. We could see a trail along the crest of the series of hills. But few pointed northwards to a taller hill and said “ that one there not this one”, to our frustration! Our cell phones started working then . Some called their friends who had done OG and confirmed the hill we saw on to right was indeed 9G. We were not too sure yet. Anyway this appeared climbable and was inviting. We dropped our packs at the point on a ridge. It was blissful to walk without anything on your back. We literally ran to the top. But to our dismay we found a stone with “MG” sculpted on it instead of “OG” on the summit. It reinforced our misgivings on our achievement. Did we climb OG or is it some other non significant MG?!. We were still not sure. Anyway it was photo opportunity to be made use of . O ot back to pick our bags to head towards another hill. While on the way back to pick our backpacks we told Raj who was heading another group towards” MC” about MG stone and it was a wrong hill they were climbing. But he said, to our gratification, MG is indeed OG but locals call it as MoorkalGudda and MG was its acronym. We were elated. We finally did it!!
Now that we did it , next is to get to the “jeep Track”. This JT, not surprisingly, considering the daunting trek we were doing , became equally important landmark as OG. This after all is a sign of civilization we were desperately looking forward to spot and of course, JT is what takes us back to human habitation!!
Prashanth , another energetic trekker, wandered beyond and around the place we sat. He came back and announced that there was JT in the opposite direction of the OG summit. But few amongst us countered him saying JT is supposed to be in opposite direction, they said, according to blogs they read. What they meant was that we had to walk further east beyond summit: disheartening proposal. We were dillydallying which way to go. This again was one of many uncertain periods of the trek. The sun was going down fast. We and everyone knew that we had a thickly canopied jungle to cross to reach that JT before it gets dark. Someone even suggested camping on the summit for the night. It was put-off as there was no water source anywhere near and we were running short of it.
We banked on Prashanth’s claim and marched in that direction and oh boy! he was right! Few meters away we could sight JT. Did anybody cry when they saw it?? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did! That was a moment of jubilation for many.
We crossed the forest patch in the dark and hit the JT in an hour. Beyond jungle it was dusk. We didn’t know how far the “main road” on the JT. We had to walk uphill for almost 3 hrs before we found a coffee estate. There was an open space and water tap. Perfect camping place for tired souls. There were two obliging people. We could heat up our packed dinner. We slept well.
Next morning we were to catch 8:30 bus at main road 3 km from estate. We couldn’t afford to miss that ‘cause the next one was @ 10.30. So we started early, reached the place on time.to go to Mudigere. From Mudigere we took a bus Bangalore to reach here at around 5 evening.
So that’s about it.
This trek, ironically, was most thrilling and gratifying probably because we were half prepared for it!! It was “ man vs wild “ situation for us. We survived!!
This was, after all, the experience of a bunch amateurs. Experienced trekkers may laugh at our travails ; - ).
You can put the whole experience philosophically to life. Destination i.e. OG, was minor compared to the trek. Destination, in fact, could be reached comfortably within a day from the opposite direction. But who wants to miss all the this action!!
As the old adage says “life is not about its destination, but its journey.. The journey may tough long and winding, but surely worth the walk..”
Adivaas is group of young, energetic, enthusiastic and aspiring dudes who deserve a pat.As any other start ups they too are prone to growth pangs. But,they went beyond their means to keep it going smooth.I can not help but to compare their organisational effort with others I previously mentioned. Adivaas,scored better.
In hind sight, I think, we could have done this easier with much less anxiety if we had done our homework well.
As lessons learnt for future:
We, that’s me and Shubha would,
• learn more about map reading and compass usage..
• Carry a map of the place always
• Collect more info about the place.
• Contemplate buying GPS but will not entirely depend on it’s vaunted prowess.
• Accompany at least one seasoned trekker for such treks.


Photo courtesy:
Sathosh, Prashanth,