Trek on Track

          After an uneventful (rather boring) weekend, I decided to go for a trek in the coming weekend. Since Ajit and Sai were also willing to come, I thought of going to Bisile forest. But on Thursday, Ajit dropped out and so I thought this weekend also was going to be waste. Then Sai mentioned about Railway track between Sakaleshpur and Subrahmanya. So we both decided to go for it. I got some inputs from Santosh who had been to that place a week before. Sai Prakash is working in Central Excise and had been to that place in 1988 during his college days.

             But I had to attend Savita’s wedding reception on Friday evening, which meant I couldn’t come home after office. So I packed everything…sleeping bag, axe, rope, flashlight, first aid etc. Friday morning, I went to Yamuna’s house and kept my bag there, as I didn’t want to give trouble to our Infy security men! 

            So after reception, I picked up my bag and left for Majestic. Sai was waiting for me. There were lots of buses towards Sakaleshpur – we haven’t booked our tickets. So we sat in a most comfortable bus (of course the KSRTC Red bus!) and left Bangalore at 10:45 PM. 

            This particular stretch of Railway Track between Sakaleshpur and Subrahmanya is a part of Hassan to Mangalore route. It was (and still is!) famous for its scenic beauty as it passed through the gorgeous Western Ghats. The distance of 60 km between Sakaleshpur and Subramanya consists of 58 tunnels and about 110 bridges – all built between 1969 -1972. Longest tunnel is about 850m and the longest bridge is about 750m with height of about 500m. In 1997, the train traffic was stopped to convert the existing meter gauge to broad gauge. But till now, nothing has happened. From long back, this is a popular trekking route. Three stations-Donegal, Yedakumeri & Sirivagilu (now all abandoned) are the part of this route. 

            Oops! We reached Sakaleshpur at 3:30AM! It was a very chilly and dark at that time. We found a stone bench in the bus shelter and tried to sleep in that bitter cold. Sai was cursing himself for not bringing sweater. But I slept peacefully-thanks for my jacket, scarf & gloves! We woke up at 6:30AM to see nothing – the mist was so thick that visibility was very poor. Somehow we managed to reach Railway station.

             At around 6:50PM we started our trek from Sakleshpur Railway station. On the way, I saw a peacock and some woodpeckers, cormorants and pelicans. We were walking at a tremendous speed of 04 kmph! The bridges were really scary. With only a 6-inch width iron plates (many times even that was missing… only wooden sleepers!) between the rails at a height of nearly 500m from ground with strong wind-it was a Herculean task. But after crossing couple of bridges, it became as common as walking on flat ground! At Donegal station, we had a good breakfast of Idlis. There we thought of visiting Munjirabad fort. That meant extra 10 km on road (NH48). So we headed for Munjirabad.

             At Munjirabad, a guide showed us the remains of the fort – storeroom, bedroom, kitchen and secret ways (?) in the fort. It’s a nice place to visit. He told that Tippu Sultan built the fort in 1771 to store the revenue collected from the nearby regions. Then British attacked it and captured it. The guide didn’t know when the British captured it. When I asked in which Anglo-Mysore war did that happen and he told second (doubtful!), so it means it may be in 1792. After that Sai took some snaps of the fort. Then we came to road and wasted about half an hour trying to get a ride. Convinced that no one will give us a ride, we walked back to Donegal station and again started our trek on Railway track.

             We were walking as if we were possessed. The jungle at some places was thin and signs of encroachment were obvious. Temperature and humidity were soaring. Glucose and Electral were fast consumed. We stopped at around 1:30PM to have lunch of Chapattis. At around 3:15PM, we came across a nice stream. There was no second thought. We had a nice bath for half-an-hour! After this, tunnels started. Lots of bats there, as if hell is let loose. Flashlights came out. Most of the tunnels were between 150 to 350m ranges. At the longest tunnel in our route (572m), at the middle of the tunnel, we switched off the torches and stood for 5 minutes! That was darkness! Nothing was visible…absolutely nothing!! Only screeching bats, which flew near us in thousands! The floor of the tunnel was full of bat droppings (remember ‘Ace Ventura’!). In many of those tunnels water was dropping from the top. One interesting thing is, there is no tunnel no.13, after 12 its 12A then 14! I was expecting to see some snakes in the tunnels. Unfortunately nothing was visible. We went on.

             The clock was ticking…and our speed has decreased. Already two flashlights have become useless. We had only one left. It was becoming dark fast. And we haven’t reached Yedakumeri Station. We increased our pace. At nearly 7:00 PM we saw railway lines diverging. Voilà! We were near Yedakumeri. But still we have to cross a bridge to reach the station. In that semi-darkness, somehow we managed to cross the bridge and reached the station.

            Now the station is abandoned and only some laborers from Andhra Pradesh who were working there are staying. Sai knew Telugu so he started speaking with them. I didn’t understood a bit of it and soon fell asleep. At 8:45 Sai aroused me and we arranged our bags and had our dinner (again Chapattis). I could not believe that I had walked almost 35 kms in one day! That track and heat had taken its toll. I had a big blister on my foot; I put some cold cream on it. Every part of the body was paining. Sai was also in same condition. I could continue next day, thanks to Paracetamol. I slipped into my sleeping bag and soon, I was out of this world somewhere in Q 6-D.

             We woke at 6:45AM and felt really fresh. The scenic beauty at Yedakumeri was really breathtaking.  The whole station stands on the edge of a mountain! Soon we set off. At around 9:00AM we had a breakfast of Buns and Chapattis! Our speed has come down to only 03 kmph. We both were tired. And the blister in my leg has increased. But we went on enjoying the beauty of Shola forests. Meanwhile we came across the longest bridge in the entire route. It’s really scary to walk on it in strong winds. If you walk looking down, you feel that you are stationary and bridge is moving backwards! Relativity!

             Finally after 18 km trek we reached Sirivagilu. There we thought that we might end our trek. But the people told that we have to go nearly 5 km from there to reach road point. So after crossing 42 tunnels and 78 bridges, we took leave of railway track and entered into forest. The forest was really thick and was absolutely calm. We didn’t know the route, so just followed a trail, which seemed to be most used. After about 2 km we saw trails of elephants – trees broken, and of course heaps of its excreta! When we walked few meters, we heard a something moving slowly in the nearby trees. We were scared, thrilled and what not! We just stood still and observed the direction where the sound came. Wow! At a distance of nearly 25ft from us I saw two elephants walking away from us! Sai also saw the third one. At that moment my heart stopped for a while! We were so tired that even if they had attacked us, we couldn’t able to run! We moved fast startling at the slightest sound. Soon we came across a stream. We washed our legs (which were burning like is hell) and faces and took rest for some time.

             I thought if we couldn’t find the road within an hour, then that meant that we are lost and we have to spend night in the jungle. But within half an hour we saw two houses-that was the sign of end of jungle! Soon we reached the road leading to Subrahmanya. And finally it was end of 58 km long trek at around 2:45PM, Sunday. We reached Subrahmanya by a KSRTC bus and soon left for Bangalore by a private bus. Slept like a log in the bus even in last seat! Reached Bangalore at 9:45PM and finally home at 10:30PM.       

            This was a fantastic experience – an unbelievable 58 km in 2 days! And those elephants, tunnels and bridges….and we were only two. It was a good team. We knew what our targets were and so there were no arguments…so we did it. This trek fits exactly to Roshan Seth’s words – “Madness, Magnificent Madness!” (in ‘Vertical Limit’).