Amedikallu Trek and Anadka Falls

About the place:

Amedikallu derives its name from two words, Aame(Tortoise in Kannada) and Dikkel(Tripod or Stove in Tulu). 

Amedikallu is one of the prominent peaks in the Charmadi range of the western ghats. This peak is considered to be one of the toughest climb in Karnataka. The steep grasslands and paucity of water makes the trek ardrous. Amedikallu is around 350 kms from Bangalore. It is near the famous Dharmastala. To reach Amedikallu, one has to get down at Kokkada village, if traveling in a bus and then take one more bus to Shishila village. Shishila village is the place from where the trek starts. After reaching Kokkada, you can get autos or jeeps also to reach shishila. This is one of the best treks in Karnataka and takes around 6 hours to reach the peak, for a normal trekker. 

Those who plan to go trek Amedikallu, usually call up a guy called Gopu Gokhale of Shishila village. You can get freshed up at his place and he packs lunch, arranges for guides, serve breakfast at a very nominal price. There are many bathrooms at his house just to serve the trekkers. He even arranges for vehicles to take you to the foothill, from where the climb starts.

The Journey:

The 7 of us (Me, Shrinath, Sandeep, Anoop, Satya, Ajay and Pramod) rented a Innova and left Bangalore on Friday night at around 12. By around 7 in the morning, we had reached Gopu Gokhale's house. There we had a nice breakfast. He had packed the lunch for us. Then by around 9.30, we had reached the starting point of the trek.

The Trek:

Day 1:

Just like most of the treks, initially we had to walk in a forest. It was getting steeper and flat also. We had to trek for around 3-4 kms in this forest. We learned that the water source is actually halfway up the hill. So we carried plenty of water with us. Each of us carried atleast 3-4 ltrs of water. We also had to carry the tent and sleeping bags with us. So we had a pretty heavy luggage also to carry with us. We found the trek pretty easy initially. 

After trekking for around 2 hours, the forest trail ended and we could see the huge Amedikallu finally!

It was breathtaking and really inspiring. The thought that we will be at its peak by evening, thrilled us! Here we rested for a while, around 15 mins, chatting. Then started to climb Amedikallu finally! As you can see in the snap, there were no clouds at all and it was too sunny. We were getting drained out and wanted to have lunch badly. We came to know that the nearest water source is halfway up the hill and so started to climb. Our pace at this time was very slow. Even if we decided to rest under every tree we find, we couldn't spot any trees, since it was a grassland. 

At around 12.30, we reached the water source. It was very difficult to collect water from there since it was already December and the streams were getting drained out. We started to climb up the stream searching for proper water and there, we had our lunch. We were so hungry that we finished off everything in 5 mins. There were other trekkers resting over there. 

Post lunch, we were totally energetic all of a sudden ans started to climb at a very fast pace, overtaking other trekkers. After resting once after lunch, we almost never stopped till we reached the peak. It was getting cloudy at times and occasionally we could feel the cold breeze, which again inspired us to trek faster. Before reaching the peak, we had to enter one more forest. This stretch extended for 1-2 kms. After the forest, we had to trek for another 15-20 mins to finally reach the peak by around 3.15, and it was beautiful!

By the time we reached the top most point of the peak, it was getting dark because of the clouds. And this was one of the few places where we could enjoy a 360 degree view! It was breathtaking!

After spending some time at the top, we then decided to assemble the tents before it gets dark. In 10 minutes, we had managed to assemble them and the tents were up! It was the first ever time we were camping on the peak!

Then we started to play cards and chatting. The clouds started to cover the peak by then and it was getting cold and dark. 

We then put up a camp fire, ate the chapatis with jam and some snacks and slept off. We were all tired and I could here the snores within minutes. A day well spent!

Day 2:

At around 4.30 in the morning, the strong winds made us to wake up immediately. Our tent was almost flying like a flag. The cover of the tent had fallen off already. When we came out, nobody could say it was a tent in which we slept!

I then went to the peak again, captured some snaps of the sunrise. We then packed the tents and the bags and started our trek downhill at 7.30 am. Ettina bhuja was the dominant of all the peaks that could be seen from the peak, along with ombattu gudda.

Ettina bhuja

We trekked down at a very fast pace, resting only twice throughout. It took us less than 3 hours to reach the starting point of the trek and we were there by 10.15 am.

We went to Gopu Gokhale's house again, had lunch, took bath and left in the afternoon. We then went to a temple at the same village. It was worth a visit.

From there, post-lunch, we went to Anadka Falls. It is a beautiful falls nearer to Kudremukh. From shishila, you need to go to Ujire, Kajur and there in the road, you can see the board. Its also called as Kudumagundi Falls. We had to trek for 4-5 kms one way to reach the falls. It was worth it in the end.

Guidelines:

- Carry sufficient water with you. There is only one water source throughout the trek.

- There is no need for a guide if you want to trek. Route can be easily found.

- There will be loads of leeches if you go in August, September, October or November.

- November, December and January is the best time to trek, post monsoon.

- Gopu Gokhale's contact numbers:  Home- 08251269426 Mobile- 9483211246.

- Better call Gopu Gokhale before going, since he will arrange for jeeps also from Kokkada to Shishila.

Routes:

Bangalore - Sakleshpur - Shiradi Ghat - Kokkada - Shishila. (Can also take the Charmadi Ghat Route).

Final Review:

Amedikallu is not so popular but it is a paradise for trekkers. It may feel tough at times, but once you reach the peak, It's worth it.