Sakleshpur
The green route experience

I still remember those days when i used to peep out of the barely reachable train window to get a glimpse of the beauty outside.I was just 7 yrs old then and train journeys to grandpa's place at mangalore was great fun.The stretch of track from bangalore to mangalore via hassan along the western ghats was an awesome experience. I never thought i would be trekking here some day..
Plans were ready..Totally seventeen of us packed our bags to experience the green route from Donigal(a place 6kms frm sakleshpur)to Edakumeri.
Edakumeri station is around 17kms frm donigal and along the route you would find a couple of waterfalls,bridges and tunnels. Since 1980’s(i think!)when the tracks were closed by the govt, (because of some budget problems) the route has been on the hit list of every trekker.
We boarded a KSRTC bus from Bangalore on Friday night .By 3 am we were at the sakleshpur bus station.It was a 5hr journey.From there we had planned to reach donigal bus stand using local transport.
After reaching there we got to know that the next local bus to donigal was scheduled at 5:30 ,so we planned to finish breakfast and pack our lunch for the day from the nearby hotel .By 6 we reached Donigal bus stand. A 5 km walk along the road lead to donigal station. It was an amazing sight!.The sun was not up yet and tracks seemed to meet the horizon with the morning fog being sandwiched between the clear blue sky and the moist wooden planks. It was our plan to finish off our morning ablutions out here, rest a while, and then start but then, we realized there was some trouble waiting for us at the station.
The station master was not happy seeing us there .He just refused to allow us to trek as test trains had started along the route and it might turn out to be a risky affair. After some discussions we finally managed to convince him that everything would be fine.We also gave him a written statement that we are going at our own risk! We asked him to give us a missed call when any train passed the donigal station.
After some rest and a quick munch of appetizers we managed to get everyone back on legs. It was about 6:45 then and the sun was up. Luckily the sky was clear with no sign of clouds anywhere. We ambled along slowly, taking in the beauty of the place.. the old tracks, an old moss covered signal at one end...new vegetation sprouting everywhere.Taking in the whiffs of fresh air and dew... it was a heavenly feeling!
At about 7:15 we were at the first bridge ! what a view!slowly one by one we moved along the metal rails of the old bridge.The donigal station incident had shaken some of us but after walking a couple of metres we gained confidence.. The view of the water 200ft below was both breathtaking and legs-shaking for me, for a while at least....We crossed the bridge pretty ok and savoured in the joy of our first bridge crossing! There was more to come I said to myself!
After walking about 3kms we got a call on one of our cell.It was from the donigal station master which indicated that a train is on its way.So we planned to halt for some quick snacks till the train passed us.After 5 mins we could hear the sound of a whistle from some distance and the small stones between the tracks were moving.A red goods train passed by.It was a huge structure and made a lot of noise.It was used to transport construction material.
After swallowing some rock hard idlis that we packed from SURBHI hotel in sakleshpur we moved on.We were told by the station master that there were no more trains till 12am that next day! This was great news for us…otherwise that fear of meeting a train in one of the bridge or tunnel was always there!.
After an hour of walking we came across our first tunnel crossing..again a feeling of thrill and joy came over.It was a 270 mtr tunnel and was built during the 70’s..we switched on our torches and moved on.After walking about 50 mtrs we experienced complete darkness Someone took a snap and suddenly the bats which were on the tunnel roof started moving all around. Man that was scary!i think the flash from the camera disturbed them.
The pace all through the trek was comfortable and medium. Somewhere in between, at one of the first few tunnels, there was a small opening in the side wall, to a viewpoint, a cliff overlooking a lovely stream in full spate down below, in the valley. We slipped out through the opening and did take pictures of the view.
A 10 km distance lead to a large number of bridges and tunnels in succesion.Tunnels ,bridges,tunnels …..the chain seemed never ending. The bridges were really breathtaking, in height, and in the really scenic views they offered of the ghats. Some were a bit scary with the absence of the metal plates on the wooden sleepers.The longest we met was around 400mts . If the bridges were awesome in the view they offered ( both around you and beneath you! you had to only look down and feel the relative motion of walking over them getting to your head and making you feel a wee bit uneasy ), the tunnels were awesome in that at times they offered no view at all, literally! :-) We covered the longest tunnel on the route, all of 572 m. But it was real nice. Near the entrances, with a bit of the sunlight streaming in, we could see the bats flying about everywhere on top.After some distance we found a waterfall and decided to take a dip.After that long walk ,the cold water was infinitely relaxing.
After the 19 th tunnel we got the indication of an approaching station(diverging tracks)..yes it was edakumeri finally!That joy..that celebration..cant be put into words..it was a great moment for all of us. The treck had been smooth without any problems.The sky was clear,no rain,and no problem of leeches..it was as if mother earth had called us home for lunch!
After a refreshing nap and a cup of lemon tea that we prepared it was time for some nature snaps.The view from the terrace of the station was stupefying!after the short drizzle the hill suface had taken a velvety green look…The fresh smell of the wet soil added to the feeling.
We met this person by name Shekar there.He was a real nice guy.He was the station master of edakumeri.He enjoyed our company(probably he was too frustrated staying all alone in the middle of the jungle )We were told that a goods train was expected that night at 1 which was destined to subramanya..
Shekar agreed to stop the train at edakumeri for us.We planned to board the train and reach subramanya.
We reached subramanya temple the next day at around 10 a.m. Subramanya is around 20 kms from edakumeri. After visiting the temple we were back to Bangalore…

photos :http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=551524031&security=ZtkuTF