Place: Madakasira Fort Trek
Distance: 150kms x 2 = 300kms
Directions: Bangalore > Dobbaspete > Madhugiri > Madakasira
Krew: Madhu > Karthik (Sp)
Bikes: Pulsar
Previous Visit: Nijagal Trek.
Budget: Rs 500/head
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, July 2024, here we go. A classic trip to Madakasira aka Boa Fort. This pristine fort trek lightens up one’s spirit as it is easy and more of an exploration. Our trip was nothing but it. The highlight of the trip was we missed a turn and headed into AP for 30km before we realized we had taken the wrong route. Oops! And another highlight would be cleaning up the hillock of plastic residues, to make mother nature feel more natural – a good initiative from Madhu. Cheers let's go!
INTRO & PLAN:
It was 5 days since our visit to Nijagal trek. Wasn’t very sure about a trek, texted Madhu and asked “trek/rest?”. And the reply came back “trek”. And it hence this run was executed. Place unknown. Keeping things simple, clean, and old school.
TIME: 16:00 (12/7/2024)
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Oh yeah, woke up by 3am. Stretched out a bit, had a sip of coffee, was ready by 4am, texted Madhu. Listened to music for about 1.5hrs and once Madhu arrived at my home, requested him to park his bike at my place and we took off on my bike.
TIME: 06:00
RIDE 1: (Bangalore – Dobbaspete – Madhugiri – Madakasira Fort)
This was about 150km butter smooth ride. As we left Bangalore, we could feel ourselves slightly cramped amidst traffic. But as we started reaching the outskirts, our wings started opening up and we could feel lighter and in better control. The air was unsually cold as it had rained last night. Shivagange could be spotted afar shrouded in mist. As we reached Dobabspete, we took right turn towards Kortagere and we pulled over for some elixir of tea. After the tea, we felt so lifted up. It was like taking some life in a syringe and shooting you with it. Going 10-15km ahead we pulled over at our regular hotel for breakfast.
TIME: 07:00
TIME: 09:00
MADAKASIRA FORT TREK:
It took about 45min to reach the top. We played around the entire stretch. Okay, have divided the trek into three phases.
i) Initial gateways.
ii) Brown fortress.
iii) Final climb.
So, try keeping up with me on this one. Here goes:
i)Initial gateways:
The trek began with a narrow path leading out of the town and into the ancient footsteps. And slowly as we ascended, the civilization began to disappear, and we felt at home. Decent rainfall had lifted the whole hue of the place. It just felt great navigating through the gates.
ii) The Brown Fortress:
This is the core of the trek. The main fort with its twisted fort walls lies at this stage. When viewed from afar, this looks like a boa constrictor coiled up after a heavy meal. We explored the place and decided to hit the final stretch as dark clouds began to drift towards us.
iii) Final climb:
The last stretch of this trek is the most intense. I mean not all parts, but two crucial traverses. We could spot the final point from the previous phase. The place was so alive and was filled with butterflies and bugs. As we began the final ascent, the two tricky spots lay one after the other, we navigated these two spots with caution and had fun as well.
TIME: 09:45
TOP:
We were greeted by huge boulders on the top, which formed the perfect shelter. Then moving ahead we found the final point, a small structure at the tip of the hillock. The wind speeds were off the charts. Standing up straight was a challenge. We sat in the structure in silence taking in the view and all the slapping from the winds. Madhu got busy drawing and I rested. We spent about 45 minutes at this place and then decided to head back.
TIME: 10:30
TREK DOWN:
Well, the trek back down took us about 30-40mins. But it was different this time. Madhu had an idea to pick up all the plastic bottles and take it back to the town to dispose it properly. It was a noble and wonderful idea. So, we packed as many plastic bottles thrown away into a bag and slowly, we navigated down to find a heap of rubbish just before we entered the town, we threw all the bottles and decided to say tata to Madakasira. It was a beautiful day spent.
TIME: 11:30
RIDE 2: (Madakasira – ?? – Madakasira – Madhugiri – Whity Dhaba - Bangalore)
This was supposed to be a 150km but turned out to be a 200+ km ride. Multiple roads lead into Madaksira, all look familiar. We took the wrong one, it looked exactly like the one we had taken into the town. A dog almost stopped us, the universe has strange signs to suggest. We continued further and further, but we couldn’t spot Medigeshi. That’s when we pulled over and asked locals for directions to Madhugiri, when they said, to go back 30km to Medigeshi and then take left, our jaws dropped. That was a hammer fall on our face. We tried to fight the situation by taking some interior routes, but it spit us back right onto the same highway.
We accepted the situation first and decided to ride 30km back, it was like Madaksira was not done with us, she wanted to see us one final time. We rode back 30km and said a proper “Tata” and then switched on cruise no non-sense mode riding.We rode continuously until Madhugiri and had some egg puffs and sting. This felt so freaking good, with new energies we locked on towards Dobbaspete. Cruising at a decent pace we pulled over at Whity dhaba for some lunch.
TIME: 15:00
After spending about 1-1.5hrs at dhaba relaxing, we left back and reached my home. From where Madhu headed towards his home.
TIME: 17:00
CONCLUSION:
“Goof-ups are part of trips. That is what makes them fun. We always learn the hard way. Shutting and accepting your situation helps."
Until next time, Cia and CHEERS \m/