Monday, December 24, 2012

Butterfly Hill and Gali Gudda

God’s House on the Knoll (DM)- Part-2
Trekking in Western Ghats
In the middle of the morning after climbing several mountains we reached a highland landscape.  A group of grey copper butterflies feeding on a grass and they were gliding around us. We all sort of melted together at that point, enthralled by what we were seeing. It’s infinite...!!
Butterfly Hill embraced by the uncountable grassland mountains, and they offering what appears to be an almost infinite numbers with assortment of colors frankly, my own, brought us together as lovers of these beautiful creatures.  We all took pictures; we were all talking, joined together in this experience by the grace of a butterfly.
It stayed there for an uncanny amount of time even I was surprised and I’ve had plenty of butterflies landed just next to me.  It really felt like this butterfly was trying to tell me something, something very important. I encountered few butterflies in very close there were more sounds of wonderment that gladdened my heart. Out of a bit of excitement we went on our way after that and I felt very good about the entire experience. 
Then as we continued further trail and came in the sight of the roofs of Galigudda. From cliff we saw far to the valley, soaring to incredible heights into the bright sky, and the famous mountains in Charmadi like Minchulakku, Kumbhakallu, Yerikallu, Kodekallu-Barekallu, Jenkallu and also we saw far to the north the glistening peaks of  Kudremukh like a glimpse into heaven. There are no words to describe such beauty.
Climbing out of Galigudda, the landscapes became even more magnificent. Clear sky, white clouds, rolling mountains, vast valleys, serene pastures - These natural wonders flowed like artful watercolors to please our eyes and purify our city souls. We awoke on the trail and looked out on the western corner of the flat grassland terrain. However I under-estimated the difficulty of the trek and then began long tedious climb towards Baremale range.
 It was just the kind of vast grassland hill ranges surrounded with untamed Shola forests, we had been traveling through all half day and we began to see to the rising Baremale hills range. Just as the sun came up we entered one Shoala forest the air growing cooler inside the forest and had some snaks inside the Shola forest.
In the deep forest mossy and fresh the sunlight filtered through a canopy of leaves in patches of dancing gold. The shadows of coolness played about the orchids and the maiden fair ferns which grew from every rock and tree. The canopy inside the forest is where it's at and it hums with an incredible diversity of life. 
After the food we crossed Shoala forest and walked for few more hours up into the steep open grazer hills crossing with the fertile grasslands were necklaced by a collection of delicate Shoala forests.
This grassland supports an incredibly rich and diverse flora. The thin, lime-rich soils of this grassland habitat are derived from the underlying limestone rocks, and attract plants that don't grow in other soils. The grass’s unlike other plants grows from its roots instead of the tip. This gives it astonishing powers of regeneration. It also means it can be almost constantly cropped a never ending supply of food for animals.
 Its home for too many beautiful orchids and wildflowers, and the insects they attract including rare blue butterflies. This indestructible plant has taken over the Devaramane valley plains and in so doing it supports the greatest numbers and diversity of large grazers in WesterGhant area. We were transformed as a part if this elegant, mysterious atmosphere in this fairyland.
Looks like -Half Indian Map

Friday, December 21, 2012

God’s House on the Knoll -(DM) -Part 1

Devaramane – Trekking in Western Ghats
The adventure never stops. We prefer to go places others don’t go. This adventure began with a drive from Mangalore. We enjoyed being back-on-the-move on Highways through mountains and valleys. We stopped for Dinner at a nice restaurant after another stop for fuel we began to see signs of the forests in the area. After a hard 4 hours journey we reached a small hamlet that were the foothills of DM.
Camping under the low temperature open land, after a good night of sleep the next morning we got up early, started hiking well before 6 AM, climb up was quicker than expected and on right time up the mountain and we encountered a enchanting Sunrise view. Our morning sunrise was not too far from the D.M temple just absolutely amazing clouds and layers and color. The vast land at the foot of the mountain was bathed in dusk sun glows. All the mountain peaks - high, low, near and far - all were cast in a golden sheen.
It was a lovely clear morning and the sun shone with that wonderful, slanting, golden softness that makes dim shadow in the folds of the hills and lights with a halo of dew every blade of grass. What a beautiful and very atmospheric sunrise a low clouds is all it took to give us a beautiful sunrise the light we had is beyond description.  We had sun, wind and all of it has brought amazing light and terrific images.
The group we have here is just fantastic. We took few great images and had a ton of fun with lots of laughs. The sunrise was setting and all of a sudden we had this beautiful burst of color yielding an amazing sunrise. The whole place changed to the most incredible clouds and color you could ever imagine.  Literally the sky was on fire.
After a good sunrise gradually we rose out of the hilltop into a more temperate climate. A giant power towers clung to the hillsides surrounded by the endless tiers of terraced land bright with the yellow shoots falling away into the valley. In a few minutes on view point we were headed out to the next mountain ranges. At one place we sighted herds of large grazing bison from long distance.
Although in the morning the sky was super clear as we climbed the several mountains we decided to take our morning breakfast around 8AM. We enjoyed cocktails and Kotte Kadabu. Butterfly Hill embraced by the uncountable grassland mountains, it just like a Sitha Bhoomi. As our altitude increased, the scenery became more beautiful; more dramatic in scope.
In the middle of the morning after climbing several mountains we reached a highland landscape.  A group of grey copper butterflies feeding on a grass and they were gliding around us. We all sort of melted together at that point, enthralled by what we were seeing. It’s infinite...!!
To be Continued - Butterfly Hill and Gali gudda