Amedi-Kal

Amedi: Tortoise
Kal: stove
Tortoise faced stove or Amedikal is one of these less heard off treks in Karnataka. Place is located in the Charmudi range of the western ghats, close to treks like bandajje and kudremukh.
Location: Shishila- Amedikal- Shishila
Duration : 2 nights and 3 days including travel(bangalore)
Trek difficulty: tough(nothing to be scared off though)
Ideal season: Summer( since i did it then).
Requirements :Back pack, sleeping bags, minimum 2 liters of water, snacks, ration to cook food for 2 meals, clothes as per requirement, comfortable foot wear, extra socks, warm clothing, towel, candles, torch, match box, knife, cup, plate.
Bus to Dharmastala and then a 30 km ride on a jeep to Shishila. Doesnt get simpler than this. At Shishila, talk to the Gokhale family for any food requirements and guides. Taking a guide would be advisable since the place is absolutely unmanned once the trek begins. Carry a lot of water bottles as the water sources are far and scarce.
Trekking in the Charmadi ghats, there is always one thing common about most good treks around this place. The trek usually consists of the first half in the woods with thick dense forest and the second half goes into the Sholah grasses! This one's no different. First half of the day is in thick dense forest. Chew some of the bitter Bettada nellikayi(wild gooseberries) as you trek with the delightful (but a lil scary) sight of the peak in front of you. Trek promises to be punishing through out as it is a climb all the way up. Just as you start thinking you are getting closer, the view in front keeps pushing your confidence downwards. But as punishing as the trek is, the scenic beauty of this place makes it worth the physical exercise! There is no water at the peak, and hence fill up all bottles at the last stream available before entering the grasslands. The grasslands are nice and steep so keep yourself well hydrated and try and finish this stretch as soon as possible. Reach ths top, take a comfortable seat on the rock and enjoy the sun trek down at the distant horizon. This is the best part of the trek easily where you sit back and enjoy someone else trek. ;)
Monkey never fails to surprise us with better gimmiks every single time. This time it was the Guide on the recieving end as donkey has gone for a very long trek. Late in the night when all were asleep, the guide was trying to stay awake and keep a fire going. Monkey who was sleeping 20 yards away parellelly to the log which was being burnt, started to roll towards the fire. The guide without knowing what to do, tries to grab Monkey by his leg and drag he away. But monkey who is in deep sleep and in counter strike mode, sees the guide as a potential threat and kicks him so hard that the guide falls down 10 yards away from him. This isnt all. Then he screams. Not just a small squeel, screams his arse off!!. People around him are all in deep sleep too. Two guys (one big and one tiny!!) who s sexuality was in question were sleeping tightly tugged to each other. When monkey screams, the big guy panics an starts screaming and holds the tiny guy and throws him away, as though its the last throw to win a lady's throw ball match. The 2 guys screaming cause panic in the whole region and everyone there starts screaming for no reason at all. For 15 minutes they keep screaming, only to realise nothing had happened. Most wake up to hear the story of what actually happened from the guide who is now laughing his skull out seeing these lunatics go crazy over nothing. He was a lil hurt by the kick though. On hearing the story they all have a good laugh. After the story is over they try to see what monkey was upto now, since he's the prime reason for most of the panic. They see monkey has already gone back to deep sleep again. Still not come out of the shock, most of them were unable to sleep, but the cause of it all is back to playing couter strike!!!!. Thank God nothing else happened to anyone and monkey didnt do anything else again that night. This goes down as one of the best stories to have happened in a trek.
The trek on the second day is sadly return back in the same route. But the nice thing is that the stream at the base is an amazing way to finish the trek. Have a nice dip once you finish the trek. Carry a pant for this trek. Wear it once the trek is over, so that you can get entry into Dharmastala temple. DONOT miss this chance to visit the temple because more than the temple, there is free dinner provided at the temple every night. Finish the adventure by having dinner at Dharmastala, it doesnt get better.
The trek is a personal favourite because of the terrain and the toughness. Also the trek is far away from any human interaction and not many people know about this place which makes it even better. Both sunset abd sunset are a sight to remember. The view from the top shows more than one other popular treks in the region which makes this trek even more special. Must do for western ghats lovers. Enjoy trekking..:)



some pics from the trek...:)