Trek along Kaveri River


21 April 2012

The hot weather had put a stop on our trip plans. The list of destinations on our mind was long but dry conditions did not encourage us to proceed further. “Why not we try out places where we can find water?” was the usual question. The only place near Bengaluru with some water is Kaveri River. The stretch of Kaveri River between Shivana Samudra and Hogenakkal flows though the forest area with occasional human habitation. According to me it is a good place for trekking.


Our plan was simple. We had a day to spare and decide to walk along the river. The starting point would be Bheemeshwari that is 100 km from Bengaluru. Subbu Krishna, Subbu Subramanya, Srikanth and Girish join for this mini adventure!!


I always had problem in finding a good restaurant in Kanakapura. My friends suggested “Vaasu hotel” which turned out to be a nice place providing tasty food!! After eating heavily and packing lunch, we set out towards our destination. Before Kaveri River, we passed through the forest which was dry thanks to hot weather. Muthatti was the first village along the River.  A place abused by human being to no end. No civilized and hygienic minded person would every get down at Muthatti. Words are hard to explain the filth of that place. We quickly escaped from Muthatti to reach relatively peaceful Bheemeshwari.


After parking the car on road side we headed towards the River. We were expecting dry river bed but there was good amount of water. That was encouraging from trek point of view. And so we started walking upstream along the river. Fortunately the cloud cover provided some relief from the blazing sun. We had short walks followed by long stops with lengthy discussions!!  The area was peaceful with only sounds coming from birds and flowing river (And obviously our talks!).


After walking for few km, I checked the map and found that we were nearing the confluence of Shimsha and Kaveri River. We decided to return back. But now the clouds had cleared exposing us to the direct sun. The journey was tiring and our energy was refueled only after jumping into the river.



A word of caution:
We see in news papers about people drowning in Kaveri River at Muthatti and other nearby places. Most cases can be attributed to drunken people but carelessness is also one of the main reasons for deaths. Swirls in the river are dangerous. Crocodiles do not pose much problem but one need to be aware of their presence.