Wow …! Had gone on one of the most unforgettable extraordinary trip last weekend. This year Monsoon this was my first waterfall visit so it was grand. Till last Saturday we also couldn’t believe that there was such a beautiful very huge waterfall concealed between thick forests in Western Ghats. Almost in the entire mountain region, world over, rain means bad weather. While in the Western Ghats it is great weather! One of the finest time to trek. Hiking during the monsoon has a special charm which no other season can provide.
From last few days all over only rain rain rain... everywhere water, so going outside in this non-stop intermittent rain also is tedious but we had decided to go, so last Saturday evening Rajesh Sir & I decided and after a long search planned to go this unknown waterfall. Frankly we did not expect a big or great waterfall even though it was rainy season since it was a new place we thought monsoon as it is there are many small falls formed naturally so this also would be like the usual ones...
First of all I like to thank Rajesh Sir (Rajesh Naik) because he is an amazing person, every time he collects some new very odd places for adventure and visiting waterfalls &old heritages is his passion fortunately I also had some opportunity to visit some of the places with him and when collecting facts and details about a place he does an amazing job and this time too it was a new place again to Shirle waterfalls.
As our plan Rajesh sir's friend Anil joined us with his super Dakota bike & we rode 15 km’s in this bike and that too three of us at a time, this journey sitting on Carrier of the bike my body completely rattled from head to toe big what a ride!! An adventure we can never forget in life. After a tough ride we reached one isolated beautiful village and some Tribal’s still live at the bottom of these remote mountains.
These villages where life exists as it was many years back and some outside tribes who are settled here since 20-25 years. We enquired about this place with a local farmer and he told ‘You can’t come back if you go in rain even you can’t go also’, Another one told ‘You can’t reach bottom possible only view from pinnacle ‘but still in front of our strong determination no one could stop us & finally we started to walk carrying with us little snacks & without protection for sucking leaches.
After climbing one small mountain we started to follow a small stream which led us till the waterfalls. After a long walk between very exotic forests after an hour or so we reached the waterfalls but we couldn’t get its full view, taking a big risk the only way to see its beauty ,we climbed a steep slippery terrain about 80ft height
after that we crossed a rough stream with our hearts in our mouth & later climbed one huge rock with these rocks being very slippery we had to be extremely careful. Finally we descended onto the sprawling Rock from where it presented a spectacular refreshing sight to our weary bodies.
As our plan Rajesh sir's friend Anil joined us with his super Dakota bike & we rode 15 km’s in this bike and that too three of us at a time, this journey sitting on Carrier of the bike my body completely rattled from head to toe big what a ride!! An adventure we can never forget in life. After a tough ride we reached one isolated beautiful village and some Tribal’s still live at the bottom of these remote mountains.
After climbing one small mountain we started to follow a small stream which led us till the waterfalls. After a long walk between very exotic forests after an hour or so we reached the waterfalls but we couldn’t get its full view, taking a big risk the only way to see its beauty ,we climbed a steep slippery terrain about 80ft height
This place was worth spending all our time and energy. We had light food spent enough time & started to back wondering if there were many more such places like these hidden in nature we had become small time explorers ourselves finding new places may be all those great explorers too had just stumbled on many lands discovered.....
The gurgling streams innumerable waterfalls green green and only green in many shades it's like mother nature has had a fresh bath all the trees completely clean and green many small waterfalls which forms during monsoon and flows in full torrent these are few amazing things as to how nature transforms completely during monsoon,
and I always look forward for our treks in monsoon, this year too it started with a great beginning instead of waterfalls to start with it was completely different and we visited three beautiful dams on Sunday with our team guided by Rajesh Naik, after a lot of continuous planning changing finally we started our journey to Mani dam,
from morning it was just nonstop rain rain and more rain well monsoon is only about rain, as it is we were in great spirits and pouring rain was just and additional booster for our trek, Kamath sir(Ramesh Kamath) and his lively jokes made our journey even more pleasant,
roads were just in passable condition but the greenery around was a feast to the eyes after a few hours of journey and not a single soul to be seen around we were wondering if we were on the right track with wilderness all around it really didn't matter We reached the Dam with a comfortable journey & parked our Car near Dam & with raincoats protecting us we started to walk on one side of the dam.
First few minutes’ walk was very calm in rain but later suddenly the atmosphere was covered with a heavy blanket of mist & we just couldn’t see anything around but slowly it started clearing and there in front of us we had one of the most spectacular view possible there was only the cameras clicking and not a sound as the view was breath taking we just didn't want any sort of communication except to soak ourselves in nature it was like being one with nature......
After a few more hours of drive we reached Chakra dam. Chakra dam was built a long time ago as a power project but it is not running any more and you need a special permission to visit this dam
This place is little far from Mani dam, but Kamath sir's driving was put to real test in the rain and he made a good job and we reached quiet fast this dam was very peaceful and serene power of nature making us calm is really true ......
Savehoklu streams into the Linganamakki reservoir & also one of the isolated & very most beautiful dam. We spent all our remaining target time in here, Taking lot of photos explored a few places in the surrounding ....
connecting with nature completely restoring back our snapped energy reservoir filling our lungs with fresh air and with renewed energy we returned to our places looking forward to many more energy recharging monsoon treks in the coming months....... 
Finally we did quite interesting unusual trip in this Monsoon. Really it’s worth & hope will do more trips in this season.
One Fine Rainy morning I started to Unchalli waterfalls with some of my Sirsi friends a few years back. We took a bus from Sirsi which goes to HaggaraNi & reached this dreamy village after a few hours journey. Trekking 4- 5 km from the Heggarne village along the dense forests can be an exciting experience.
Unchalli Falls, which is also called Lushington Falls, is named after a District Collector, J D Lushington, who discovered the falls in 1845.This falls is also called as Keppa Joga because of the noisy sound it makes. The noise of the waterfalls hurtling down the hilly area breaks the silence of the forests.
Watching the waterfalls from watch tower is very scenic during rains we can’t see waterfalls clearly because of heavy haze but still we managed to get a few picks. After spending few minutes in tower we moved to touch bottom of the walls, in rainy season we can’t go close even reaching the river in deep valley is also tough but after a hard attempt we able to reach the bottom.
When we reached bottom everyone was soaked heavily & frozen & shivering. So no needs to take bath simply spent some time & watch long view of waterfalls in bottom side & stepped back. In rain watching this Thundering cataract was delightful. So we enjoyed this waterfall in with a great colorful scenic of memories.
We also got to see a beautiful rainbow which formed right across the waterfall which sent our senses soaring a worthy trek with spectacular views.....