Achalu Betta, Ramanagara Trek: A Forest Flogging | Chap 231 (March 7, 2026)

Acchalu betta, Ramnagara Trek.

• Place: Acchalu Betta Trek, Ramanagara. (Not the Acchalu betta of Kanakapura)
• Difficulty: Medium / Difficult. If you get lost like us, insane (but, fun)
• Distance: 50 x 2 = 100 km.
• Directions: Bangalore > Bidadi > Ramanagara > Acchalu betta.
• Krew: Gundachar (Gunda), Anwar (Bhai), Karthik (Sp).
• Bikes: Ignitor, Pulsar.
• Previous Visit: Shri Narasimhaswamy Betta Trek.
• Budget: Rs 240/head (Petrol = 450/3; Breakfast = 270/3;)

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IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

If there were a couple of words to describe this trek, it would be "graceful chaos". Opening March 2026 with this crazy trek - Acchalu betta. The 11th trek of 2026.  Do not get confused with the other Acchalu betta near Kanakapura. This is like Kali, and the other is like Laxmi. This is the violent, crazy sister of the other hillock. Buckle up, this is going to be a crazy read. I write this post with thorns in my hand still, and one thorn on my head haha :)

INTRO & PLAN:

After last week to Shri Narasimha Swamy betta, we had marked a few hillocks on the way. One that stood mightily and majestically was Acchalu. Funny part about our last trek to the Acchalu trek in Kanakapura: we had researched the place, but the night before, I read about another Acchalu near Kanakpura and ended up trekking to that one. I was unclear on where the final push was, then realised we had climbed the wrong hill. Now, this time, it was clear. With Gunda and Bhai ready, it was just minor planning, a simple call (not text) and a simple "OK" from the other end. 

TIME: 20:00 (6 Mar, 2026)

The stairway to the skies

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yes, I was up by 3am sharp, fresh and ready. Did a few hanging leg raises to loosen up the spine. Then shot a message to Bhai, and swift came the reply. Superb feeling. Gunda too replied. We knew the mission was on. The meet-up was scheduled 30km from Bangalore at our regular Bidadi tatte idlis stop, directly for breakfast. I left home at about 05:00. 

TIME: 05:00

Bidadi Tatte Idly

RIDE 1: (Bidadi > Ramanagara > Acchalu betta)

Rode very slowly, singing gothic songs all the way, and reached the spot. Had about 45 minutes to kill, and the moon was full. SO, decided to sing to the moon. Then realised 3-4 dogs were sitting right behind me listening, such a special feeling. Once Bhai and Gunda arrived, we greeted each other and had a nice breakfast. 

The mighty Acchalu

No instruction was needed this time, as we had ridden past this hillock last time. We decided to reach the place and then ask locals for the fine directions. And obviously NO GMAPS. 

We cruised along at a smooth pace; for some strange reason, the fog was prevalent. Looking puzzled and happy at each other, we reached the town of Acchalu. Asking an old man, we reached the town. Here, we asked a young kid, and he actually pointed us in the right direction toward the hill. Looking at her kid speaking to strangers, his mom came running out. Then we asked her too, and she pointed in the same direction. There was some clear anger on the kid's face about the re-verification we had done in front of him. 

Asking further locals, we parked our bikes amidst peaceful cows, asking them to take care of the bike, we awoke the "astral goat's" spirit and were ready for the trek. 

TIME: 08:00

And, the trek starts.

ACCHALU, RAMANAGARA TREK

ASCENT:

The ascent took us about 60 minutes. It was absolute madness. We were lost most of the time. And explored many routes to get to the shoulder of the mountain. It was a true test of all past experience. Like always, have broken down the trek into the following chunks - to the first fort wall, to the second fortwall and summit push. 

Going past the first fort wall

To the first fort wall:

This is a tricky part. The initial stretch starts off in beautiful mango farms, offering a good view of the hillock. Here, we made a mental plan to get on her right shoulder and then make our way to the top.  But it was not as easy as we thought. To even reach to the stone hill, we had to wade through some thick vegetation. And guess what? I would say 90% of it had thorns. I mean, not the small ones, thick ones. The forest meant business. Got a few bruises right at the start, with fingers bleeding, we kept pushing and reached the spooky Hanuman temple, which marked the 1st fort wall. 

The second fort wall

The Second Fort Wall:

Ok, this is even trickier than the last one. There were no clear trails. We were exploring every possible way, and exploring had its own toll. Remember the thorny whiplashes? Yeah, it was like we were being flogged with it by the mighty forest deity. But yeah, we chuckled and kept moving. But yeah, at one point we hit an impasse, where the wall face vertical, but had these mega boulders to skies. We ascended them to find only a dead end. With sweat profusely dripping from our faces, we stayed calm, returned and then began a new search. That is how this trek is. Finally making it to the second fort wall, we could spot a way to the shoulder :)

The final push on the shoulder

Summit Push:

Once we were out of the forest and on the rock surface, we were thrilled. We made a tactical dash to the summit. Climbing up the shoulder, we could see a few ancient carved steps; it was like we were climbing into the skies. A beautiful feeling. But since it was a steep gradient, we took breaks standing, not sitting and kept going to finally reach the the top.

TIME: 09:00

Finally the top

TOP:

Whew, felt extra good after reaching the top. The thorny whiplash flogging was far behind, at least then. Took in the pleasant wind. With the sun still fighting its way, the fog and cold prevailed strongly. We hydrated well, found a nice spot with dried grass and just slept for 20-30 minutes in deep silence. 

As we woke up, we realised the sun was up, and we spotted some 10-20 eagles flying above us. We waved a big hi to all of them. Right in front of our eyes, one of the eagle caught a smaller bird and started eating it. Not sure whether it wanted to send us a message or it was having a regular breakfast, we continued waving the big hi. 

Tricky spots en route to Fort Wall #2

Rehydrating again, we started speaking about the upcoming treks and directions we should start tapping. Quickly, we explored the summit and decided to head back down. 

TIME: 10:00

Bhai is resting peacefully in a shady cave

DESCENT:

Well, if you were disappointed that the thorny flogging had stopped. You shall not be disappointed. The descent took us another hour. The reason? We got lost in the forest deeper again. It was like we were hitting every hidden nerve of Acchalu. And the mighty mountain was flogging us hard. We made it to the 2nd fort wall easily. And then, we got LOST, I mean, REALLY LOST here. We decided to keep it simple and keep heading down until we hit flat ground. Easier said than done. 

The thorny flogging we received from the forest

In the forest, we saw trees whose bark was made of thorns, thick, fat creepers completely with thorns, rocks on which thorns were shredding, we could get good grips. Our faces were covered with dry grasses, sweat was pouring out, thorns had embedded our hands pretty hard, a few were sticking on our heads too, bloodied and dusty, we kept pushing. We were literally cutting down shrubs and vines and making our way, and this saps a lot of energy. 

Huffing and puffing, we made it to open land, and we could spot flat land. Confused about where the first wall was? We were happy and confused at the same time. Asking Bhai about the photo we took before we started the trek, we were happy that we were in the same orientation. In a matter of minutes, we had rejoined the path, but almost at the start of the trek. So basically, the entire climb down was off-trail.  Damn!

Thank you for taking care of our bikes.

Reaching back to the place we had parked the bikes, we thanked the cows for keeping an eye out. Then we took off. Realising we had no water, we stormed into the town of Acchalu. Opened the tap water and quenched our thirsts. Then we just poured water on her face, head, and neck to ease the burn of the forest flogging. 

TIME: 11:00

Cooling down in the town of Acchalu

RIDE 2: (Acchalu Betta > Ramanagara > Bangalore)

Before heading out, looked back at the hillock, winked and thanked her for the flogging and, most importantly, for LETTING US GO. The ride back was a smooth one. Riding post the gruelling trek and cooling down at town felt super awesome. 

With the onset of summer, the sun was blazing hot. But cruised at a decent pace to reach Bangalore for some ice cold beers.

TIME: 12:00

Bhai enjoying the summit

CONCLUSION:

Well, there are easy treks and difficult treks. But this can only by classified as a "flogging" one. Damn, the forest did flog us pretty hard and not with a proper whip, but a whip made out of thorns. See the photo yourself. It was no joke, but what a kick-ass experience it was. And yeah, got the thorn out from my head now haha. 

KREW:

Gunda: Fifth trip for him. And boy was he calm on such a crazy one. The forests was painful he admitted, but the trek overall was 10/10. Oh yeah \m/

Bhai: On the summit itself mentioned, this has to be in the new favourite. And Bhai had worn half tshirt. So the flogging to him was 2x haha! 

Sippy: Was on monkey mode and buffalo mode at the same time, after a point of time, the flogging had become a normality haha. 23 weeks, 23 treks \m/

Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/

Sippy flying off