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| Aadina Gudde Betta Trek |
- Place: Aadinagudde Betta Trek (Ramanagara)
- Difficulty: Difficult - Technical.
- Distance: 50 km x 2 = 100 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Bidadi > Aadinagudde Betta.
- Krew: Datta (Dattu), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Arulagiri Fort Trek.
- Budget: Rs 288/head (Petrol = 176/2; Breakfast = 100/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Alright, speak about off-offbeat, and this is the hillock I will tell you right away. Aadinagudda Betta is a massive hillock in the Ramanagara district, with steep vertical walls and a thick forest route. An excellent climb, but high in technicality. I would go so far as to say this would be the most technical climb done in the past 50 treks. SO, yeah, had a BLAST! \m/
And this marked 48 weeks, 50 treks, 11 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 38th trek in 36 weeks for 2026, with 34 first ascents and zero repeats :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full roar (Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, Periyamalai, Virabhadra Fort, Maharajakadai Fort Trek, Musattu Malai Trek, Saanarappan Malai Trek, Sanjeevarayan Malai Trek, Arulagiri Fort).
Well, the jibe between Hosur and Mysore road is a magic ticket to keep the treks rich. There are enough hills scattered in this region; it keeps you appreciating both sides of the city. Well, as far as the planning goes, Dattu was prepping his 1-week vacation to Srilanka, so I decided to give him a small trek as a gift.
Well, about Aadinagudde, there is no data available. So we thought we could pull it off in a short time and return. We did, but the climb proved to be more insane than we thought!! Our technical dial was turned up to 100%. Dattu was fixed, Aadinagudde was fixed.
TIME: 18:00 (27 Aug, 2026)
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| Emily loading... :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, was up by 03:30, my usual waking time. Hadn't slept much, as I had caught a 6-foot Oriental snake at the office with bare hands haha :) Stretched out a little and got ready. By 04:30, left home and headed towards Mahalakshmi layout, listening to some slow doom metal, singing aloud, bobbing my head. Made it to Dattu's place by 5am, where he was already waiting with a beaming smile. After formal greetings, we left and joined Mysore Road.
TIME: 05:30
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| Shivsagar Bidadi Tatte Idly :) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Bidadi > Aadinagudde Betta)
Well, with the strict NO GOOGLE MAPS rule in place, we cruised comfortably in the dark, talking about various topics. With Dattu sitting, every topic was discussed with rich interest and suspended judgement. The array of topics varied from blackjack, Linkin Park songs, Trading, Investments, K-dramas, and last but not the least, the historical 52nd chapter of the loapers :)
Cruised to Bidadi and pulled over at our regular hotel, where the person serving idlis started smiling just looking at us. We had become a common face around. Belting on some idlis, we continued discussing, whilst a biker gang turned up and were being given heavy instructions, and their apparel was being handed over. We couldn't control our laughter. Finished our breakfast and left the place.
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| The mighty Aadinagudde Betta :) |
As we rode on, we were humming Linkin Park songs to each other, and others had to guess. My humming was so bad, the universe decided to stop me. When it was my turn, just as I began to hum (terribly) - In the End, a train honked right into our ears and went past us. Thinking it was one off event, I began again, with Dattu triying hard to understand, another train from opposite came honking full aloud. I pulled the plug on this game haha.
In a matter of minutes, we took the beautiful interior routes of Ramanagara and spotted the hillock. Asking a local aunty politely for directions for the climb, she enthusiastically explained and asked why we had come, we told "we have come to climb and explore and return back" The return back part hit her hard, she started speaking to us as though were her own kids, wished us luck for the trek. We parked our bikes at the spot the aunty suggested and awoke the "Lizard's spirit" and started mentally mapping the routes.
TIME: 07:15
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| The Crazy Ascent of Aadinagudde Betta :) |
AADINAGUDDE BETTA TREK
ASCENT:
Well, this is not an easy hill to ascend. It is intense, with steep rock faces. And if it rains the previous night, the dew would still prevail on the mosses. So, we stood at the base of the hillock, getting a macro of the hill. And then we decided that we would go around the hill and ascend via the forest route and coming down, if the sun is up, it would be via the steep rock face. And we stuck to the plan, it took us 45 minutes to ascend and 40minutes to descend. I would go as far to say, this would be the most technical climb done in the past 50 treks.
Like always, have divided the trek into phases so LET'S GO \m/
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| The forest roundabout route. |
Phase 1: Forest Roundabout route.
Well, this is a route we thought would be pleasant. As we planned to go around the hill and trim down the gradients and hit the neck of the hill. But this proved to be equally challenging. The bushes were thick, and we were not able to gauge how deep our foot would land, making the whole ordeal mentally taxing. But knowing the fact what was causing the mental tax made us feel calm and take good calls.
We entered the thickets, and boy did we struggle here. It was thick and filled with thorns. A few of them shredded my palms and were bleeding. But after a point in time, entered "tactical zombie mode", where everything that mattered was finding an open area to get your bearings and hit the rock face.
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| Dattu lost in the thickets :) |
Phase 2: The Bridge
As the thickets started thinning, we were gaining good elevation. The views kept getting better, and we could smell the summit. But we didn't rush, keeping composure, were took each step with caution. One of the craziest parts was that we had to move from a big rock boulder to another so that we could push for the summit, and the only way to do it? - it was that we had to step onto a branch of the tree, walk on the branch, and make it to the other boulder, balancing. This is something we had never done in all our 17 years of climbing :) The drop was about 30-40 feet. Absolutely crazy!
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| Summit Push :) |
Phase 3: The Summit Push
Well, after we found some breather coming out of the forest. Even the last part tested us. It was steep curved vertical climb. It was excellent, we had to amp our technicality to 100 and pushing through we could feel the cool breeze welcome us on the summit. We had made it :)
TIME: 08:00
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| Summit view :) |
TOP:
The view from the summit was mind-blowing. I was jumping around in the wind, naming all the hillocks, Dattu was smiling and trying recollect how many of them he had joined. The summit panorama included - Handigundi Betta, Muthrurayaswamy Betta, Jalasiddeshwara Betta, Chaluvanarayanaswamy betta.
Then we settled down, hydrated ourselves, and the discussion continued. I went to explain how people like Dattu and Bhai have helped release another side of me. When they are around for a climb, I can push my boundaries, fall down, look foolish and feel free. These guys helped me stretch my wings further without putting any pressure on me. Thanked Dattu for it. And before long, my words stopped, and I was asleep like a baby in a cradle.
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| Sleepy Puppy Sippy :) |
And 15-20minutes later woke up fresh; the whole world looked blue. Haha, Dattu was waiting for me to get up. We hydrated, and the summit was peaceful. We were sure that no one would ascend, also considering the crazy climb. Now, with the late onset of monsoons this year (thankfully), we had to ensure we descended before any drizzle began.
TIME: 08:30
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| The crazy descent on the rock face :) |
DESCENT:
The descent requires special attention altogether. Yes, the rock faces were steep, and we took the forest roundabout route. The descent was madness, I tell you.
As we began, it was all peaceful. We could actually see some anchor bolts and fixed routes. As we followed it, it went to the opposite side of the hillock into a resort. That was the easy route, and it went into a resort. So, having to go back to bikes, we decided to pull the grinder off.
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| The crazy water path down :) |
Starting off, it was good; the rocks offered nice grip. Then came the steep vertical descent. A narrow, deep water pathway had literally eroded the rock a few inches deep, and we had to hold on to both sides to avoid sliding down to our deaths. This is another thing we had never ever done and had not even come across. It was like new technical skills were being embedded and stuffed into us on the go, and we enjoyed every bit of it.
After the waterfall path, we could spot the point of entry. But it was still very far, and the rock face was vertical. So, we spoke to each other and zigzagged our way through some of the steepest rock faces done to date. It was a crazy experience.
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| Zigzagging our way down on the rock face :) |
Finally, after zigzagging, we reached flat land. It felt good, and at the same time we missed the pressure on our ankles, which was our companion for the past hour or so. Then Dattu asked me to be careful, as it would be really embarrassing to fall on flat ground after pulling such a steep descent hahaha. We cooked up stories as to how the mountain would take the shape of a person and point us at and laugh.
We reached back to our bike, finally turned around, looked at the hillock one final time, thanked her for the rich experience and, more importantly, "LETTING US GO BACK"
TIME: 09:15
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| Sippy playhome :) |
RIDE 2: Aadinagudde Betta > Bidadi > Bangalore
The ride back was smooth. It was hardly a 50km ride. And upon reaching Bidadi, asked Dattu if he was good for a beer; a thumbs-up came. So, we pulled over at our regular bar near home and had an ice-cold beer, celebrating the 50 continuous run :) Dropped Dattu back to Mahalakshmi layout and returned back home :)
TIME: 12:15
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| Summit Touch :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this was crazy, even beyond our imagination. Aadinagudde is an offbeat and tough hill to climb. And it rains, it invites death. So, yeah, prep well and pull this one off, guys! One interesting thing is, as we are approaching the 52, the hillocks are becoming crazier and bigger, and yet we feel so light :)
Past 48 weeks, we have pulled off 50 treks, ~9925 kms in total, 11 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
Here are some more stats of the 50 trips we have pulled:
Avg Total distance covered per trek on motorcycle = 190km
Avg spend per trek = 280 Rs/ Trek
What is stopping YOU?
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| The endurance monster roars aloud :) |
KREW:
Sippy: Pushing technical skills to max was something even I had not done past one year, but this one required it. And it felt good. Were happy with this find and more importantly pulling it off. With 50 treks done in 48 weeks, let us go towards 52/52 on the FLYING NIMBUS \m/
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
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| Last two to go, guys \m/ |
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