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| Chikka Mudhawadi Betta Trek :) |
- Place: Chikka Mudhawadi Betta Trek (Ramanagara)
- Difficulty: Easy (with intense thickets with thorns)
- Distance: 60 km x 2 = 120 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Bidadi > Ramanagara > Chikka Mudhawadi > Kanakapura > Bangalore.
- Krew: Dileep (Koof), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Laxmi Devi Kote Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 232/head (Petrol = 264/2; Breakfast = 200/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Chikka Mudhawadi is the twin sister of Doddamuduwadi betta. They lie on opposite sides of the main road. Chikka Mudhawadi is a small hill, but packs a definite punch. At least, the season when we attempted it. Thickets with thorns are a real thing. But nevertheless, a very peaceful and nice place :)
And this marked 391 days, 63 treks, 13 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 51st trek in 47 weeks for 2026, with 48 first-time ascents and zero repeats :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full swing (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, Mookankur Malai Trek, Melumalai Trek, Puliyarasi Trek, Machakal Malai).
And 2 days back, having revived the OMR route (Ambaji Durga Trek, Kurbooru Fort Trek, Devarayasamudra Trek, Laxmi Devi Kote Betta), felt really good. Had about one day to rest and recover from Laxmi Devi Kote Betta. This trek was initially planned for Nov 10, but Koof asked if we could do it on Nov 9, 2026. And I thought, why not?
Sippy - "Koofa, ready?? Let us go in my bike" (19:00)
Koof - "Lets go!!, need to be back by around noon ashte! "
Sippy - "Ok, good night"
These are the best conversations. No questions asked about the places :)
TIME: 18:00 (8 Nov, 2026)
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| First glimpse of the hillock :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
I woke up at 03:30, stretched out a little and did a few pull-ups. Then had a sip of coffee and got ready. Went down, gently wiped the bike, and left by 04:45. Cruised the 5km to Koof's place and waited at the main road, watching what goes on in Bangalore in the early hours. Koof texted me asking me to let him know when I would leave; I told him I was already at his place. After a formal greeting, we left Bangalore :)
TIME: 05:30
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| Sunrise at Chikka Mudhawadi :) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Bidadi > Ramanagara > Chikka Mudhawadi Betta)
With the strict no-Google-Maps rule, we cruised along pretty slowly in the city (thanks to the city roads). After joining the Mysore highway at Kengeri, the pace picked up. We recollected college days and how we had pulled pranks on the professors. And you know the best part: there was no guilt in the conversation, they deserved every bit of it, I tell you :P
We pulled over at our regular hotel for breakfast. A wide smile appeared on the hotel person, went to him and wished him for Diwali. However much of an atheist I am, if wishing a person brings out some happiness in them, then I do it :)
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| Shivsagar Bidadi Tatte Idly :) |
Post-breakfast, we rode to Ramanagara and took the Kanakapura route. This route houses a lot of hillocks (Handi Gundi, Achalu Betta, Muthurayaswamy, Jala Siddeshwara, Aadinagudde Betta, Siddle Kallu, Kunagalu Betta, SRS, Narasimhaswamy Betta, Doddamuduwadi). I was pointing to all of them and showing Koof; I heard a yawn from behind. Tried to land a punch on him haha!
After we spotted the Chikka Mudhwadi from the main road, we took the interior mud road. The last 2km was complettly off road, infested with loose gravels. So, had to be very careful. We spotted a mango farm, parked the bike amidst the peafegravelful mango trees, and awoke "the astral goat's" spirit within us and were all set for the trek.
TIME: 07:45
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| Chikka Mudhwadi trek begins. |
CHIKKA MUDHAWADI BETTA TREK
ASCENT:
Well, the hill might be small, but it packs a serious punch. With thick vegetation, thorny shrubs and no route to the top, it was a free-style climb. We loved it! It took us about 30 minutes to reach the top. By the time we reached the top, we had about 10-12 thorns sticking all over our body haha.
Like always, I have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
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| Mango fields |
Phase 1: The Initial Trails (Mango fields)
After parking the bike. We took off into the mango fields. Studying the land, we could see some footprints and some sheep/goat droppings. We followed it through the fields, and we began aligning ourselves with the least taper of the hill. The reason for this being the climb would be long but gradual post it. We hit a rock phase at the end of the fields. And it felt good; we got a good overview of the hill. But we had to penetrate into the thickets.
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| Into the thickets we go |
Phase 2: Into the thickets
Well, things got interesting and quite real here. The thickets were, well, thick. And if you think bushwhacking these tall grasses is tough, spread some thorny shrubs around, well distributed across the terrain. This was the toughest part. Without a trail, we had to bushwhack grass and thorns. We took sufficient breaks and breathers, as this can make you panic if you are not used to this. Grinding through and following the water path by siding the tall grass, we made it to the final stretch.
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| Turned into a grass stretch. |
Phase 3: Summit Push
Well, we took a breather and removed the thorns from pants, jackets and socks, as they were pricking pretty bad. The final stretch started off steep and on loose mud, but eventually tapered down and became pleasant. Pushing through, we hit the summit of the Chikka Mudhawadi Betta :)
TIME: 08:10
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| Sippy petting Narasimhaswamy Betta :) |
TOP:
Reaching the top felt good. We could spot a small shelter made, maybe by the local shepherds. What really took us was the sight of Narasimhaswamy Betta which stood mighty and tall right next to us. We picked a nice boulder and climbed upon it and hydrated. Koof started explaining his Lakshadweep cruise experience, and I listened in awe. After having spent about 30 minutes at the top, we packed up and decided to head back down. And the descent was not as expected.
TIME: 08:45
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| Well, the thickets got thicker :) |
DESCENT:
We took about 30 minutes to get back down. But instead of the least-travelled path, we took the intense path, with real thick thickets and thorns. We were making progress, and we had a visual cue to the first base. But even this visual cue was disappearing as the height of the grass reached over 6feet in some places. And the thorns were real, and without having a visual of the ground below, we heavily relied on our feet as the mode of sensing. This is something we have been getting used to off-late, and it is a beautiful thing. You can think of it like the cockroach's antennae or the tongue of the snake. Finally, grinding through, we reached back to the base and spotted our bike. Koof went ahead and removed this shirt and started dusting off all the dust and thorns from it.
Mounted the bike, looked back one final time at the massive hillock, thanked her for such a rich experience and, more importantly, "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 10:00
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| Sippy pointing at Narasimhaswamy Betta :) |
RIDE 2: (Chikka Mudhawadi > Kanakapura > Bangalore)
This was a 50km ride back. We could have taken the route back. But we decided to take the Kanakapura route as it would complete a nice circuit. As we were cruising back at a decent pace, I started pointing at every animal I could find and calling it out loud: "A Cow", "A buffalo", "A dog", "A goat", "A cat", "A small cow", "A big dog", "A black dog". Koof was initially acknowledging, and then he got confused and tapped my helmet haha :)
As we reached back to the highway, I said I knew a bar about 20km prior to Bangalore that we had sat at recently, and he said he also knew one. We decided to pull over wherever we found one first. And as we approached Bangalore, both our hands went up simultaneously; I was pointing at one, and he was pointing at the one right next to it haha. We ended up going to the one he picked and gulped down an ice-cold beer and put the last rites to this chapter :)
TIME: 10:15
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| Sippy resting at the summit :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, Chikka Mudhwadi is "chota pataka" (small firecracker) of a hill for sure. The climb as such is small, but intense. The bushwhacking through intense thickets really was fun and embedded some new skills in us. Let's see how they come in handy in the coming weeks :)
In the past 391 days (55 weeks), we have pulled off 63 treks, ~12,270 kms in total, 13 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Now, let's see, we take this 2026 year seriously and do zero repeat 50+ treks this year. LET'S GO ON THE FLYING NIMBUS \m/
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| Officially in IBR :) |
And guys, one important announcement: "THE LOAPERS" have made it to the INDIAN BOOK OF RECORDS - for maximum treks undertaken - 52 treks in 11 months. We were also featured on India News National Broadcast on Nov 8, 2026. (YouTube Link)
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
Oh yeah, if you want to read about the past 63 treks, here is the link: 63 NON STOP TREKS.
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| Let us go, 4 chapters for 275 ❤️🔥 |
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