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| Devarakere Betta Trek |
- Place: Devara kere Betta Trek (Tumkur)
- Difficulty: Easy
- Distance: 60 km x 2 = 120 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Nelamangala > Shivagange > Devarakere.
- Krew: Datta (Dattu), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Chikka Mudhawadi Betta Trek.
- Budget: Rs 157/head (Petrol = 264/2; Breakfast = 50/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Devarakere is an obscure hillock situated right behind Shivagange. An easy off-beat climb leading to a great summit view. The hill has no trails as such, so reading the thickets and rocks is something you must have prior experience with. What really made this trip superb was that we plotted the route and re-traced it back to the bike to the "T".
And this marked 396 days, 64 treks, 13 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 52nd trek in 48 weeks for 2026, with 49 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 last week, having revived the OMR route (Ambaji Durga Trek, Kurbooru Fort Trek, Devarayasamudra Trek, Laxmi Devi Kote Betta), felt really good. Dattu was ready for this week!
Sippy - "Dattu, this week?"
Dattu - "Yes ready. "
Sippy - "Tumkur/Mysore roadside?"
Dattu - "Whichever feels comfortable for you"
Had to remove the dusty diary and check the places; one obscure hill caught my eye - Devarakere Betta :)
TIME: 18:00 (13 Nov, 2026)
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| View of Shivagange during the climb :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Woke up at 03:30, usual. Stretched and banged a few pull-ups to get the blood flowing. Had a sip of coffee and got ready. Went down and was wiping my bike by 04:30; got a text from Dattu: "awake?" I was taken aback; usually I am the one who wakes people up. Called up Dattu and said I'm ready and asked him and Rusty to be ready. Rusty is a cat who lives at Dattu's place :)
Riding to Mahalakshmi Layout via ORR, listening to some smooth doom metal in the dark and cold, reached Dattu's place. Before greeting each other, we searched for Rusty and played with him for some time; the friendliest cat we have met. Dattu then asked, "Hey, are we climbing a hill today?:P". Oh yeah, sent Rusty back and hopped onto the bike and left Bangalore :)
TIME: 05:30
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| View of Shivagange from the other side :) |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Nelamangala > Shivagange > Devarakere)
With the strict NO-Google-Maps rule, we cruised along at a decent pace. Winter had definitely set in, making riding fun but also slightly hard as our fingers went numb. With the dense fog all around, we pulled over near Shivagange and had one idly each. We weren't hungry; we just wanted the sun to rise a little bit, as it would help us navigate and also avoid wildlife, if any, as they are generally very active during dawn/dusk.
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| The breakfast at a random spot :) |
Post-breakfast, as we took the Shivagange road, it was a country road, and the temperatures plummeted further. Slush fields on both sides of the narrow road, a blanket of fog lingering at the top of the crops and the sun rising slowly to light it up- crazy picture, I tell you :)
We were in no hurry; slowly we negotiated this stretch and reached Shivagange. We could see a lot of kids parking their bikes excitedly to ascend Shivagange. We said bye-bye to all and headed towards Deva Kere. Spotting the hill about 3km prior, we took our bikes as close to the hill as possible and parked our bikes near a tree nearby. A local farmer was cycling down the muddy road and saw us with suspicion. I started running up to him; this completely startled him, thinking we were muggers. Then I went up to him and politely asked if this hill housed any animal activity and if it was safe to climb.
The "shock" hit him pretty good; he smiled and said it was safe, but no fixed route as such existed. We were more than happy to carve out our own path. But he was kind enough to point us to a faint trail and asked us to follow it initially. Thanking him, we awoke the "astral goat's" spirit within us and were all set for the climb :)
TIME: 07:00
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| The view from the summit of Devara Kere Betta :) |
DEVARA KERE BETTA TREK
ASCENT:
Well, we ascended the hill in 20 minutes. It should take about 60 minutes if you are not used to trail finding and grinding up incline slopes. So keep one hour as your climbing time, in case you attempt this one!
Like always, I have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
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| The tall grass :) |
Phase 1: To the tall grass fields
The faint trail that the local pointed out was very helpful. We followed it and navigated through thickets without much worry. Then we reached a tall grass section; at certain sections we had to go through it, and in other sections, we could go around it. Then we got a glimpse of the summit. Here we stood and mapped out a path and then resumed.
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| The grinder |
Phase 2: The grinder
Well, this stretch is safe (at least on a dry day) but surely a grinder. Grinder in the sense that it tests your stamina pretty well. Dattu proved he is an endurance monster again on this one; it was hard to keep up with him. He was pacing it as though it was another stroll in the park. The sun was rising strong; the weather was cold, and we were warm from within us. It felt real good.
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| The final push to the summit :) |
Phase 3: Summit Push
This was the easiest of the stretches but required heavy marking. The reason being, we needed re-entry points during the descent. So here we employed one of our techniques - the dirty thoughts method. We attached dirty thoughts/phrases (and said it aloud) to objects we found during a critical shift in trail direction (with pure intention ofcourse). This would help us recall on our way back :)
Pushing through, we made it to the summit; we found a kick-ass incline cliff, and the view from the cliff was absolute GOLD :)
TIME: 07:17
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| View from the ridge at the summit :) |
TOP:
Reaching the top felt good. The cold was still lingering around, but the sun was up. We could see the bottom fields still shrouded in fog. Our skin was feeling both the warmth and the cold at the same time. It was a rave party happening at the boundaries of the skin. We climbed up the incline cliff and decided to rest there. Why? We simply like sitting at the tip of a cliff, overhanging and overlooking the entire landscape. Feels really good :)
We sat on the incline ridge for about 45 minutes, hydrating and speaking about a lot of topics. The array of topics included TV shows, Music, School days, workout plans, K-dramas, etc. The weather and the atmosphere were so peaceful! :)
TIME: 08:15
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| Devara kere finally visible as the fog lifted :) |
DESCENT:
We took about 20 minutes to get back down. The best part of this entire chapter, I would say, the reason being we could retrace our exact footsteps from the summit to the base on an obscure hill. As we began the descent, we could see the Devara kere lake; an hour earlier, it was completely covered in fog. As we entered the tall grass, this was supposed to be tricky, but thankfully, to the dirty things I had said about the boulders nearby, we could navigate it laughing aloud. Looked back and said sorry to the boulders so that it would not feel bad :) Another thing on this trail-less hillocks, we speak out loud and try to recollect the path that really helps! We retraced the exact path and reached the bike.
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: 08:45
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| Dattu is navigating the tall grass :) |
RIDE 2: (Devarakere Betta > Shivagange > Bangalore)
This was a 60 km ride back. Being the 90s kids, we are afraid to return back home early, it is plain embarrassing. We were thrown out to go play in the mud during our childhood; I guess that still lingers within us!
Asked Dattu if he was up for an ice-cold beer. When a happy "yes" came, we started a gruelling search. It was still 08:30 in the morning; finding an open bar was a challenge we happily accepted. And guess what, we rode back almost 60km not to find even one. We have a few standard ones on Mysore Road, etc., but this route was new. Finally reached near Dattu's place and crashed there for about an hour, chilling and then finally reached home :)
TIME: 09:30 (Reaching back Bangalore)
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| L stands for LOAPERS :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, Devarakere Betta was a banger of a climb. Small but intense, it reminded a lot of the Kengal Betta trek. What made this chapter truly special is the way we navigated the trails, stopping, reading and retracing it to perfection. Felt something else :)
In the past 396 days (56 weeks), we have pulled off 64 treks, ~12,400 kms (= Earth's diameter) 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 55+ 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 64 treks, here is the link: 64 NON STOP TREKS.
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| Let us go, 4 chapters for 275 ❤️🔥 |
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