Dabbe Falls in Shimoga

Dabbe Falls is one of the famous falls in western Ghats, but not so known to people maybe because it's hard to reach the falls as it's deep in the jungle. The waterfall is about 600 feet high. You can reach the bottom of this falls during summer and is not very deep (almost 4 to 5 feet), but advised not to try this during monsoon.

As of this writing there is a jeep route which will take you all the way to Dabbe Falls near 'Gowdra Mane' (house), our vehicle (TT) could almost reached this place but did not go further because of the muddy track. It can be very challenging to go by your vehicle during monsoon as the jeep route is not made of concert or tar. From this house, it's a dangerous steep (80-85 degree slope) walk for about 30 minutes. Can be challenging for first time trekkers, need a rope if you want to go to the bottom of the falls. There is no way you can see the falls without getting down as it's in the middle of the jungle. The trekking trail is dangerous and slippery and you need to hold branches and roots to get down and climb up.

You need to get forest entry ticket before entering the forest at Shimoga or the local forest department and will cost Rs. 250 for entry and Rs. 50 more for trekking. One copy of your original photo ID card is a must and localities in this region will inform local police or forest dept that you are in that place. Also, you can stay over night at 'Gowdra Maney' in your sleeping bag. You need to make an entry of your name before entering the falls in the above mentioned house.

It was great fun for us and we stayed in our sleeping bag overnight with some night time photography and cooking on our own. Not much of wild animals in this region even though it's in the middle of jungle. Nice place to visit during summer. Check out the video below and don't forget to share.

Overnight stay near Satsar Lake

This was during my Himalayan trekking where I stayed overnight at Satsar Lake which is at 12,000 feet and the temperature was around 5 degree Celsius. The place where we had camped was after the Satsar lake on the way to Gangbal twin lake. One of the most beautiful places on earth and definitely want to visit this place again. Captured this image of night sky and used my sleeping bag as tripod as I did not have one, to avoid camera shake and blurring of image. I believe it was full moon and this is the reason why the nearby hill is bright. It was too cold outside, managed to capture this sitting inside my tent with just my camera and head out. Also, this place is very close to India Pakistan line of control.

Camera and lens: Nikon D600, Nikon 14-24mm lens

Camera Settings: Focal Length 17mm, Exposure 5s, F Number f/2.8, ISO 4000, No Tripod, No Flash

Location: Satsar Lake, Jammu & Kashmir, India

One night beach stay

I'm from Mangalore and I used to stay hardly 300-400 meters from Surathkal beach for 22 years, but did not ever make an attempt to stay over night at beach. But now after 7 years in Bangalore, I went to 2 days weekend trekking from Kumta to Gokarna covering a distance of 30 kms in 2 days by walk and boat.  For the first time I spent whole night at beach with my friends. It was great fun to cook, set up campfire, and fun activities that we had after dinner. It was a total different experience to sleep at seashore in our sleeping bag. We were worried a bit about the waves and in the morning I overheard some of them saying that they could hear crabs passing right next to them. I just had a very good sleep, after walking on the previous day for more than 10-15 kms in the beach.

Camera: Nikon D600, Nikon 14 - 24 mm lens

Location: Sangam Beach near Gokarna, Karnataka, India

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Exploring Deep Sea

Seven miles is a long way down, more than a mile deeper than Mt. Everest is up. To reach the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, James Cameron will descend past some pretty amazing milestones. Here's a glimpse.

Sam Abell - National Geographic Photographer

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Sam Abell has worked with the National Geographic Society since 1970 as a photographer and has photographed more than 20 articles on various cultural and wilderness subjects. He has also lectured on photography and exhibited his images to audiences throughout the world. In 1990, Eastman Kodak published a retrospective monograph of his photographs titled Stay This Moment: The Photographs of Sam Abell. A companion exhibit of his work was shown at New York City's International Center of Photography in November of that year. 

Abell's book credits include Contemplative Gardens, The Inward Garden: Creating a Place of Beauty and Meaning, Australia: Journey Through a Timeless Land, and Seeing Gardens. In 1998 he collaborated with author Stephen Ambrose on Lewis & Clark: Voyage of Discovery and again in 2002 on The Mississippi: River of History. That same year, he worked with author Leah Bendavid-Val to produce a retrospective of his life and work titled Sam Abell: The Photographic Life. Two additional book projects, Four Stories and The Life of a Photographer, are scheduled for publication in October 2007 and October 2008, respectively.

Check out National Geographic photographer Sam Abell talk about his career, what inspires and influences his work, and his most memorable adventures.

Kodachadri Trekking

I had been to Kodachadri with my friends on a team outing when I worked for IBM. We reached Kollur late in the evening and spend overnight at one of the hotels in Kollur City. We started our day by visiting Sri Mookambika Temple of Kollur. Kodachadri lies in the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary at Kollur in Karnataka, India. The mountain is 1343m tall and is the highest peak in the Shimoga district of Karnataka. Arashinagundi falls and Hidlumane falls are two famous waterfalls inside the forests of Kodachadri valley. The highest point among these hills offers a majestic view of sunset. During sunset the Arabian sea can be viewed from the sunset point. There is also a sunrise point from where a breathtaking view of rising sun is made possible. The Lingamakki reservoir is also visible from the peak.

There is a temple dedicated to Sri Mokkambika Devi at the top. Chitramoola is another beautiful location which according to the legend was the place where Shankaracharya met Mookambika Devi. Ganapathi Cave is another attraction near the Peak. Kodachadri is a trekkers paradise with adventurous trekking routes through the waterfalls to the peak. Well, if you are lazy to go all the way for trekking then you can go by local jeep though some other route. I would suggest every one to take routes through the waterfalls to the peak. It’s a must visit place. Leave a comment and do share this post if you are planning to visit or have already traveled to Kodachadri.