Conquering The Beast- Kiribathgala (948m)

I was soo into climbing Kiribathgala that I could not wait till the optimum weather to try to do it….

The best season to climb Kiribathgala is in the month of February… Usually villagers reserve February 4th to climb this mountain… And one can get the added advantage of proper footpath during February,(but still needed a local person) But I could not wait and decided to do it in month of October and waited till the morning showers were over. We were hoping to climb down before the evening showers….

Previous day was shiny and rain free which made me believe it will be an easy task to climb it…. But with the faces of the villagers at the start of the hike we knew that this would be a hell of a day….It needed at least 1-2 weeks of sun shine to dry up the mountain due to forest cover…

To get back to the main topic…there are 3 paths to climb Kiribathgala

1. From Palamadulla(Lellopititya), Pathakada passing Pulun Falls- Distance is great but difficulty level is less
2. From Gamekanda via Uda-erabadda, Dela from Thiriwanaketiya Agalawatta road- Distance and difficulty level-moderate
3. From Wanniyawatta via Watapotha-Nivithigala or from Pelmadulla-distance is very less and difficulty level-extreme (bit exaggerated…)

We choose the 3rd route which has the least distance but has the Greatest of difficulty out of three paths….

Initial path lies through small tea plantation. But after 100metres of tea we entered the forest. From there onwards, its steep climb until we met the massive rock of Kiribathgala. It took us more than 1 and half hours to reach there…

Kiribathgala range as seen from Colombo-Badhulla highway close to Lellopitya covered in mist

Kiribathgala range as seen from Wanniyawatta @ start of the hike… The great rock is the one I mentioned earlier…

Kiribathgala range as seen from Doloswala kanda in Nivithigala

The Tea patch at the initial stage…

Tough climbing till the great rock….

Seasonal fall we met along the way. if it was proper fall would have stand @ 50m in height with three sections…

Our team consisted of 3 ladies and 2 gents with me and our fellow villager. But as the hike proceeded we all understood that this is not a hike for ladies sparing in the month of February. But all the ladies climbed up to the great rock not wanting to give up. But then came the “Tarzan” part. We realized that to get to the top we had to use the “wal” as ropes and climb up at a degree more than 70-80.On top of that the floor was still slippery. We had to leave the ladies with one of my colleague in a small cave we met on the way and I started to climb up with the villager. It was extremely challenging.

More than 70 degree angle…

Had to use the roots along the edge of the rock….pure nightmare….

Within 45 minutes we were able to reach the top of Kiribathgala. First we were met with bamboo forest. Due to very few of visitors except Wallapatta hunters there was no footpath at all.

Along Bamboo forest

No footpath at all…

There are plenty of observation points at top of Kiribathgala…. Actually if one walk from one end to the other end it would measure at 2 kms which is mostly flat surface.

There is cave on top of the mountain if one is planning to spend the night or can put up a tent. Sorry as I don’t have snaps of the cave. There is a stream with bathing spots on the top. So no worries even in dry February as These streams feed Pulun Falls of Pathakada and Hal Falls in Haldola throughout the year.

Can you appreciate the Sheer drop….

What a view….

Towards Ratnapura….

Towards Kalawana…Doloswalakanda range with Walankanda mountain range at distance

Lonely tree….Towards Kahawatta……

Mist is setting in….

Aftermath of the hike…..

We climbed down n slight drizzle and finished the hike in 6 hours….

Thank you for reading…..