Kirigalpoththa Hike on 1st of January 2011

Kirigalpoththa is the second highest mountain in Sri Lanka at 2,388 m (7,835 ft) above mean sea level. Its situated in the South Eastern side of Horton Plains. The hiking trail to the summit is 7km in length and its one of the best nature trails in the Horton Plains. The trail is not too hard but its not too easy too.

Date : 1 January 2011
Crew : 7
Transport : Public Transport (Train)
Activities : Hiking, Photography
Weather : Overcast and Misty

Route : Colombo -> Ohiya-> Horton Plains-> Kirigalpoththa-> Pattipola-> Colombo 

We were planning to do this trail for some time but we had to postpone it several times because of the continuous rain. Finally we thought of doing this on 1st of January as it’s a nice way to start the New Year. We took the Podi Menike night mail train from Colombo Fort on 31st night and reached Ohiya on the following morning. We started our hike from Ohiya at 6.30 am. And soon we witnessed some breathtaking views when the sun light came though the forests as beams. It’s really difficult to describe the beauty of these scenes. 

We walked 11 kms and reached the visitors center around 10.30 am. We could reach the Thotupola peak from the distance. Although we climbed this mountain in November we couldn't see it clearly on that day because of the heavy mist. After some rest and a hot coffee we started the Kirigalpoththa trail around 11 am.

We had a print out of the Lakdasun trail guide to make sure that we are on the right trail. After walking though the valley we reached the first landmark which was a small stream which is the first segment of Belihul-Oya. Then the trail continued through forest patches and open areas. There were lot of muddy areas that we had to tackle and it was quite a tough and funny task. If you do this trail better to find a stick as it'll be very useful when going though the muddy areas. After some time the trail become to ascend and its getting tougher for the body. We had to take breaks from time to time and suddenly out of nowhere we could see the peak of Kirigalpoththa through the mist. It was a rewarding view. Then we reached the point where we can get a good view of the surrounding area but due to heavy mist we couldn't see anything.

From here the path is a bit adventurous as we have to climb through a narrow path and there were huge slopes on both sides. Luckily for us there were no heavy winds at this point. Heavy winds would have made this extremely dangerous.  Also there was heavy mist so we couldn't see the bottom of these slopes which made it less scary. Then we reached the summit and we had our lunch there. After taking some rest we started heading back. At this point my left leg began to give pain when I'm trying to bend it. After that it was an extremely tough journey for me to climb down with that leg. :(:( 

However I managed to come back in one piece. :) We came to the visitors’ center at around 4pm. And we hired a van from there to Pattipola station and took the night mail train back to Colombo.

-The End-