Keppitigala hike (850m)

Year and Month	March, 2016
Number of Days	One
Crew	3 (Myself, Chamara & Anupama)
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	Pajero
Activities	Hiking, Photography & scenery
Weather	Hazy
Route	Mallawapitiya -> Ridigama -> Rambadagalla -> Keppitigala -> Ankumbura -> Meezan Ancoombra estate -> Returned back on the same route
Tips, Notes and Special remark	It’s better if you can carry a stock of water (1L per person) and food products. Better to use Google maps satellite view to reach the two peaks There are two prominent peaks called Maha gala & Kuda gala Do not carry Plastic items (Minimize), Make sure you bring back everything you took. It’s a typical 4wd route through winding roads from the tea factory which is shown on map No need of a guide. To reach Maha gala you may need to traverse through a covered path of mana Locals don’t call this Keppitigala, if you ask about Keppitigala you would be directed to the small town at the base of the mountain
Author	Ashan
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After tackling Handurukanda in the morning we wanted to explore something new. The best thing is I selected this location with the help of Google earth and it did pay off as predicted. After having lunch at Ridigama we took the B264 route which was been carpeted and reached Ankumbura. The mountain which we were planning to climb was clearly visible from this road. From Keppitigala town we had to climb uphill through winding roads with fantastic scenery and the road was bordering the base of this mountain.

The map – click to enlarge

Google map – click to enlarge

Keppetigala as seen from Ridigama rd

Keppetigala

Scenic road to keppetigala under construction

maha gala and kuda gala

Just before Ankumbura we took the road leading to the factory (Meezan group). After passing the tea factory we took an uphill road towards the left and reached the end of it where we parked and started hiking towards Mahagala through the tea patch. After passing the tea patch it was a difficult path through the tall mana but somehow we got to the rocky edge. The edge provided similar scenery just as Alagalla. We saw plenty of paddy fields bordered by Bisogala mountain range. On the opposite side overlooking the tea estate, peaks of Mathale could also be seen. This mountain is actually the border between Mathale & Kurunegala districts. Two of my favourite mountains which are Etipola and Wiltshire were seen close by. Few peaks of Knuckles were also appreciated. After hanging around we decided to get back and on the way we lost our way and had a very hard time traversing the mana bushes.

on the way to maha gala

Ambokka seen

Etipola and wiltshire

Dolukanda seen

reverston and opalgala mountains

kuda gala as seen from maha gala

towards Gombaniya

an angle

a clearing

alagalla seen far away

ambokka

handurukkanda seen far away

Katugasthota side

just like on alagalla

the peak

wow

a pano

Rambodagalla area

handurukanda

Bisogala and rambodagalla proposed reserve

the road we took

lovely

hunnasgiri peak

scenery

kuda gala

Etipola and wiltshire

returning back

towards kuda gala

After reaching the estate we hiked about 500m’s along the tea estate until we reached Kuda gala which was one flat rock with an acute drop providing a feeling like been at a worlds end. We did enjoy the stay at this point more than Mahagala. It was almost 5pm so we headed back to our vehicle to call it a successful day of hiking before reaching our homes.