Wadina hela ( වඳින හෙල ) the Mirage 560m

The map click to enlarge

Map no 2

A mid-week holiday tempted me to explore somewhere close to Monaragala and Wadina hela of Wellawaya which was on top of my list was my target. Within a day I found two colleagues working in the same province willing to join me on this venture but we couldn’t find a guide in time. So we decided to get to the village and find someone on the next day. This peak is one of those prominent peaks marked on each road map and it has a superb 360 view. The best thing is this 560m mountain gives one of the best views towards the south and south east slopes of the central hills. Three of us met up at Wellawaya (bit late than we expected) and took off towards Buduruwagala junction. We took the road towards the left just before the said junction and in no time we were traveling around the mountain searching for a suitable place to climb up, finally we arrived at a small tea shop where we found Morgan & Sudda who were willing to show us the way. After parking our vehicle at Ravi’s relatives place we started climbing uphill through the dried out bushes. Unfortunately the 5L water can which Sudda was carrying slipped and fell for our disappointment. The dried out leaves which were fallen and the dried bushes with thorns wasn’t comforting at all. At one point we reached a rock slope which we had to be tackle with caution because a small slip would have sent us back to ground zero in no time. After 1 and a half hour climb with many breaks in-between we reached a flat area which was the southern end of the mountain. The heat was too much that one of our guys had a fainting attack too. Since we had done the hardest part of the climb the rest was going to be relatively easier. The miniature ascends and the forest cover on the range was helpful for our tired soles. Finally we noted the summit point and redirected our path towards it and after 3hours of climbing the peak was conquered.

Wadina hela as seen from Wellawaya

the summit point

hay guys where are you guys going?

carrying the can which we never cherished

slippery dried out rocks

first view point

may be a dehydrated mushroom

try walking on this

Hadapanagala perfectly framed

getting steep

most wanted forest cover

another view point

one out of many breaks

its close now

A rest was a must but only two trees were there for shelter. The last bit of water was shared among our group and we were left with no more water until we reached ground zero. The 360 degree view was the reward after a hectic climb and every bit of sweat we shed was worth it. Let me try to recap what I spotted. Starting from west and going clock wise these were the landmarks. Hambegamuwa and Bintenna(lower koslanda) areas, Far away Havagala, Gommolliya range, Horton plains , Buduruwagala lake close by, kirindi oya, A2 high way, Nayabedda range with st catherines towers, Poonagala range, Ella rock, Wellawaya town, Balleketuwa mountains, Namunukula peak, Yudaganawa lake, Ambakola wewa, Far away Buttala paddy fields,A4 highway,  Menik river, Buttala mountains with Budugallena peak, Maragalakanda, Pelwatta sugar cultivations, Gonagan ara, Yala park, Wedihiti kanda, Weheragala reservoir, Lunugam wehera reservoir, Hadapanagala lake close by with ulkanda, Thanamalwila side, Balaharuwa lake and etc

the summit of wadina hela

lot of space to walk around

searching for water

towards Pelwatta side

towards wellawaya and poonagala mountain

the dark green line resembles Maha ara which is the feeder of hadapanagala lake

pano towards Pelwatta, buttala and weheragala

pano towards namunukula, poonagala, wellawaya & koslanda

note kirindi oya as a dark green line

chena and thek plantations separated by Maha ara

Maragalakanda seen far away

Namunukula seen peeping behind balleketuwa range

dark green line is kirindi oya and the lake is Buduruwagala tank

lush green wellawaya

beauty

paddy fields of wellawaya

Poonagala range in front and nayabedda st catherines at the backdrop

uma oya project site and square shaped ella rock

in green is the chena cultivated on the mountain range

dried out summit

the greener side

Hambegamuwa is beyond these mountains of bintenna

non stop clicking

beautiful isnt it

towards Balaharuwa Ethiliwewa

the drop

tank of hadapanagala

Weheragala on the left and lunugam wehera on the right coul be faintly seen

kataragama wedihiti kanda seen faintly

southern boader of central hills could be appreciated easily

the prominent peak is Budugallena

yala seen far away

we climbed from this side

time to go back

After enjoying the panoramic view we started descending along a giant stream. This stream area provides plenty of camping space under the forest cover (ideal to camp after monsoons). Climbing down a stream was not easy because we had to crawl along rocks. The thirst was our main drive and we kept going down with hope of seen a well filled with water but it seemed like a never ending dream. Somehow we reached the last few rocky plates which were heated up as hot saucepans and the dried out mana was also unforgiving. Somehow we reached the road to note that we had arrived 3Km away from the place where we parked our vehicle. First thing we did is find some drinking water from a nearby house and after gulping down galloons we decided to stretch ourselves on a road side bench before getting a trishaw towards our vehicle and depart towards kirindi oya to have a wash. After washing away the dust we headed towards wellawaya and ended our life time adventure of dehydration and said good bye to each other.

steep descent

endless descent

where to?

finally ground zero

Thanks for reading!