| Year and Month | August, 2016 |
| Number of Days | One |
| Crew | Chamara & My self |
| Accommodation | N/A |
| Transport | Pajero |
| Activities | Archeology, trekking, Hiking, Photography |
| Weather | Mixed weather |
| Route | Chilaw -> Wariyapola -> Mahakeliya -> Nathagane -> returned via the same route |
| Tips, Notes and Special remark |
|
| Author | Ashan |
| Comments | Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread |
During the dry month of August I wanted to explore Nathagane complex which was always tempting me while I was passing by Kurunegala. There is a very famous monastery at the base of the hill and myself and Chamara decided to give it a try via the monastery. We reached the monastery at around 9am where we started hiking along the paved foot path until we reached the Kuti area and at last we reached the image house and Bo tree. Close to the Bo tree there was a foot path which we decided to follow.
 The map – click to enlarge |
 as seen from Yakdessagala |
 Nathagane |
 Road towards the monastery |
 for meditation purpose |
 caved image house |
 ultimate goal of the day |
 another cave |
 along a forest foot path |
Though we had heard that there is a foot path we didn’t expect to find none and from the beginning onwards we had to tackle the dry zone forest to search our way uphill. The Nathagane sthupa was seen on our way up and we were wondering how to get to that point without the foot path. At one point we reached an area with two ponds and we decided to rest a bit since our destination was way behind us.
 first view point with water too |
 towards yakdessagala |
 the forest patch on the top |
 view trough the branches |
A small hike from this point bought us towards the summit ridge of the mountain range where a foot path also could be seen. We did explore the summit range until we came across a lovely resting spot with a huge spacious cave. Close to the cave there was a superb vantage point where we could appreciate Wariyapola, Panduwasnuwara,Yakdessagala,Kurunegala and beyond. (Refer the images for landmarks).
 huge boulders |
 best place to spend the night |
 spacious cave at the view point |
 highest point covered with trees |
 lovely views |
 wellagala and deduru oya reservoir |
 the edge with the pagoda |
 paddy |
 lonely tree |
 dusty feet having a break |
 towards panduwasnuwara side note the medagama kanda range |
 more to go |
a pano
 next target |
 standing tall |
 the scenery |
 on the edge |
 the lake and its paddy fields |
 more scenery |
 unknown |
 capturing |
 slpoed |
 Kurunegala and athugala |
 Andagala |
 view |
 a window |
 through the branches |
After hanging around for half an hour we started trekking towards the metal sheet sthupa. To get to the sthupa we had to take a detour around a huge boulder towards the right hand side. Once we reached the sthupa it started to rain and we seeked shelter in it. After the rain passed by we did snap around for 30 minutes before we started to descend.
 towards the pagoda |
 searching for a way to reach the pagoda |
 inside the pagoda |
 pagoda |
 view of Nathagane range from the pagoda |
 lovely |
 . |
 yakdessagala |
 wellagala & deduru oya |
 drop |
 andagala |
 towards kurunegala |
 the drop |
 . |
 vantage point was on those center rocks |
 pride |
 team selfie |
 Nathagane range from the road |
We descended to a paddy field which was 1Km away from the monastery so we had to walk along the main road to reach the vehicle and depart o our homes. Hope you enjoyed our one day hike to Nathagane.