Knuckles Sphinx-1 (1400m+)

Year and Month	2018 December 29
Number of Days	One
Crew	3-Eshan, Tharindu and Myself
Accommodation	Eli Hatha Meemure
Transport	By bus, Three wheeler and Hiking
Activities	Hiking, sightseeing and Photography
Weather	Excellent but later it was misty
Route	Colombo -> Hunnasgiriya->Corbett’s gap ->Sphinx-1->Corbett’s gap->Pusse Ela Meemure
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Start the journey early as weather in Knuckles is unpredictable and can be misty at any time. Leech protection methods to be followed. It is a moderate strenuous hike. We took only two hours to reach the peak. There is no clear foot pathway. Follow Goggle map. Need permission from forest department as you are entering to Knuckles forest reserve. Be careful in reaching the edge of Sphinx-1 as it is steep. As it is a narrow summit with less clearance, there is no proper place to camp. Better carry a bottle of water of 1l. As Corbett’s gap is situated at 1127m, attitude gain is about 300m. Credit for drone pictures should go to Tharindu Paththapperuma. Thanks a lot as it added some spicy to this trip. And he will come with a documentary about the journey in future.
Author	Niroshan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Knuckles Sphinx-1 (1400m+)

There are two square shaped rocks situated at Knuckles massif closer to Corbett’s gap named as Sphinx-1 and Sphinx-2 or Kinihirigala-1 (කිනිහිරිගල-1) and Kinihirigala-2. Sphinx-1 is not seen at Corbett’s gap, but can be captured on your way to Corbett’s gap or after passing the gap, as it is situated just behind the gap. Sphinx-2 is situated just beyond the gap. Therefore it can be seen easily from the gap and on your way to Meemure after passing the gap.

Sphinx-1 is marked by a star closer to Corbett’s gap and Sphinx-2 is marked as Kinihirigala No 2 in metric map. Click image to enlarge.

Sphinix-1 / Kinihirigala-1 in Google map. Marked in black star. Please ignore other markings.

Peak of Sphinx-1

Sphinx-1

Sphinx-1, captured on our way to Meemure after passing Corbett’s gap.

Mysterious appearance of Sphinx-1

Closer view

Another view of Sphinx-1

Close up….

Sphinx-1, this was taken on our way to Sphinx-2 via Aliyawetunaela Mountain.

Sphinx-1, this was taken on our way to sphinx-2 via Aliyawetunaela.

What is the mean of Sphinx?
It is a mythological creature with a lion’s body and a human head, an important image in Egyptian and Greek art and legend. Sometimes winged sphinx comes in Greek legends. The earliest and most famous example in art is the Great Sphinx (a pyramid) at Giza at Egypt. This is known to be a portrait statue of the king Khafra.
Asian Sphinx has additional wings to the lion body. (Quoted from https://www.britannica.com)

Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt.

As these two rocks also have similar appearance of sphinx, named as Sphinx in Colonial era when they mapped Knuckles range. (Most probable reason) Seems Sphinx-2 has more sphinx appearance than sphinx-1.

Sphinx-1 can be conquered from Corbett’s gap as it is situated closer to Attalamattuwa/අට්ටාලමට්ටුව (Corbett’s gap). Though it is having a sharpen appearance in front there is a continuation with rest of the range from behind.

We have reached Corbett’s gap in early morning and weather was perfect for a hike. After enjoying the beauty of Knuckles from Corbett’s gap we have entered the forest with aid of Google map. Our plan was to follow the rock in it’s right side and get on to top in it’s behind. Ehsan and Tharindu have joined with me for this journey. It was not difficult at the beginning as there was fainted foot path on right side of the rock. We met a small Dewalaya soon after entrance and didn’t forget to get blessings. Seems this area an abounded Ensal estate and it was proven by an Enasal / Cardamom hut we came across on our way up. It is a cave which has been modernized with brick walls but abounded now.
Later we deviated from foot path and directly hiked towards Sphinx-1 peak. The forest were with Bamboo and Nelu, shaded by large trees. Ultimately we joined with the tail of the rock where short bushes continued till the peak, difficult to hike through it.

Good morning Hunnasgiriya

Morning vibes at Corbett’s gap

Eshan

Tharindu

Dewalaya

Forest, an abounded Ensal estate

Abounded Ensal hut. A cave has been converted to an Ensal hut.

We are at cave.

View of Sphinx -2 from the cave

Now there is no foot pathway.

The area with Bamboo, not a big issue time.

Coming out of the forest and joining with the tail of the mountain.

Towards the peak

View of sphinx-2 on our way up

Thick short bushes with Bamboo is the main problem

Mountainous forest

Another pointed peak is situated between Sphinx-1 and Aliyawetunaela peak

Cloudy forest

Reached the peak of Sphinx-1.

Top of Sphinx-1 has short bushes with multiple view points. We were able to watch one of the peaks of Aliyawetunaela, Thangappuwa side, Sphinx-2, Alugal Lena Kanda, paddies at Karambaketiya, line houses situated just after Corbett’s gap (It’s name must be Bensil park estate), winding road from Loolewatta, Balalgira and Dumbanagala. It is a narrow summit where camping is impossible with less clear area. Flowering bushes with mist gave awesome feeling. We have moved somewhere down towards the drop at front of the rock. There was another part of the main rock to be visible at this place. We had a clear surrounding view through the mist but we were lucky to see all the structures. After spending extra time for drone photography we followed the same route to descend. On our way back we went down along a dry stream to reach the fainted foot path we followed. It was a nice journey.