The legend says that a man hung himself from the tree, but actually what happened there was more chilling than the cold mist surrounding the hills. Around 7 years back a couple of hikers found a dead rotting body of a man beside the tree. It is believed that the man has been killed at the place probably by someone who had been accompanying him. The empty arrack bottle proved that they have had a drink right before the murder. An unsuspecting victim spending the last moments of his life on top of a silent misty hill… It is there that we planned our small trek while we were staying at Nawalapitiya.
You would arrive at Kolapathana after taking roughly a 20 min drive from the Nawalapitiya Town and the mountain is clearly visible to the road unless it’s covered in the thick mist which is quite common in the area. The hill is easy to identify due to the tall turpentine tree which stands as the only signature landmark. The hill could be covered in just a day’s trip; if you properly make the trek you could even cover more distance and go across the mountain in one day. Our objective was to get to the top of the mountain and back down through the same route. However one could reach the top of the mountain and then start descending from the other side of the mountain as there said to be some interesting fauna in the area.
From the foot of the mountain it is around 2 and half hours walk to the top, but the very steep paths make the trek a challenging one. You could opt to take a longer walking route around the mountain through already built roads or you could take the faster route across the tea plantation which is very steep and challenging. There is no set route to arrive at the top of the mountain. We kept the tree as a guiding beacon and tried to arrive at the place through the best possible route. The tea plantations make it easy for you to get as closer towards the top as possible. But from there it is a lone walk to the top of the hill where there are no proper paths to follow. However make sure to keep a good mental picture of the location of the tree as sudden mists swallow up any visible landmark in the area.
Once you get to the top it is an awesome sight. If the mist has not covered the region you could see the whole of Kolapathana, some parts of Hatton and a vast region from the mountains. Though from distance it seems very flat on the top, the entire area is covered in tall grass which comes up to your waist and it is advised to take a good bush knife to clear out the path.
If you look around a small distance from the tree there is a cross erected where the murder took place, it would be hard to find it unless you are really lucky as the tall grass and have overtaken the whole area.
Make sure to have raincoats, a good supply of water and some bush knives and anti-leech substance if you are planning to travel across the mountain. As it would take a whole day it is advised to take some food as well. According to people there is the occasional leopard or the wild boar, so keep a cautious heads up not to cross paths with these animals. Mobiles have clear signals at the top of the mountain but make sure that they don’t get drenched in the frequent raining.
