කැටලාගොල්ල කොමලියන් (Cascades of Katalagolla oya)

Year and Month	February, 2017
Number of Days	One
Crew	6 (Niroshan, Chamara, Nuwan, Indranath, Sampath & myself)
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	Pajero, Trishaw & bus
Activities	Trekking, Hiking, photography and Waterfall hunting
Weather	Sunny and clear sky’s
Route	Chilaw -> Katugasthota –> Madawala -> Digana -> Udu dumbara -> Mahawela -> Kivula -> Kadanhena -> A26 -> Returned back on the same route
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Wear flexible attire Strenuous hike which took 6hours (length was 5Km’s + 3km’s along village road) There are two ways of doing this. One could climb along the waterfalls or descend along them. If it rains there are Leeches We didn’t use guides but we used Google satellite views(Pre-loaded) There are about 15 waterfalls (and if you explore more you would come across many more). Carry some food products! Start as early as possible Do not carry Plastic items (Minimize), Make sure you bring back everything you took. Beware of wild animals (Leopards & Elephants) Beware of poachers Try and avoid dehydration by taking Jeewani Best time to visit would be February just after the monsoons. This stream is within the VRR reservoir so need to inform DWC officials and get permission (we did inform a local officer) SPECIAL THANKS TO Niroshan for the photographs
Author	Ashan
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread කැටලාගොල්ල කොමලියන් (Cascades of Katalagolla oya)

Every year February signifies that it’s time to walk along a stream exploring cascades and this journey was not even in my wildest dreams. It was picked up randomly after noting few cascades on Google earth in January while we were hiking Gal padihela. Though we planned to do this hike early morning we had to wait till two friends of niroshan joined us. So when we started from the trail head it was 10am. On our previous visit we did trek along Katalagolla oya upstream where we passed the path towards Belumgala to reach Gal padi hela. And during that journey we came across 4 cascades.

off we go

end of an era

Belumgala seen

Katalagolla 1st cascade

2nd fall

Katalagolla 2nd fall

Katalagolla 3rd fall

top of the 3rd fall

Katalagolla 4th fall

This time we started from the junction where Katalagolla oya and Maha oya meets. The scenery was breathtaking since this was a dry zone forest. We didn’t need to go far to reach the first few cascades of the day. 5^th and 6^th cascades were minor ones but the 7^th was a huge one with a big drop and it reminded me off Menik ganga dunhida falls.

Katalagolla oya and Maha oya meets at this point

along the main river

lovely

the walk begins

turbulent

Katalagolla 5th cascade

Katalagolla 6th cascade

cascading 6th fall

top of 7th

drop

difficult to capture the 7th fall

lower pole

Katalagolla 7th cascade

bye bye

life	slow shutter

From the 7^th we marched towards the 8^th and on our way we came across two sites where poaching had been done. There was a dead Samber and the sight of the decaying body was a sad sight. The 8^th was a magnificent beauty and the base pool on top of it provided some mesmerizing scenery. Getting to the bottom of it took some 4wd trekking but was worth the descent. This was the tallest cascade of the day other than 7^th and 10^th cascades. We did have some snacks at the bottom of it before starting to descend further.

work of poachers

more to go

lovely area

mini group chats

on the edge

top of the 8th

top part of Katalagolla 8th cascade

view towards Yahangala and welangolla pathana

wow

the drop

pool on top of Katalagolla 8th cascade

plunging point

getting down

wide angle

Katalagolla 8th cascade

top part

lower most part

framed

A small walk brought us towards an acute bend where the 9^th fall was cascading and few meters below it the silky 10^th fall could be seen. For us the most beautiful fall was the 10^th one. It was simply a water stream drooling along the rock creating a unique cascade. At bottom it we spent some time engulfing the beauty of this mermaid. From the 10^th fall onwards the village seemed close by but the path wasn’t getting easy as we wished. There were many boulders to tackle and the river banks were steep on both sides. We came across five more cascades before we reached the anicut where water was diverted for the paddyfields of Kivula village.

Katalagolla 9th cascade

9th

side view of Katalagolla 10th cascade

Katalagolla 10th cascade

belumgala seen

wow the mermaid

left part

right part

boulders

Katalagolla 11th cascade

view point

Katalagolla 12th cascade

Katalagolla 13th cascade

13th

Katalagolla 14th cascade

Katalagolla 15th cascade

mushrooms

end point

At this point we had a nice cold bath and started walking along the irrigation canal to meet few villagers who thought that we were reporters. The village people have faced an unfortunate incident recently which was a land slide where few paddyfields were washed away with the irrigation canal and their main water supply line. 70 acres of Paddy was on the verge of destruction and they were so worried about it. Any how they didn’t forget to treat us with a smile and guide us towards Gurulupotha which was a 3km walk.

At A26 we had some thembili and took a bus to reach our halted vehicles to end the adventure of the year and head towards our homes.

(I haven’t added precise information in this report because some places need to be hidden for the betterment of Mother Nature)