Archive for the ‘Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak)’ Category
Moonlight on The Peak
Moonlight on the eastern face of Sri Pada
As is inevitable for so many of us I’ve found that parenthood is a wonderful but rather taxing period of life that has had a significant impact on my creative instincts and need to be in the wilderness. Now that our son Lenny is becoming more independent there have been new possibilities to combine family getaways and passion pursuits in the hills. In January we returned to the Fishing Hut with several friends and enjoyed two nights and three days in the shadow of Sri Pada. On the first night the full moon of the Poya illuminated the peak in dreamlike hues. The lights of the temple and pathway lit up a crown of mist that hovered over the summit. The next day, our group ascended the scared pinnacle along the Peak Wilderness forest path. In contrast to the first day’s cloudless skies we walked through mist and intermittent showers. Lenny was a champion hiker and made it to the summit temple with few complaints and a resilience that surprised me. If I’m correct he is one of the youngest OSC students to make the pilgrimage on his own steam.
Sri Pada with the Class of 2011 Environmental Systems & Societies Class
Sri Pada's eastern face set amidst the sub-montane forest of Peak Wilderness.
Every winter just before the first school semester draws to a close I have the privilege of taking my grade 11 IB Environmental Systems & Societies class for a three-day field trip to the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands. The aim of the trip is to expose students to natural as well as human-impacted ecosystems in the Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) area. Much time is spent getting there and back but it remains a key learning experience for our students. We spend most of our time looking at issues of vertical zonation in sub-montane and montane (cloud) forest. We mapped our track and are now working on a GIS generated map of the area’s vegetation (along with contour lines etc.). I have the students focus on plants but we also take note of birds, reptiles and amphibians that we come across. The trip is designed for exposure rather than hard data gathering (something that they will do in Sinharaja in May). As usual we stayed at the Maskeliya Estate Fishing Hut bungalow. It offers few creature comforts but is an ideal site for a field study and is set on the boundary between the vast tea estate and undisturbed montane forest.
This year I took eleven enthusiastic students, many who had been in my grade 10 Geography class which did a field trip to Horton Plains National Park. Of the three Sri Lankan students none had been to this sacred mountain before! Our second day was spent climbing up slowly through the montane and then cloud forest to the summit of Sri Pada (2,243 m). I had a unique and unusual experience of meeting a Buddhist monk from Chittagong (Bangladesh) on the way up. We enjoyed a lengthy discussion in Bangla as we completed the last steps and arrived at the temple mid day! These pictures (all digital) were taken on the trip.
Actinodaphane speciosa ('elephant ear) on the trail to Sri Pada
Sub-montane forest near the Fishing Hut (@1400 meters)
With the class above Maskeliya . Kirigalpotha, Sri Lanka's 2nd highest peak located in Horton Plains National Park is the pyramid on the distant horizon.
Maskeliya Lake looking east towards Horton Plains National Park. The waterfalls is "Adam's Peak Falls" although it does not actually originate on the peak!
Poya In the Shadow of the Peak
Poya In the Shadow of the Peak
Clearing mist on the east face of Sri Pada
When I first arrived in Sri Lanka I had a chance to meet Dominic and Nazreen Sansoni at the Barefoot Gallery. Dominic has taken some of the defining images of Sri Pada from the air and on the ground. Hearing about my interests in sacred mountains and tropical forests in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka they suggested that I visit a place known as the Fishing Hut in order to best appreciate Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). It took a few years and some exploring to figure out the logistics but now I’ve been there three times and am looking forward to further visits.
In March I organized a trip to take our family and two others to the Central Highlands to enjoy three days in the shadow of Sri Pada. The visit offered marvelous views of the peak bathed in sunlight, clearing mist and the glow of the full moon. Bird and wildlife sightings were limited although a group of Sri Lanka Blue Magpies (Urocissa ornata) flew through the forest by the huts. All the usual endemics (Dull Blue Flycatcher, Yellow Eared Bulbul, Sri Lanka White Eye etc.) were encountered on the summit.
Our kids playing below the Fishing Hut, overshadowed by Sri Pada.
Raina and the other two women in our group climbed Sir Pada on the second day while we men watched over the kids. I went up with Jan, one of the fathers, on the second day. Punchirala, the multi-talented caretaker of the hut, guided us on the path even though I felt confident about from the December trip. The views of the peak and forest on the way up were stunning. The night before had been a poya and was very crowded with pilgrims but by the time we got to the temple it was pleasantly deserted. The priests and guards, now familiar with my frequent visits and tripod antics, offered us tea and hospitality. The path to Sri Pada from the Fishing Hut is certainly the most enjoyable route with respect to natural history. It is also a far gentler incline since it starts relatively high up (about 1,300meters).
Clearing amongst cloud forest in Peak Wilderness on the way up from the Fishing Hut to the summit of Sri Pada .
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