Chasing Sunrise Over the Knuckles Range

January 15, 2024

The chill hit us the moment we stepped out of the van: crisp, pine-scented air, and the outline of jagged peaks barely visible in the dark. Our guide had timed the climb precisely: two hours up a winding trail through cloud forest, so we’d reach the ridge just as the sky started to lighten. The Knuckles Range, named for the way its peaks fold like a closed fist, is one of the last places in Sri Lanka where you can walk for hours and see no one else at all. Halfway up, the forest opened into rolling grassland, wet with dew and dotted with wild rhododendron. By the time we reached the summit, the valley below was a sea of mist, and the first orange light was creeping over the horizon. Nobody spoke for a good ten minutes. It’s the kind of view that makes the 4 a.m. wake-up call feel like nothing at all. We descended slowly, stopping at a village teahouse for plain tea and warm roti, trading stories with the guide about leopards he’d spotted on night patrols years before. If you only have time for one sunrise hike in Sri Lanka, make it this one.