Once again, Christmas has come around, and with it the annual outing to Lugnaquilla. But this year, there were two differences.
Every other year, the walk started in the Glen of Imaal at Fenton’s Pub, which is an institution in itself. From that direction, the walk would go up over Camara Hill, up over the Rock Garden, and on to the summit. This year, we chose to from the other side near Glenmalure. This is a starting point for walkers and hunters to go up through the forestry and on to the mountains.
The other big difference this year was the weather. In the past, there has been rain, and freezing conditions, this year it looked like things would be pleasant.
We were without Joff, who is nursing an injury at the moment, so my sister Moira and I headed out together, planning to meet Joff later. We went up from Ballinafunshoge, through the forestry. Part of the route is actually a boardwalk. Even with metal staples in the wood, it was still slippery, and needed care. Once out of the forestry, we were into open mountainside. The ground is boggy, a feature that goes with the gradual slope. The Irish mountains can defy gravity in relation to water. But we made our way, sometimes going around the peat hags, sometimes going over the larger peat expanses.
Eventually, though, as we reached higher ground, the boggy nature of the ground fades away, and we were onto the summit trail. The surface soil is thinner, with the rocks never far below the grass, and water runs off. The trail was evident and brought us up onto the summit ridge. At the point where we came to the summit ridge, there was an ambiguous notice to tell us that the way was prohibited by the landowner.
The sign goes back to an incident during the summer where a local landowner was assaulted. The landowner had previously allowed hikers access to the mountains on a designated route across his land. The proviso was that dogs were not allowed, which is reasonable in an area where sheep farming is significant. After the assault, the landowner barred hikers on that route. However, the sign was facing in the wrong direction. The sign also made the claim that the route was under CCTV surveillance, which cannot be true on an open Irish mountainside.
We went on, up to the summit. There, we paused, and I took some photos. And after that, we went back down, following the route we had come up. Going downwards, the route is easier to follow. We lost it occasionally, but quickly found it again. This continued until we came near the forestry again, at which point we lost the route completely.
Coming from the forestry onto the mountainside is easy but finding that entry and exit point when you have lost the route is not so easy. But we found it eventually, and went back down the boardwalk to our starting point. And after that, we both went on to Laragh, where we met with Joff, and had a good discussion about past and future walking projects.
And so, Lugnaquilla has been conquered for another year.
Walkingman 