Yet another absolutely stunning walk on Donegal’s North Coast with the Bluestack Ramblers. This time on Horn Head with amazing cliff views seen from multiple angles and a trip out to the tip of the horns before heading inland to the “helicopter landing pad” (Duncap Isle) and a stiff climb back up to the highest point of Croaghnamaddy (252m) ⛰️👣
9.5km and an accumulated elevation of 734m with all the ups and downs typical of a coastal walk
What a day! A hard earned 11km climbing Dooish (651m) via Maumlack (480m) and returning via Dooish SW Top/Edenadooish (528m). We had every weather today with heavy rain showers and hail that turned to snow leaving Maumlack. Lots of sunshine between the occasional shower before more heavy rain and hail to finish.
Heavy snow leaving MaumlackLooking ahead to snow capped Dooish Errigal and Mackoght from Dooish Summit Errigal and Mackoght on the left, Aghla More on the right. From Dooish Summit. A cross in the Dooish Summit Cairn
Dooish is an Arderin and Dooish SW Top is an Arderin Beg. I’ve climbed both before but not from this side and Maumlack was a new summit for me.
Brilliant walk up on the Knockalla ridge in North Donegal. Brilliant day and one of the most enjoyable hillwalks I’ve had for a while. Great views in all directions out over Mulroy Bay, Lough Swilly and along the coast to Horn Head, Fanad and even North East to Malin Head.
A place I’ll definitely be returning to and having identified a couple of possible camping spots I might even get up here with a tent.
I forgot to start my watch until I was almost 2hrs in so I’ve no real idea of the distance.
Edited 03.03.25 22:45
One of the other group members was tracking the walk and shared his gpx file with me. Turned out to be 9.7km with lots of up and down 🙂
A trip to visit the two summits on Slieve Gallion in September. A repeat of a walk from 15 years ago but this time visiting both tops.
Starting from the car park at Inishcarn Forest I followed the track through the deciduous woods, back into the conifers and eventually out on to the open mountain. Two tops with a trig pillar on the main Slieve Gallion summit before following tracks and lanes back to the car park.
Back in August I went for a hike under and over Binevenagh, the most Northerly summit of the Sperrin Mountains. I managed to lose my way in the trees, follow a track that didn’t go where I expected, logged a geocache and tapped a trig. It was a mixed up day that I mostly enjoyed and the video is now live on YouTube 👣⛰️🎥
Friday evening was spent meeting Martin and a few others from the Galtee Walking Club I’d met before. We went for something to eat in a pub up the street having missed the cutoff in the South Pole. Long story but it was Martin’s fault 😉
Turned out well anyway as I had one of the best fish and chips I’ve had for a long time as well as a lovely pint of local golden ale Béal Bán
Friday night we spent in the car park at the starting point of the challenge hike. It’s the first time I slept in Catriona’s car and it was surprisingly roomy and comfortable. Only problem is dawn comes early just after 4am and there’s no escaping it in a car.
Our plan was to skip the bus transfer from Annascaul and start at 6am and be approx 1hr ahead of the crowds. Also giving us an extra hour on the cutoff, just in case…
Wakening up it was obvious that the weather forecast was accurate. Low cloud was hanging over the tops and partway down into the valleys. We still had a great view out to sea but only had partial views of what I think was Great Blasket Island.
Starting from the car park we followed a rough track before turning off onto the grassy and sometimes rocky path that heads straight up to the summit of Mount Brandon. At 952m Brandon is the 3rd highest mountain in Ireland. It’s named after St. Brendan and on the summit there is a stone building (Sáipéilín Bréanainn) believed to have been used by him. The route we followed to the summit is part of a Pilgrimage Route (Cosán na Naomh – The Saint’s Road) and is clearly marked by small white posts and large metal crosses marked with numbers that I think denoted stations of the cross.
The weather forecast was for low cloud which was correct. It also predicted pretty windy conditions on the tops (30km/h or 19mph) and light rain for most of the day with more prolonged rain for the late afternoon. Well it was worse than that. We were getting rain spots from the car park and at 1km in the rain coat came out and stayed on for the rest of the day. After a further 0.5km we crossed 400m and into the clouds and the rain started properly. We weren’t to escape the clouds for the rest of the hike.
As you can see the first 4km is pretty full on. From the car park at 170m you climb almost 800m to the summit of Mount Brandon at 952m. This was the part of the hike that I was most concerned about. My fitness is far off what I would have liked for this event, I’m carrying about 13kg in excess weight and I had Covid about 4 weeks ago that left me breathless up until about a week ago. Climbing Brandon definitely challenged me, I struggled with my breathing but kept it steady and managed to keep my heart rate relatively steady without red-lining.
The last couple of hundred metres to the summit was pretty rough. The rain was pretty constant and by now the wind had really picked up driving the rain hard. The rain stopped briefly just before the summit but the wind was very strong and it definitely wasn’t a place to hang around. We got some shelter in the lee of the summit cross before a couple of summit photos, a very quick chat with a couple of other early starters and headed on. It was shocking how cold it was in that wind and my hands were painful as we headed off along the ridge.
i think that’s sáipéilín bréanainn behind the trig but it wasn’t a day for sightseeing!
Leaving the summit we had a long and soggy drop down that was a relief for the legs before picking up a track. Cloud cover reduced visibility to 30-50m and the wind was blowing very strong, once again driving the rain into us. At times I could see Martin ahead of me walking at an angle as he leaned into the wind to stay upright
This was a lonely section with no possibility to talk, no views and just your own voice in your head. On days like this it’s hard to stay positive.
come for the views they said!
In a brief stop Martin warned me that we were approaching the ridge proper. This is a section called An Géarán and is a rocky, sharp and exposed ridge. Apparently the views down into both valleys are amazing but not today!
Crossing the ridge there was a real sense of a steep drop to both sides even with the thick cloud cover. Thankfully we were able to cross on the leeward side and stayed out of the wind. I’m not sure we would have been able to cross safely otherwise.
look at those contour lines!
On the approach to Brandon summit and heading across this ridge there was the very real feeling that there were a world of fantastic views that were hidden by the clouds. For this reason alone I’m very sure I’ll be back to walk this route again.
Leaving An Géarán we steadily dropped elevation along a fenceline and across boggy terrain that was oozing water everywhere. There were a number of tricky areas that were very boggy and verging on small streams that required a bit of thought. However, as we dropped down here the rain and wind eased a bit and we were finally able to have a proper conversation for the first time in over an hour.
I think it was around here (possibly earlier?) that Martin first mentioned the possibility of finishing early at the halfway point on The Connor Pass. I was glad to hear him voice what I’d been thinking in my head already. What was always going to be a tough walk was becoming even more difficult due to the weather. Although we were in a sheltered area now we would soon be a lot more exposed again as we climbed higher. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be finishing today.
Coming down the fenceline we came to a junction and crossed over. The little marker flags that had marked the way were gone and we soon realised we had lost the proper route. It just shows you how easily it is to get off track in poor visibility as Martin has walked this exact route 4 times before! A few others had made the same error as ourselves and within 5min we realised what we had done wrong and how to swing around back to where we needed to be. You can see clearly on the two maps below where we went wrong.
official route my recorded track
Having gained some height on this loop around the 623m point we dropped back again and reached the unmanned water station at Mullaghveal and 10.5km where we filled both ourselves and our bottles for the next big push.
Along the route so far I’d found it difficult to get food into me. The rain and wind just made it too much work but I took the opportunity here to scoff two bars.
Shortly after leaving Mullaghveal the climbing starts again. Martin told me that this is the last big climb before Connor Pass but that it was a long one. Later we were informed that the summit is called Ballysitteragh but is known on this route as Bally-fucking-sitteragh. It is well named!
I really struggled on this climb. It goes from 400m to 620m in just over 1km and the terrain is pretty boggy and rough. My brain was tired, I was soaked from the waist down and my legs were feeling it by now. However, I really struggled with my breathing. I was very breathless and struggled to get a proper breath at times. I have to say mentally I gave up too!
With many stops I eventually reached the top but once again we couldn’t hang around. We were back in the rain and the wind was really strong again. We pushed on towards Connor Pass for 4km gradually descending but getting absolutely battered by the wind. This was definitely the worst weather I’d ever been out in and the fun was definitely gone today.
Connor Pass came on me unexpectedly at the end. I was expecting a significant drop into a lower altitude level but didn’t realise that the pass sits quite high at 410m. Because I wasn’t expecting it so suddenly the final km to the pass seemed to be never ending but the car park and checkpoint appeared magically out of the clouds.
I have to give a huge amount of credit to the volunteers at this checkpoint. They were waiting here with fruit, cake and water with a smile for everyone, full of positivity in terrible conditions. They were getting battered by the same wind and rain that we had been getting on the hike.
Martin spoke to some of the ladies and we were soon hooked up with a guy (Seamus I think?) that was taking people back to town in his car. We felt pretty shit about having to cut it short, despite knowing it was the sensible thing to do but our guy soon made us feel better when he told us a number of people turned back at the summit of Brandon and quite a lot more came off at the 10km water station. They were expecting a high drop out rate at Connor Pass so he was expecting to be kept busy all day.
We seemed to be taking a long time to get to Annascaul when I suddenly realised that he was taking us to the car park at the very start of the walk! I was really pleased and Seamus really went out of his way to look after us so well. I was expecting to have to get a taxi from Annascaul!
Once back at the cars we wasted no time getting changed into dry clothes and getting some much needed food down our necks. There is a free BBQ in the evening after the walk but we were at least 5-6hrs too early. After a good chat we decided not to wait around and to head for home. Another 7hrs and 480km in the car for me but I felt it was worth it to get back home and sleep in my own bed that night….
Overall I enjoyed my trip to Kerry but I really did feel that it could have been so much more. On the drive home I made the decision to give it another go in 2025 and hopefully get the real experience. I also hope to be at least 10kg lighter and in a lot better shape now that I know what is ahead of me!
I’m finishing this post on Monday afternoon in offline mode somewhere over The Bay of Biscay as we head for Faro and the start of the second part of my holiday break with a family holiday near Albufeira. The forecast for the next few days is 28-30°C and wall-to-wall sunshine ☀
As part of the holiday I hope to be able to complete a hike approximately 30min drive from our accommodation that I found on Outdooractive but seems to be well described in a number of places as it’s part of an official group of waymarked routes.
So to kick off my holiday break I’m currently sitting in Co. Kerry. Tomorrow I take part in The Tom Crean Endurance Walk.
This is a 30km mountain hike in the Dingle Peninsula that takes place every year in memory of the Irish Polar explorer. It’s a long drive down from Donegal so I’m here the night before and hopefully will be a great but enjoyable challenge 🤞
short diversion to harvey norman in limerick
I left about 10am and arrived shortly after 5:30pm so I had plenty of short breaks and didn’t rush myself. Check in started at 5:30pm anyway so no point being much earlier!
named in memory of tom crean
I’m walking with a friend Martin and he’s not due until 7:30pm so I’ve been having a wee wander around and visited the Tom Crean Memorial Garden.
There’s a second memorial just beside it to the many, many people from Annascaul that died in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. It’s very sobering, obviously an area proud of their Republican roots….
I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be taking photos but the local historical society have some online already.
On Sunday I went on a road trip to the Mourne Mountains and ended up getting my arse handed to me! This was my third visit. My first two were in September 2022 and May 2023 (video link). Both of these trips were near perfect and I really enjoyed them. I was hoping for a perfect hat-trick but this time I was denied. I guess I was due….
A big part of the problem was myself and my planning. I was determined that it had to be this weekend to fit in with my work schedule and my plans for next weekend. The weather was always going to be iffy (drizzle and showers in the afternoon with a risk of low cloud) but with fairly mild temperatures and not much wind I figured it would be OK.
My plan was to wild camp on Slieve Bearnagh and with a good Monday morning forecast I was hoping for a good hike and a chance to practice my camping strategy before next week. Maybe even a lovely sunrise…
Piss Poor Planning Promotes Piss Poor Performance
My route planning was the biggest problem. I’d copied the route from Paddy Dillon’s book Exploring The North of Ireland and converted it to a digital version on Outdoor Active. Paddy’s book works in both KM and miles and somehow I’d gotten it into my head that the total route was 10km. It was 10miles or 16km!
My plan was to start late, around noon, allow a conservative 4hrs to summit Bearnagh and have an hour or two to find a good camping spot and get set up well before dark.
Instead of Bearnagh being 8km into the walk it was 8 miles and with an awful lot of up before that. I only realised this distance error when I was 1.5 hours into my hike.
elevation profile
The terrain also wasn’t what I expected and I made a bad choice of footwear. On my previous trips I’d worn my usual leather boots and gaiters but I was amazed by the lovely gravelly tracks and absence of bog that I’m accustomed to in Donegal. I expected the same again and went for the lighter option of my Topo Athletic Terraventure boots. What I didn’t allow for was the difference between walking in March versus May and September and the deluge of rain we have suffered for the last 8-10 months. The tracks and paths were swimming with runoff and the ground was soggy and boggy. The boots coped fine with both but the bottoms of my trousers were soon soaked which inevitably led to wet socks and wet feet.
The route follows The Mourne Way from Meelmore Lodge around Fofanny Dam Reservoir and after a short stretch of road joins The Ott Track and into the higher ground. The waymarked path is supposed to follow a raised bank along the edge of the reservoir but it was closed due to a problem at the Southern end. However, there was no marked diversion. A vague path was visible through the long grass to the opposite East side of the channel that the track should follow. This turned out to be horrible ground. It was wet and boggy with long grass and hidden holes. At the end of this section I was then on the wrong side of two fairly substantial streams that I had to negotiate before scrambling over a wall back into the forest and on to the official path. By now my lower legs were soaked and one boot had been submerged in a hidden bog hole leaving me very disheartened and feeling sorry for myself. To add insult to injury I’d been walking in steady, heavy drizzle pretty much from the start of the walk.
Leaving the road and heading along the Ott Track I started to climb up into the cloud and it was at this stage I realised my mistake about how long the route actually was.
enjoying the wonderful views, check out my glasses! heading into the clouds
The track in the photo above peters out and a series of rocky then boggy then rocky once again sections brought me to the Mourne Wall which was to be my constant companion for the rest of the day. Over the stile I met a young couple with a small toddler (not much more than a year old I’d say?) that the fella had been carrying in one of those back pack carriers. It must have seemed like a good idea at some stage but they looked fairly miserable when I met them!
The first summit was Slieve Loughshannagh (619m) and was a steady but manageable climb from the stile.
heading into the mist slieve loughshannagh summit cairn
I stopped for a short break just off the summit and I’m pretty sure it was here that my head went. It was back to the heavy drizzle, I couldn’t see a thing, I had 7.5km done, 3 more summits to go, all with steep climbs and the weight of my bag was really starting to make itself felt. I was contemplating descending Slieve Loughshannagh and taking the path that skirts around and avoids Slieve Meelbeg and Meelmore completely to bring me to the base of Slieve Bearnagh. However, at the base I somehow overcame this urge and pushed on.
Slieve Meelbeg (708m) is a damn steep climb from this side and it seemed to take forever to get to the summit. I was counting steps and taking lots of short breaks to ease the burning in my legs and to try and keep my heart rate under some kind of control. My bag felt like a ton weight by now.
Looking at the map it wasn’t exactly clear where the summit was in relation to the Wall but it soon dawned on me that it was on the other side but I wasn’t going to attempt climbing over just to touch the cairn. By clambering up enough to see over the Wall I was automatically higher than the summit anyway 😉
searching for the summit
At the top of Meelbeg I was ready to give up and go home. I was feeling really sorry for myself and had another opt out option at the next col. I’d had enough of the rain and low cloud and was really tired. I was dreading the climb to Meelmore, the drop to the col and the big climb to Bearnagh. I was starting to panic about time and getting set up for camp.
The drop down off Meelbeg was pretty easy and rather than give my mind any more space I simply plowed on, ignoring the other path options and headed up Meelmore. This was a much gentler climb than Meelbeg to the summit at 687m. Once again though I was on the wrong side of the Wall and so focused on the shelter at the corner of the Wall I actually walked past the summit without realising it!
meelmore shelter
On the way up Meelmore the drizzle finally stopped for a while and as I approached the shelter there was a brief lift in the clouds giving me a short tantalising view of the valley below and across to the bulk of Bearnagh. This lifted my spirits considerably and I was getting my head back in the zone, feeling like I could do this after all. A short break here, out of the wind, some food to boost my mood and energy, descend to the col, restock my water and push on to Bearnagh with hopefully enough daylight left to find a decent camp spot.
As I finished my snack the cloud thickened and the rain returned. This time it was light rain rather than drizzle. The descent from Meelbeg is pretty tough. The ground is very steep and incredibly rocky. Large slabs and rocks made for difficult path finding and the hard, uneven surface demanded full attention. This was exhausting both physically and mentally. About halfway down it got quite dark and windy and the rain turned heavy making the already wet rocks even more slippery. By the time I reached the col below Bearnagh I was soaked and done in. Getting battered by the wind I scrambled over the stile in the Wall and found what shelter I could in the lee out of the wind.
Staring across at Bearnagh the route looked like it was almost vertical. The rocky face disappeared into the clouds and I simply gave up! I seriously doubted I could physically make it up to the summit and with the disappearing light and increasing winds I began to panic about finding a camping spot and getting a tent set up for the night. I knew I could divert here and take the path down to meet The Trassey Track and back to my car at Meelmore Lodge. The thought of a wet camp and having to get dressed in the morning in my wet clothes and boots really didn’t sound like fun.
Leaving the Wall I slowly trudged my way down the track. I was totally demoralised, wet and exhausted and dreading the walk back to the car. The path was a mess. It was mostly submerged in 3-5cm of running water as the mountains shed the latest rain and the strong gusts buffeting my back made me unsteady on already tired legs.
As an example of my state of mind I was half an hour down the track when I realised I was carrying about 500ml of water that I no longer needed and that would go a small way towards lightening my load. It took me at least 5 goes to get the slippery empty bottle back into my side pocket. I dropped it every time and I have a clear memory of yelling FUCK! and almost throwing it in the nearby river….
Approximately half an hour further on the weather changed in a matter of minutes. The clouds lifted and the rain stopped. A beautiful setting sun appeared in the distance ahead of me and the mountains suddenly appeared behind me. It sounds nonsense now but it was like the mountains decided that day that I didn’t belong. They chewed me up after Meelbeg and spat me back out and when I was almost away they were like “fuck you, this is what you missed!“
bearnagh snubbing its nose at mepollaphuca gap with bearnagh left and meelbeg right
It took me almost 1.5 hours to walk back to the car. Approximately 4km and mostly downhill. There were two tricky stream crossings just after I left The Trassey Track but at that stage I could see the car and couldn’t care so pretty much just splashed across!
The physical demands of the route, the difficulty of the terrain and weather plus the impact of carrying the additional weight of a camping setup really caught me out. This was supposed to be a final preparation for my multi day trip this weekend and a chance to practice my camping strategy. Instead it really knocked my confidence and created extra concerns. It took me until Wednesday to recover fully with a lot of aches up until lunchtime and it was only yesterday that I felt mentally confident to stop worrying about the upcoming trip and get my head in the right place.
The upcoming trip is Stage 6 of the International Appalachian Trail Ulster-Ireland: Dungiven to Castlerock Incorporating The North Sperrins Way. It’s 62km and I’m aiming for 3 days with wild camping on both nights. The weather on Sunday and Tuesday looks OK but wet on Monday which will be my longest day. However, although the distances are greater there is nothing like the elevation changes of Sunday. I’m staying positive and giving myself lots of time to get to the spots I’ve picked out.
sunday’s hike. click here to view on outdooractive
In 2021 I started the year by climbing Mount Errigal on New Year’s Day to experience the sunrise from the summit. It was an unforgettable experience that I didn’t want to be a one-off. 2022 saw a very stormy start to the year forcing me to give up the idea and last year I was laid low by a horrible cold.
I’ve been watching the weather for the last 10 days with an eagle eye. MountainForecast.com has been up and down but the last few days it steadied out to be mostly dry and promising decent visibility so I was set to go.
To tease further I saw a number of posts online with photos of Errigal with a decent covering of snow. The summit forecast was giving snow showers for at least 24hrs ahead of NYD and with temperatures close to zero and a significant windchill I was expecting a wintery summit.
I arrived at the car park just before 6am and was walking by approximately 620am. The trick was to allow enough time to get to the top without killing myself but not arrive too early and have to suffer the cold for too long.
A van arrived at the car park just after me but the two guys started before me. Another guy arrived after I’d started but he passed me fairly quickly. I could see other cars arriving and lights on the track behind me but with my head start I had the hill all to myself for the full climb.
Since my last visit the path has had extensive work which made for a much more enjoyable hike. The slog across the wet bog has been replaced by a gravel and stone path and the slippery gravel climb of the mountain has been stabilised with a rocky path. I was worried that the mountain experience would have been spoiled but it’s been excellently done and is a much better climb as well as being better for the mountain itself. The descent was especially noticeably more enjoyable compared to the last time.
Having a breather at the circular stone shelter below the last climb to the summit I played around a little with the camera on my new phone. This shot was taken in the dark with only the moon to help!
I sheltered below the summit for about 20min before making the final push, arriving at the first peak just before 8am. The sky was showing the first signs of dawn with a small bank of cloud breaking apart.
After about 15min a group arrived and with limited space I crossed over to the second peak. The guys from the car park were here ahead of me and one kindly took a summit photo for me.
As the sun came up the sky continued to lighten and the landscape below started to appear from the darkness.
A thick band of cloud moved in, threatening to spoil the sunrise but eventually we spotted the orange ball of the sun breaking through.
At 9am it looked like that was all we were getting so I started to head back down. Just below the summit the clouds parted and we were treated to the full sunrise after all 😍
Halfway down a shower of rain and hail blew in but combined with the sun to provide us with a magical rainbow to finish the hike.
A magical start to 2024. Happy New Year Everyone 🥳 🥳 🥳
Header image by Aodh Mairtin O Fearraigh and published by “Donegal Has It All“.
niall harran 