Tag Archives: new year

Looking Ahead

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Happy New Year Everyone. I hope everyone had a happy Xmas and wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2026.

At the end of 2024 I didn’t set any goals for the year ahead but ended up hitting a good many milestones regardless, almost 5000km cycling for the year, starting the Audax RRTY 100 challenge, completing the Festive 500 and ticking off a good few summits on my various Mountain lists. We had a great family holiday in Spain at the end of August and Catriona and myself had a really enjoyable long-weekend visit to the Xmas markets in Budapest at the start of December.

For 2026 I’m not setting any massive goals either but there are things I’d like to do this year. I definitely want to keep up the progress I’ve made cycling this year. I want to finish the RRTY 100 but I’m also determined to get back to full Audax long-distance cycling. In 2016 I completed the Audax Ireland Four Provinces Challenge and I’d like to do that again 10 years later for 2026.

I’ve identified four events I’d like to do for the Challenge. The first of these is on Saturday March 21st so that gives me 11 weeks to train for it.

All four events have been chosen to hit the four Provinces but also to find events with as little climbing as possible. The first goal is to get fit enough for March and then I’ll see how the rest go.

I want to keep ticking off my mountain lists but this year I’d like to get a better mix of solo hiking as well as walking with the Club. In 2024 I only managed two solo hikes in Ireland plus one on holiday in Spain.

I did no camping in 2025 at all, partly due to the lack of solo hiking and an increase in cycling. However, a big part of that is nervousness about solo camping. I have all the gear so no excuses. I’m not setting any big goals here either but I want to get one camp done by Easter and then set a new goal after that.

I think the main thing is to have a number of plans to keep me focused for the year and to give me something to work towards. It’s also important not to set overwhelming and unrealistic goals that only end up demotivating. Anyway, here’s to a great 2026.

Header image by Ann H from Pexels.com

New Year Sunrise Hike

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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“.

happy new year!

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Last year I started the New Year on the top of Errigal with a hike to welcome the dawn on the summit. I had hoped to repeat that this year but my back has been playing up all week making it unlikely. Then to top it off there was a weather warning for high winds on Atlantic coasts and high ground. The predicted wind speed on the summit at dawn was 80-100km/hr so there was no way I was chancing that, especially in the dark.

After a lazy lie in we marked the New Year all together instead with a walk on Rathmullan Beach which is a regular spot for us and Catriona’s favourite. We ended up sitting in the car for almost half an hour as the rain hammered down before deciding to get some chips from the nearby van. Instead of going home afterwards as expected we were delighted to see the weather clear and the sun actually come out. We ended up with beautiful weather for a beach walk – a strong, bracing wind but no rain!

Afterwards we paid a brief visit to my Grand Aunt Ruby who had her 106th birthday yesterday! She had a busy day with some visitors and lots of phonecalls and was pretty tired from it all so we didn’t stay very long. She’s some lady.

Finally before heading home we called via Mum and Dad’s for a visit and to wish them a Happy New Year in person. This rounded off a very enjoyable, relaxing and family orientated start to 2022.