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county tops challenge
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Well, make sure you do a decent walk on Mount Leinster - don't be 'sneaking up' the RTE road!!
It really is a mountain that deserves a lot more, not least for it's cultural & historical associations. Every time I see it now and the growth of masts on it's summit, I can't help but think that this hill has been the subject of very considerable state vandalism.
The Ballycrystal approach is the standard way up but I think an ascent via Crannagh has a lot to be said for it. There's a small Coillte forest just where Crannagh is written on OS Sheet 68, it has standing stone and forts in it.
There's a partially marked forest road up to this forest, but it extends well up. When it ends, keep rightish and follow your nose up tracks and you'll reach open ground above
thanks for the advice, what route (apart from the road!) would offer the best underfoot conditions?0 -
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where mount leinster, carlow, 796m, county top no. 6
when 01 mar 2013
distance 5.38km
ascent 349m
weather cold & dry
how it went well in spite of the helpful advice to the contrary here, i only managed to do the path most trodden up the rte access road! mrs spuckler was with me and owing to a (hopefuly temporary) dicky hip wouldn't be up to a more strenuous hike, leaving the access road as the only viable option. i do need to start planning these outings a bit better from here on though as when i was driving up towards mount leinster this morning (from new ross) i passed brandon hill, the kilkenny county top. a little bit more thought would have meant that i could have done 2 today, although i'd definitely have been on a solo march for 1 of them!
the walk itself was basically a trek up a very steep hill, bordering on extremely steep at times. both the car park at the access gate and the top of the hill offered great views on the surrounding regions, including a couple of appealing looking hills! the clouds covering the top of the hill disappeared just as we got up to the top, which was a huge relief...no views after a tough hike can be very frustrating!
so 6 down in 2 months (plus 1 day!). good progress so far but all the more difficult trips still to come!
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mr spuckler wrote: »where mount leinster, carlow, 796m, county top no. 6
when 01 mar 2013
distance 5.38km
ascent 349m
weather cold & dry
how it went well in spite of the helpful advice to the contrary here, i only managed to do the path most trodden up the rte access road! mrs spuckler was with me and owing to a (hopefuly temporary) dicky hip wouldn't be up to a more strenuous hike, leaving the access road as the only viable option. i do need to start planning these outings a bit better from here on though as when i was driving up towards mount leinster this morning (from new ross) i passed brandon hill, the kilkenny county top. a little bit more thought would have meant that i could have done 2 today, although i'd definitely have been on a solo march for 1 of them!
the walk itself was basically a trek up a very steep hill, bordering on extremely steep at times. both the car park at the access gate and the top of the hill offered great views on the surrounding regions, including a couple of appealing looking hills! the clouds covering the top of the hill disappeared just as we got up to the top, which was a huge relief...no views after a tough hike can be very frustrating!
so 6 down in 2 months (plus 1 day!). good progress so far but all the more difficult trips still to come!
Great stuff. That is one steep road alright! One of the handier County Tops and you get great views from relatively little effort!
Where have you planned next?0 -
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where cupidstown hill, kildare, 379m, county top no. 7
when 31 mar 2013
distance ??
ascent ??
weather very cold, dry, some snow on the ground
how it went one of the joys of this challenge so far has been the opportunity to visit parts of the country that i'd never otherwise have the opportunity (or reason!) to see. kildare isn't far away from me in dublin but sure when else would i be driving through kilteel?! the walk itself from the road up to the vodafone mast is a really short one and despite this not being the lowest county top i've been up i reckon it was definitely the shortest and easiest walk. it was a shame that the trees at the top hindered the view towards the dublin & wicklow mountains, especially with the mountains being fully covered with snow. the view across kildare was quite exceptional though, with the slieve blooms (again i think!) visible in the distance.
i forgot my GPS so no distance or ascent. both numbers are definitely at the lower end of the scale though!
here's a panorama from the top, trig stone included. and some scenery from the forest entrance!
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where slieve foy, louth, 588m, county top no. 8
when 20 apr 2013
distance 9.52km
ascent 658m
weather a delight! mainly sunny although the breeze was fairly brisk on open ground
how it went wow, what a hike! this was completely different from any hike / climb i've done in ireland before. probably a combination of starting from a town and the general terrain & landscape, higher up especially which set it apart. the walk from carlingford starts with a steep narrow road which leads onto a narrow rocky pathway where at times you've to duck under the branches of the surrounding trees. it was such a scenic start and surprisingly it didn't set us up for a fall as we expected at the time! once onto open ground, slieve foy looms large above you on the right hand side, with barnavave to the left and a ridge running between the two (i think this is goylin's pass?). having failed to plan by way of buying a map or printing the route description, we weren't sure where we needed to start aiming for the top of slieve foy. thankfully i had a niggle of a memory of needing to get to the ridge so we headed up a seriously steep cross country route to get ourselves onto the beaten path. from here it was through a rocky passage and onto the rocky route to the top of the mountain where we were greeted by the now familiar trig stone. what we hadn't expected on the way up this morning was the views right back to dublin, with the sugar loaf visible in the distance. the mournes were also clearly visible but they are just across carlingford lough. the views in general were amazing though, whichever way we looked. getting back to the hike, the entire route up (partially because of our off piste stretch) was extremely steep and despite it not being one of the highest climbs we've done, it was a testing climb all the same. following a well earned & sheltered lunch break, we hit across the ridge to barnavave and then went off piste again on the way back to carlingford.
one of the joys of this challenge so far has been getting to places where i wouldn't normally go and carlingford is no exception. i think i'd passed through it once before but never stopped. we're both now really inclined to come back to carlingford at some stage, it seems like a really nice small town, has the cooleys and mournes on it's doorstep and potential for water based activities too. i might avoid a weekend night though for fear of the stags and hens which i understand take over the place at weekends!
paul, having forgot to give you a shout until i was about 15 mins away from carlingford, i'll make sure to pre-arrange hiking slieve gullion as i think you'd mentioned that previously? i'll generally flag them up here in advance here anyway so let me know of any that work for you and sorry about this morning!
some pics. first from the walk up, second is the view from the peak and third is the view from our lunch spot!
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mr spuckler wrote: »where slieve foy, louth, 588m, county top no. 8
when 20 apr 2013
distance 9.52km
ascent 658m
weather a delight! mainly sunny although the breeze was fairly brisk on open ground
how it went wow, what a hike! this was completely different from any hike / climb i've done in ireland before. probably a combination of starting from a town and the general terrain & landscape, higher up especially which set it apart. the walk from carlingford starts with a steep narrow road which leads onto a narrow rocky pathway where at times you've to duck under the branches of the surrounding trees. it was such a scenic start and surprisingly it didn't set us up for a fall as we expected at the time! once onto open ground, slieve foy looms large above you on the right hand side, with barnavave to the left and a ridge running between the two (i think this is goylin's pass?). having failed to plan by way of buying a map or printing the route description, we weren't sure where we needed to start aiming for the top of slieve foy. thankfully i had a niggle of a memory of needing to get to the ridge so we headed up a seriously steep cross country route to get ourselves onto the beaten path. from here it was through a rocky passage and onto the rocky route to the top of the mountain where we were greeted by the now familiar trig stone. what we hadn't expected on the way up this morning was the views right back to dublin, with the sugar loaf visible in the distance. the mournes were also clearly visible but they are just across carlingford lough. the views in general were amazing though, whichever way we looked. getting back to the hike, the entire route up (partially because of our off piste stretch) was extremely steep and despite it not being one of the highest climbs we've done, it was a testing climb all the same. following a well earned & sheltered lunch break, we hit across the ridge to barnavave and then went off piste again on the way back to carlingford.
one of the joys of this challenge so far has been getting to places where i wouldn't normally go and carlingford is no exception. i think i'd passed through it once before but never stopped. we're both now really inclined to come back to carlingford at some stage, it seems like a really nice small town, has the cooleys and mournes on it's doorstep and potential for water based activities too. i might avoid a weekend night though for fear of the stags and hens which i understand take over the place at weekends!
paul, having forgot to give you a shout until i was about 15 mins away from carlingford, i'll make sure to pre-arrange hiking slieve gullion as i think you'd mentioned that previously? i'll generally flag them up here in advance here anyway so let me know of any that work for you and sorry about this morning!
some pics. first from the walk up, second is the view from the peak and third is the view from our lunch spot!
Great pics. I can see you certainly got the weather for it! By the way, you could have been able to clearly see both Gullion (Armagh) and Donard (Down) from the top of Foye. I have been thinking of doing some challenge which involves all three tops.
By the sounds of it, you took a tough way up. There is a path that zig-zags up to the lowest point of the ridge between Foye and Barnavave - this makes for much easier walking and means that it's only the section from the gap onwards that is challenging.
Glad you enjoyed the walk. Being from Louth, I'm a wee bit biased but I reckon the views from Foye on a clear day are hard to beat!0 -
mr spuckler wrote: ».... having failed to plan by way of buying a map or printing the route description, we weren't sure where we needed to start aiming for the top of slieve foy...
Looks like you had a grand day and Slieve Foye is certainly a hill that feels more like a mountain. But ahem... you might want to start preparing a little better for some of the higher hills or you'll be asking for trouble. There ain't roads to the top of that many
Having a decent map with you and the ability to use it is not a prerequisite for success but it tends to help 0 -
Great pics. I can see you certainly got the weather for it! By the way, you could have been able to clearly see both Gullion (Armagh) and Donard (Down) from the top of Foye. I have been thinking of doing some challenge which involves all three tops.
By the sounds of it, you took a tough way up. There is a path that zig-zags up to the lowest point of the ridge between Foye and Barnavave - this makes for much easier walking and means that it's only the section from the gap onwards that is challenging.
Glad you enjoyed the walk. Being from Louth, I'm a wee bit biased but I reckon the views from Foye on a clear day are hard to beat!
yes we'd fantastic views, donard was mostly visible though it was hidden behind clouds at times. a map would have helped me figure out what else i could see but more on that below!
we saw the path zig-zagging up and just decided to cut across anyway. a bit tougher on the legs for sure but a more interesting route!Looks like you had a grand day and Slieve Foye is certainly a hill that feels more like a mountain. But ahem... you might want to start preparing a little better for some of the higher hills or you'll be asking for trouble. There ain't roads to the top of that many
Having a decent map with you and the ability to use it is not a prerequisite for success but it tends to help
haha, i don't tend to just head upwards in the hope of hitting a peak somewhere along the way! i was a little bit too casual in this case though so will be buying a map ahead of trying mweelrea this weekend 0 -
mr spuckler wrote: »i was a little bit too casual in this case though so will be buying a map ahead of trying mweelrea this weekend
Sounds good and at least the days are getting longer Mweelrea is a good pull up, so get an early start. At the risk of sounding pedantic, I'd stress the second part of my advice i.e. have a decent map and know how to use it!! 0 -
where arderin, laois & offaly, 527m, county top no. 9
when 28 apr 2013
distance 1.83km
ascent 85m
weather some clouds & breezy
how it went sluggishly! having been up croagh patrick yesterday following a big night at a wedding the night before i was a bit on the weak side. i had originally thought of doing mweelrea yesterday but by the time i got near westport neither time nor my physical condition allowed! rather than let the weekend pass without any more county tops being added to the list i decided to take in arderin on the way back to dublin. having made my way to kinnity i was pleasantly surprised to find that the slieve blooms and glendine drive were really well signposted. the drive up was lovely and i was trying to remember en route when i last drove drove on actual hairpin bends in ireland! the walk itself was fairly unremarkable, a short sharp 15 or 20 min wander up a very obvious trail across some fairly soft ground to the summit cairn. i had great views of the surrounding countryside and had a nice few minutes just admiring the scenery before heading back down to the car. on the way back down i met a lovely couple who are also doing the county tops but having only started in the last month or 2 were on number 6 today. no more than myself they haven't got to any of the further flung places on the list yet, will be interesting to see if they stumble across this thread to update on their progress or if we manage to run into each other on another mountain! i also met some mountain bikers on their way up who'd hiked the route the day before to make sure it was suited to bikes. the sign at the car park stating that mountain bikes weren't allowed should have been a dead giveaway.
another one off the list and another area that i'd happily return to in the future for some more exploration.
the route up from the car park
and the view at the top
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where lugnaquilla, wicklow, 925m, county top no. 10
when 11 may 2013
distance 14.61km
ascent 804m
weather windy, so so windy! also rain, driving hail & bright sunshine, a typical day in ireland so!
how it went highs and lows. neither myself nor my mate were exactly bundles of energy leaving the really packed car-park near glenmalure hostel. apparently there was a charity climb of lug today for a sri-lankan house building project but the charity clearly ended there judging by how some people were parked. i was chatting to a couple who were just hanging around waiting after their car was blocked in from all sides! the positive (for us) of the charity climb though was that there was always a stream of friendly faces coming back down against us on our way up past the waterfall. anyone who has climbed lug will know that this is a tough enough stretch so it was handy having to pause & step aside to let people pass so regularly
the weather kept changing as we climbed, pouring rain before we left the car park, warm sunshine up by the waterfall, hail en route to the summit and then near-zero visibility and driving hail at the top! we got chatting to a decent crew of 50 somethings that were gathered by the trig stone when we got there, they head out every weekend for a hike and were up carrantuohill a couple of weeks ago...i hope i'm that sprightly at their age!
as the weather had changed for the worse while we were up top we returned by the route we were most familiar with - this also meant that we didn't have to walk a couple of kms down the road at the end after descending the zig-zags!
so 10 county tops down! hopefully i'll at least manage another 1 before the end of the month.
some pics as usual, first of the lovely weather at the start, second from the top as the clouds lifted for a minute and the third, well it doesn't really require a description imho
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ok so this saturday should see me make my way up knockboy in cork for county top number 11
i'm away then for a couple of weeks so it might be a full month before i manage to do another one, thinking of benbaun & mweelrea in 1 weekend towards the end of june0 -
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so i've been away since i did knockboy and am just back today...
where loughboy, cork, 706m, county top no. 11
when 25 may 2013
distance forgot GPS
ascent forgot GPS
weather dry and fairly clear
how it went i suppose you could say well! the furthest trip for a county top to date was made even longer by a diversion to athlone for a round of golf on the friday. a 3 hour plus trip to clonakilty followed on the friday night ahead of the trip up to knockboy on the saturday. and what a trip! priests leap has to be one of the coolest roads i've ever driven in ireland, single track with grass frequently down the middle only covers the half of it, the steepness was added to by the twists and several humps over which you could see nothing but bonnet and sky! that becomes fairly disconcerting when the road drops away very steeply to the side and you literally have no idea as to where the road goes over the hump. driving heaven for me!
the car park at the top marks the border between cork & kerry and the hike simply involves following the line of the fence across the road from there. the terrain is fairly soft in parts but for the most part is fine and it's really a relatively easy hike, particularly as the only navigation involves following a fence the whole way to the top! although as a picture below suggests, perhaps you should be prepared to deviate from the fence from time to time! the views from the top were really good, looking back towards bantry bay and east into cork also. some of the surrounding hills are also quite impressive with the one in the photo below particularly standing out in a geographical sense that i just couldn't possibly explain!
i was accompanied on this hike by my girfriend, who has now done 6 of them with me so far. she / we might remember this one more than most though as we only went and got engaged at the peak sure the rest of the peaks will be much easier than the nerve filled climb i had on this one!
for reasons entirely unrelated plans have changed a bit so i think i need to work out a new plan of attack for the remaining county tops for the rest of the year. i had planned on a grand assault of the northern part of the country over a week of touring but that may not now happen, meaning more out and back trips than previously planned sure it's all part of the challenge
4 pics below this time, 1 is the road up the priests leap, 2 the surrounding hills, 3 the point where you should step away fromn the fence and 4 the view from the top!
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