Lugnaquilla

elius

Hi all just looking for some advice regarding walking Lugnaquilla. I'm not inexperienced with regards to hill walking and have walked Slievemore Achill, Currane Achill, Crokepatrick, Slieve Foye but to name a few. I've never walked Lugnaquilla and I'm pretty keen to. I'm looking at proposed routes and what people recommend. Ive been online and the routes tend to vary whats peoples opinions on routes which is the easiest which is the harder.

Cheers

GTDolanator

I was in your position until a couple of months ago,its made out to be a tough one in regards navigation and not getting lost but i found it quite easy,i did however buy a map not the osi one.

Have a compass too and know how to use it!i didnt use mine but look ya might neeed it

I started by glenmalure hostel up faughans rock glen or whatever it is by the waterfall.IMO the hardest part of the climb,then on up and onto lug and came down via the zig zags and back up the road to the van.
I read things about it being difficult when the weather changes...it was 13 c at the car and 0 with hail at the top and poor visibility but i was grand! But hey thats my ametuer account gi try it for yourself! Took me 4 hours 50 mins start to finish

elius

GTDolanator wrote: »

I was in your position until a couple of months ago,its made out to be a tough one in regards navigation and not getting lost but i found it quite easy,i did however buy a map not the osi one.

Have a compass too and know how to use it!i didnt use mine but look ya might neeed it

I started by glenmalure hostel up faughans rock glen or whatever it is by the waterfall.IMO the hardest part of the climb,then on up and onto lug and came down via the zig zags and back up the road to the van.
I read things about it being difficult when the weather changes...it was 13 c at the car and 0 with hail at the top and poor visibility but i was grand! But hey thats my ametuer account gi try it for yourself! Took me 4 hours 50 mins start to finish

Thanks man Don't plan in walking it in anything but fine weather planning for next Tuesday weather permitting. Going to walk same route as yourself...

Gasherbraun

elius wrote: »

Thanks man Don't plan in walking it in anything but fine weather planning for next Tuesday weather permitting. Going to walk same route as yourself...

All the bearings below are approx guidance from memory. They need to be checked on the ground against a map.

When you reach the top of the Rock Glen you have a couple of options; you can aim on a 220 bearing directly towards the summit of Lugnaquillia. This is approx 2KM with a height gain of approx 380M over rough boggy ground (in places) so fairly touigh particularly after the climb up out of the rock glen.

Another option is to take an approx 300 / 310 bearing after ascending out of the Rock Glen. This actually takes you away from Lug for about 1.5KM but then turns approx 230 for 400M then 140-150 (SEE) for a further 1.5 KM towards the summit of Lug. There is a visible track to follow but you need to keep an eye open for the 400M turn - you may see walkers approaching Lug above you from the Table Track and if so you can just aim for them till you hit the trail again.

Re the table track this can be followed to the top of Lug. It starts at the Baravore carpark and can clearly be seen heading straight up Glenmalure for about 4.5 KM before it takes a rough 170 bearing for about 5 KM to the summit of Lug. Route finding can be tricky on the upper part of the table Track but first half is forest road so easy.

Simplest, but least interesting in my opinion, option is the Camarahill route that starts in the Glen Imaal close to Fentons Pub (called the Imaal Bar now I think). Probably the most popular so usually other people on it.

Finally remember that large parts of Lugnaquillia are within an army artillery range so worth checking their shooting dates. You will probbaly still get on to the mountain from the Rock Glen but the Camarahill route will not be accessable. Army information office is on 045 404 653

unkel

elius wrote: »

Hi all just looking for some advice regarding walking Lugnaquilla. I'm not inexperienced with regards to hill walking and have walked Slievemore Achill, Currane Achill, Crokepatrick, Slieve Foye but to name a few. I've never walked Lugnaquilla and I'm pretty keen to. I'm looking at proposed routes and what people recommend. Ive been online and the routes tend to vary whats peoples opinions on routes which is the easiest which is the harder.

Cheers

I'm like yourself. Not very experienced but keen to do some nice / interesting hikes. I did Lugnaquilla yesterday morning for the first time. I went up the easiest way, from Fenton's pub via Camarahill and then onto Lug itself.

It's very straightforward going up this way (the Germans call it "immer gerade aus" - just keep going straight ) and I imagine it's not that hard finding the same way down provided visibility is good

Which is not something you can count on, on a mountain like this where circumstances can change very quickly. I did it on purpose in bad weather to further test the GPS software on my phone (which had kind of proved that it was working a few days ago on Mullaghcleevaun) and my new map

Here's what it looked like on the summit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ_aNxAxkJU

My visibility was 15-20m but it is possible you'd have almost no visibility at all. And Lugnaquilla does have cliffs on two sides, if you'd fall off them, you'd be dead. I don't want to scare you off, but you do need a way to get safely off the mountain if the weather gets bad. Do you have map/compass and navigational skills? Or at least a working GPS (on your phone) (with back up battery)?

hmmm

unkel wrote: »

Here's what it looked like on the summit:

That video is a good demonstration of the difficulties of Lug. It's a plateau, and on a day like that you have to good navigation skills to make sure you head in the right direction - you could end up wandering around hopelessly lost for a while. On a clear day, it all seems very simple.

mr spuckler

i've climbed it a few times in varying conditions and can tell you that it can be ropey enough when the clouds close right in, it's very easy to lose your track. as hmmm said, in clear weather it seems so easy and hard to understand how things could possibly be that bad!

Losty Dublin

Last time I did Lug was actually back in 1999. Myself and my friend took the easy route by Fenton's and from a blue sky walk when one could see the summit easily enough. It was maybe 800 odd metres high when we hit a cloud towards the top and that was that; I called a halt there and then as we weren't working with map or compass and it wasn't worth the risk so we turned back for home. Cue one unhappy friend! On the descent you could make out the top from about half way up; my friend was quickly more appreciative of the stance I took when he saw this.

It's easy for the novice to forget that the summit of Lug almost 1KM from sea level and thus very prone to cloud and sudden cloud at that. Even on a clear day it's easy enough to miss the summit and suddenly end up descending on the wrong side so care is required.

Carawaystick

The best way is probably up the Zig Zag's and down the Fraughen Rock Glen ( or vice versa) so you get a loop route in. Going down the Fraughen Rock glen gives a bigger target to hit in fog. A bearing of 070 will roughly get you there, it might skim the top of the OW valley, don't get distracted and bear right and descend here, keep going until the slope down is perpendicular to the bearing.

Another way not mentioned is to walk up from Aughavannagh bridge, along forestry roads to the south prison and climb up to the left or right of the cliffs, or scramble up the main gulley.

Daithi2004

I think the best route is from Fentons Pub... You do have to check with the Army to check if there is any shooting going on because this is where they practise. It is best to go on the weekend. As regards whether if it iis easy, depends on the weather. Have a look at this photo. We started with greaat weather and it turned nasty for us as we got near the top.

Alun

As regards routes up Lug, in my experience most inexperienced people who go up there, whatever route they choose, will probably manage either on purpose or by accident to get to the top successfully. Even if the weather is bad, there'll usually be a few other walkers out, and the 'if in doubt follow someone else' technique will usually work out for them.

If, or rather when, it goes wrong is usually on the descent in bad visibility as it's easy to get disoriented after you've walked around the summit cairn a few times and sat down for a well earned sandwich and cuppa. Many's the time I've noticed being followed off the top by a 'shadowy figure' in the mist, who on enquiry has falsely assumed I'm going off the same way he came up and I've ended up guiding them back up to the top to show them the correct way down. Either that or if I feel they really haven't got a clue, escorted them down and given them a lift back to where they started. The Mountain Rescue callout logs confirm this, as witnessed by the number of callouts referring to a walker becoming 'disoriented' and ending up somewhere in the firing range for example.

As others have said, on an otherwise fine day, conditions on top, especially regarding visibility can be very different. It's not uncommon to not even see the summit cairn until you're almost on top of it.

unkel

Carawaystick wrote: »

up the Zig Zag's and down the Fraughen Rock Glen ( or vice versa) so you get a loop route in.

Might do that if I feel like a hike tomorrow morning!

Alun

unkel wrote: »

Might do that if I feel like a hike tomorrow morning!

The only problem with that is the road walk between the start of the zig-zags and Baravore, unless you have two cars.

There's another route up that starts a bit closer to Baravore through Clonkeen Woods up to Art's Lough and up a ramp at the back of it to Clohernagh and then on to Lug, but that requires a bit of navigation if you're not familiar with the area.

Another possibility is to go up via Fraugan Rock and then start to follow the track that heads towards Camenabologue and Table, but head off right to follow a track along the edge of the Benleagh cliffs. The track disappears then and it's a bit of a fight through the trees (and lots of mud!) to get back on to the forest track to bring you back down to Baravore again.

unkel

I don't really mind the road walk. Might park at the zig-zags and walk to Baravore (to warm up) and do the loop anti-clockwise.

Question: is there a short cut at the Baravore carpark through the woods to bypass the walk up and down to the youth hostel? That would shave the guts of a km off the walk. The East West map suggests there might be. Or even a much earlier short cut that starts half way between the zig-zags and Baravore?

Alun

unkel wrote: »

Question: is there a short cut at the Baravore carpark through the woods to bypass the walk up and down to the youth hostel? That would shave the guts of a km off the walk. The East West map suggests there might be.

Yes there is. If you cross the footbridge onto the track, there's a small gap in the bushes almost immediately on your left. It used to be possible to go straight up all the way but it's got a bit overgrown lower down so you have to head for where it says Mine Buildings and then double back on yourself. When you get higher up there's a fork in the path, but keep heading upwards and you'll pop out on the corner of the track heading up to Fraughan Rock Glen.

Or even a much earlier short cut that starts half way between the zig-zags and Baravore

Unfortunately not. There is a track about 1km before Baravore that heads off left past a farm towards the Glen, but the natives aren't friendly

hmmm

Go via Arts Lough if you want a shorter road walk.

Gasherbraun

Alun wrote: »

Another possibility is to go up via Fraugan Rock and then start to follow the track that heads towards Camenabologue and Table, but head off right to follow a track along the edge of the Benleagh cliffs. The track disappears then and it's a bit of a fight through the trees (and lots of mud!) to get back on to the forest track to bring you back down to Baravore again.

I remember coming of Benleagh this way in Winter a few years back. Combination of snow, ice and cunningly part frozen mud made it an interesting descent. The trees certainly added to the experience.

I knew I would hit the forest road one way or another but was a relief when I did

unkel

May 2nd:

- visibility: 10m
- real feel temp: <-10C. Summit looked like the North Pole
- wind: force 9-10
- gear: long thermal underwear, full winters, waterproofs. Result: soaked through

May 23rd:

- visibility: 50km
- real feel temp: >+15C. Summit looked more like Killiney hill in July
- wind: force 0-1
- gear: T-shirt. Result: suntan

Alun wrote: »

Yes there is. If you cross the footbridge onto the track, there's a small gap in the bushes almost immediately on your left. It used to be possible to go straight up all the way but it's got a bit overgrown lower down so you have to head for where it says Mine Buildings and then double back on yourself.

Went that way and it seems I was able to go straight up (was a bit overgrown alright but there was a bit of a path)

On top of the Fraughan rock scramble I took a detour route up through the bog north west up to the little summit rather than following the path west towards the ridge path. Just to test the new gaiters that came in the post from the US yesterday. They work. Thanks for the recommendation, Alun

Great hike and glorious weather. Reckon a bit under 20km and did it in just over 5 hours, no breaks

Good few people up Lug, including scouts. Had far too much gear with me, it was one of those days you could have done it in runners, shorts and t-shirt...

W1ll1s

Camped up there for a night many years ago.
Beautiful afternoon and evening hike, could see for miles.
Woke up next morning and it was snowing with vis down to 50yds...
Had to compass and map for first half of the way down.
Can be 2 different worlds up there in a short space of time, but well worth it if you are prepared.

Akoya242

Hi all, after hiding in cave for many years I've decided to show up myself to the outer world!
First of all thanks to all of you, who keep this forum alive, I already took a lot of info from here.
Really, thank you all!


But there is still some advises required...

Briefing:
I'm planning to hike around Lugnaquilla over the next weekend (August Bank Holiday). For two, maybe three days, with overnight camping. Instead to create a new thread I've decided to simply continue this one, especially it already have some very useful info about it. At least for me.
Well, let's get back to the briefing.

Starting from Glenmalure Lodge (I'm going to leave the car there, actually, if someone need a lift for these dates- please pm me)- follow the road through Barravore Car Park- cross the river Avonbeg- Glenmalure Youth Hostel- to Falls Brooks.
Then Lugueer- lugnaquilla.

From here will be two options:
Option 1:
Up (by map) to the Black Banks (Table Mountain), spend the night somewhere there on the route.

Next day, follow by the Table Track- heading to Seskin- Camara- Lugnaquilla- Leohard- The Zig-Zag- Glenmalure Lodge... A bit tough, what do you think? Does it worth it?

Option 2:
The Black Banks- Conavalla (through the forest)- Corrig- Lugduff- turn right around Mullacor- back to Glenmalure Lodge.

In case that it's really to much for two days, I can extend it for three... Almost three.

I'm planing to cover around (optional!) 40km per day. I'm experienced hiker, can read the map and compas. Also, have a lot of gear (which is actually must be tested at last). I already had a couple of summits to Lugnaquilla during summer/winter (amazing time!!!), but never went further. Oh, yes, I probably should mention that I leave no trace after myself and carry a good equipment, so won't need an open fire.

But what I really need- is your experienced advise. Especially about Option 1.

Also (I'm going to check it myself, but maybe somebody already know some info), does anybody know about army shooting around these dates?
And is the camping permitted at Lugduff Gap?
Obviously, if the weather wont permit, I'll cut off everything to just one full day hike... or, a lot of beer, dreaming about this hike.. But I will hope for hike till last minute, instead of beer...



P. S. Please accept my apologies in advance for any spelling mistakes, I'm sure you already found that I'm not a native Irish, but a native admire of this island.

hmmm

Hi Akoya, a couple of comments.

- The ground from Conavalla to Lough Firrib/Lugduff is very bad (thick mud) - you would need to be very careful.
- Walking down the road to Barravore would be long and boring. How about starting off on the Wicklow way and heading up via Kelly's Lough from Glenmlaure (or go up Corrigasleggaun). Alternatively, do a complete circuit (up Mullacor, and back via Lug to Glenmalure Inn).
- I agree if you're leaving your car overnight don't be leaving it at the smaller car parks
- Get the EastWest map of Lugnaquilla if you haven't already
- Keep an eye on mountaineering ireland website for glen of imaal shooting dates. Generally they try & avoid weekends. http://www.mountaineering.ie/aboutus/news/2015/default.aspx?iid=794

Akoya242

Thank you hmmm- a great advice and the link!!!

I do have EastWest map of the area, actually the routes were taken from it. I was born before the internet, so still trust real map and compass more than for any "space technologies" :-)

"Walking down the road to Barravore would be long and boring"- you're absolutely right, done it first time and was cursing all the way back...

I still prefer an option 1, especially ascend by the Falls Brooks...Especially after your post. First time I went through Corrigasleggaun in the very bad rain and (I know how it sounds now) hate it... I don't mind to get back to W/Lodge that way, but start from there...the memory is still fresh... :-(
But again, thanks for your opinion, really appreciate it.

Akoya242

Hi all,

Instead creating a new topic- I'll post it in related thread.
That's happened- I'm left without the wheels for a while, so would like to ask for a lift.

If anybody is going for a full day hike in Lugnaguilla over this weekend (preferably on Saturday) and have an empty seat in the car and don't mind to take a passenger...
I can promise that if necessary I can seat quietly, don't make any noise, just don't forget to let me out at the destination point and take me in on your way back :-)
I live in Ongar village now, but I'll try to be in C/Centre as early as possible.

Briefly about myself.
I'm experienced hiker in early forthy, well build and equipped. I have a big experience in hiking around Ireland, I'm from those people who have been born before the internet, so i do believe in map and compass, than GPS and smartphones. Had a few times around Lugnaguilla , once with overnight camping.
We can share the fuel cost if necessary, that's no problem at all.

If anybody interested- please reply in here or PM me, I will check emails daily during the week.

Thank you all guys,
Eugene