Kippure, Bog Road

Losty Dublin

As per the title, how walkable is said route up Kippure? Any issues with it from pathway to access issues and so forth? East West shows it as an option but being more of a fair-weather walker I don't want to chance it unless it's fairly safe and not too much trouble.

Gasherbraun

Losty Dublin wrote: »

As per the title, how walkable is said route up Kippure? Any issues with it from pathway to access issues and so forth? East West shows it as an option but being more of a fair-weather walker I don't want to chance it unless it's fairly safe and not too much trouble.

First couple of km's are easy on the old road. After the road ends it is fairly straight forward to the top but I remember the ground being very soft and boggy. Navigation in good visibility is simple with the mast to aim for but best have map and compass in case things change.

Only time I tried it there was a lot of fly tipping off the bog road, particularly at the end, so it was not an attractive route hence I never bothered with it again.

Losty Dublin

Gasherbraun wrote: »

First couple of km's are easy on the old road. After the road ends it is fairly straight forward to the top but I remember the ground being very soft and boggy. Navigation in good visibility is simple with the mast to aim for but best have map and compass in case things change.

Only time I tried it there was a lot of fly tipping off the bog road, particularly at the end, so it was not an attractive route hence I never bothered with it again.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I suspected that the second half would be soft so I won't take it on until we have a dryer spell. It goes without saying that I'm always equipped with my map and compass, even on a fairly simple walk.

It's a shame about the fly tipping; sorry to say but it's not the only place that suffers from it

unkel

Did it last month. Access is no problem, there is also parking for a couple of cars on the other side of the military road. There is no path / track whatsoever after the end of the bog road though and still plenty of walking / climbing to do. Was very boggy and even though I tried to avoid the boggiest bits, I still got in deeper than my boots a few times (hard to pull out too). There was still snow on top and it was a cold and very windy day, so even now (late April / early May) expect real feel temperatures of well below zero, so dress warmly and wear waterproofs. Plenty of (half) underground (half) hidden tiny rivers too so be careful where you place your feet.

Was a glorious day apart from some snow / sleet / hail but had marvellous views all around from the top. Apart from near the military road I didn't see any rubbish to speak of, maybe there was a clean up recently? Saw plenty of deer too and no humans. Except him:



Spot him there about 6-7m up in the mast? He was the highest man in Dublin that day, not me

BarryD

unkel wrote: »

Did it last month. Access is no problem, there is also parking for a couple of cars on the other side of the military road. There is no path / track whatsoever after the end of the bog road though and still plenty of walking / climbing to do.

From what I recall of survey work, there's a bit of a rough path on the right hand side of the county mearing ditch as you ascend. Used to be an annual hill race up and down this route, not sure if it's still going!

Re illegal dumping: 1850 365121 is number to report it and have it removed to discourage others.

Take care where you park and don't leave anything of value in the car - sadly the area is handy enough for access to people who are wont to take a quick run up the hills in their motor and see what pickings there are..

Alun

Yes, it's not a track in the strictest sense of the word, but as you say there is a boundary ditch there which is as close as you'll get there, and on many other well walked routes in the Wicklow Mts.

Tabnabs

On a related note; is it possible, or has anyone ever, gone up from Bohernabreena to link up with the bog road (or track after this)? It that possible at all?

BarryD

Tabnabs wrote: »

On a related note; is it possible, or has anyone ever, gone up from Bohernabreena to link up with the bog road (or track after this)? It that possible at all?

I think you're talking about the Castlekelly bog road. That's one of these slightly tricky ones - you'll see signs in that area declaring that it's all owned by a company and discouraging entry etc. However the Castle bog road was always regarded as public access to the Castle bog. I think the county council might even have managed it back in the The Emergency.

I haven't experienced any problems using it, just open and shut the gate after you. But whether it's a 'right of way' for all now in 2015 is a different matter thanks to the crazy court cases of recent years and the complete lack of resolve of recent governments to tackle the issue of public access to the countryside

Alun

I've gone up that way quite recently, not a bother. There's a point where the track takes a right turn where you can leave it, drop down and cross the river at O 121 186 and back up the other side.

Gasherbraun

BarryD wrote: »

I think you're talking about the Castlekelly bog road. That's one of these slightly tricky ones - you'll see signs in that area declaring that it's all owned by a company and discouraging entry etc. However the Castle bog road was always regarded as public access to the Castle bog. I think the county council might even have managed it back in the The Emergency.

(

Hi Barry. Do you happen to have a grid ref for the start of the Castlekelly bog road? I assume it is marked on one of your maps? Thanks.

BarryD

Not to hand, but it's at the very back end of Glenasmole valley - you can't miss it on the map. Go through a gate and watch for the Finn McCumhail stone on your left after a few metres, no inscription but you can see the recess where the tablet was fixed into the rock. Carry on up.

Tabnabs

Is it here?

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.218717,-6.339836,3a,75y,183.16h,65.09t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sRjxaYaa3TkXUjo4_w9dPGw!2e0

Thargor

unkel wrote: »

Did it last month. Access is no problem, there is also parking for a couple of cars on the other side of the military road. There is no path / track whatsoever after the end of the bog road though and still plenty of walking / climbing to do. Was very boggy and even though I tried to avoid the boggiest bits, I still got in deeper than my boots a few times (hard to pull out too). There was still snow on top and it was a cold and very windy day, so even now (late April / early May) expect real feel temperatures of well below zero, so dress warmly and wear waterproofs. Plenty of (half) underground (half) hidden tiny rivers too so be careful where you place your feet.

Was a glorious day apart from some snow / sleet / hail but had marvellous views all around from the top. Apart from near the military road I didn't see any rubbish to speak of, maybe there was a clean up recently? Saw plenty of deer too and no humans. Except him:



Spot him there about 6-7m up in the mast? He was the highest man in Dublin that day, not me

I have gone over every pixel of that mast and asked 3 people I work with and adjusted the brightness and contrast on my monitor and emailed the link to them to try aswell and we cant find the man in the mast

BarryD

Tabnabs wrote: »

Is it here?

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.218717,-6.339836,3a,75y,183.16h,65.09t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sRjxaYaa3TkXUjo4_w9dPGw!2e0

That sure looks like the gate to me

unkel

Thargor wrote: »

I have gone over every pixel of that mast and asked 3 people I work with and adjusted the brightness and contrast on my monitor and emailed the link to them to try aswell and we cant find the man in the mast

My photography skills are brutal, apologies

See the "roof" thingy just under the lowest mast securing cables? There's a round dish on the right straight under the "roof"

If you look just left and below of that dish, you'll see him in his red suit and his yellow helmet

Especially for you and your colleagues I went back to the original and cut out the relevant bit and enlarged it

Thargor

Thanks for that, still took me a while to find it in the new pic aswell...

unkel

Gasherbraun wrote: »

the start of the Castlekelly bog road?

Thinking of doing that in the morning and then from the end of the bog road up through the bog to Kippure

Any way to turn this into a looped walk (that is not going to take me all day)? Kippure - Seefingan - Corrig - back down is probably far too long and I don't even know if there is a way down off Corrig without getting into trouble / farmers land / etc.

Anything shorter? Could always go down the other bog road and then via the military road, but that leaves lots of walking on the road, so it is not appealing

Alun

If you're confident with navigation cross country, once you're on Kippure head for Eagle's Crag above the Lough Brays and then around the edge of Lough Bray Lower. When the path starts to peter out a bit head north cross country along a bit of a flat ridge and aim for the bend in the road by the little patch of forest above Glencree, only just over a km along the road back to the start of the bog road then.

Alternatively from Kippure head north to the start of the tracks where it says Castle Bog on the E-W map. Follow that for a bit and cross the river where it says Upper Moat. Up the other side of the valley to meet another track, turn left and when you meet a small road turn right and that'll take you to the military road very close again to the start of the bog road.

unkel

The bog road (Moat Road) is not my starting point Alun, I was planning to start at the start of Castlekelly bog road (Finn McCool's stone)

You have given me an idea though, I could come down off Kippure towards the Moat Road, then after crossing Moreen's brook aim north for what seems another track, meeting up with the narrow tarmac public road with loads of small inlets (for letting other cars pass). Driven on that road plenty of times too before my hiking days

Or any other ideas?

Alun

Sorry, yes that'd work. I'm not near a map at the moment, but there are routes back into Glenasmole over Brian's Hill if I recall correctly although not sure about the access situation at the bottom there.

unkel

That sounds more interesting. Kippure down to Brian's hill not incredibly boggy (never been there myself, but there seem to be loads of brooks / rivers on the map)?

Once on Brian's hill surely it would be doable to come down somewhere right side of slade brook? There is even a bit of path going there on the EW map

unkel

And that's what I did. Parked at the gate to the Castlekelly bog road. Nice weather to start but visibility became quite poor higher up. All map + compass from where the bog road ended. Saw the perimeter fence on the summit of Kippurebefore I could see the mast itself, it was that bad

Then down NNW in the direction roughly of Brian's Hill. I thought it would probably be a good idea to stay just west of Cot Brook. Nice very quite area, good few deer / birds and I saw a massive very light coloured hare, near blonde / very light brown in colour. Quite unusual. Nothing much in the way of paths but bits and pieces of sheep trails here and there. Tough going, lots of hidden holes, plenty of muck. Finally came to barbed wire fence, but there was a bit of a track between it and the brook. So I followed the gap. Got very tough at times, going through / under overgrown trees, quite steep embankments too. When I must have got quite close to my starting point I could go no further because of the thick bushes / trees. Couldn't climb over the barbed wire fence either as the farmer was fixing his fence just a stone's throw ahead of me

Couldn't go back either, so had to cross the brook. Tried stepping on some rocks, but they were far too slippy, so high risk of slipping / injury. So no other choice than to wade through. Thankfully I could see the gate less than 200m away once I was on the other side!

Alun wrote: »

not sure about the access situation at the bottom there.

Spot on

I take it you haven't come down that way in a number of years?

Alun

Sounds like a bit of an adventure

I've looked at my catalogue of GPS tracks and we've definitely come down off Brian's Hill further west a couple of times, closer to Slade Brook, crossed it at O 104 199 and then headed toward Castlekelly New Bridge where we joined the road near the reservoir. Last time we did it was in 2012.

unkel

That's what I'll do next time too