Myself and my brother are training at the minute for the Mourne Seven Seven’s in August so we have been trying to get a few decent walks in over the last few months. On Sunday 2nd June we headed off early, me lifting him at 6am and leaving the carpark on the Trassey road at 7am. I love this time of the morning, you seem to have the whole of the Mournes to yourself. We followed the Trassey Track to the wall at Hare’s Gap where there was still a bit of low cloud hanging over the peaks.
Looking along the Brandy Pad where Slieve Comedagh and Slieve Donard are covered in cloud
We followed the wall straight up now to the summit of Slieve Bernagh where there was no visibility at all. I have yet to get to the top of this mountain when there is clear visibility . Descending Bernagh towards Slieve Meelmore the sun started to break through and we could see Silent Valley Reservoir, Doan and Lough Shannagh.
Next up was the summit of Slieve Meelmore where we stopped for a quick snack helped by our 3 dogs, Bailey the springer, Jess the Lab and Izzy the Collie.
We continued following the wall to the summit of Sieve Meelbeg and then on to the summit of Slieve Loughshannagh. This was new ground for the both of us. I took this wee panorama from here.
From here we headed across country to meet the Ben Crom River and then branched off it and round the bottom of Ben Crom and dropped down to the dam where i couldnt resist getting down close to the water for another shot while there was good views to be had
We followed the reservoir to the other end to the shelter stone and from here up the valley back to Hare’s Gap
By the time we got back to the car we had done just over 13 miles and were feeling it in the legs, the dogs were still running around like mad things with their tails wagging. Their energy amazes me. All in all it was a great morning out and im hoping to get another few of these in before the Seven Sevens in August with maybe the Mourne Wall walk squeezed in sometime in July too .
