Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Rumblebum on July 19, 2011
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I was able aquire this 3D view of the glover walk, Muckish to the far left and Errigal to the right, it shows the size comparison of the hills, i think its cool.
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Arrrrgh! Computer won't let me open it. You starting to get excited or something?
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i am matey, ive tried to get a map covering the whole glover walk and found it hard, so i talked to our 'fwiend' and i now have a copy of the whole walk, its also been sent to your email, 1: 25 000.
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Ouch, there are 60 unread emails there. Yours won't open. I'll try a different computer in a few days time. Glad a map is sorted, I've got the 1:50 000 with Altan Lough>Errigal on it anyway.
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As Rumblebum mentioned on the other thread we hit Donegal last weekend.
The pair of us went up on Friday night with the aim of climbing Muckish via the Miner's Track, summit camping, then descending the folowing morning to Muckish Gap to meet some others.
First view.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/6006438377_c31b942684.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006438377/)
We started out from near enough the quarry at 20:50. It is tight to get a car up there, I drove until the wheels could get no more traction. The climb up Muckish was great enjoying fine views over the land and out to sea.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/6006984598_fb72820d17.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006984598/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6005/6006989448_e8a3d7c2b4.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006989448/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/6006447739_1e71e81dc6.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006447739/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/6006451889_251e851729.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006451889/)
Red arrows painted on the rocks, whilst altering the envirnoment, where nevertheless a welcome guide to the top. At one place there is a little dwarf wall that has been built to guide climbers away from the wrong path. We enjoyed some great views from the top but knew we were in that last 15-20 minutes of light so we had to set up camp. A good 45 minutes is probably plenty to allow for the climb. Add a bit on for a bit of looking around.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6013/6006999334_d63b36640f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006999334/)
Having never been up the mountain before and any pictures we had seen showing a boulderfield we were pleasently surprised to find some grass areas suitable for pitching the tent on.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6006/6006454137_dae6faa8ef.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006454137/)
Some advantages to there being lots of boulders about.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/6006457137_2f580dfa99.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006457137/)
It got a little windy overnight and it gave me a bit of a broken nights sleep. It wouldn't take much to blow you right off the top, you'd probably land somewhere about Dunfanaghy.
We slept in on the morning and to make matters worse our companions were earlier! Our next task was to recover the car from the quarry, park it at Errigal, then get back to Muckish Gap to head for Errigal. This all went a bit wrong and took much longer then we had anticipated, basically Muckish takes ages to drive round. It was nearly 12pm before we actually got going.
We started off up Crooknalaragagh, following the fence on the left until the summit proper was level with us.
Looking back at Muckish. Cairns guide you down onto to the ridge on the right which leads down to the grotto at the gap.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/6007004732_347fe31c93.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6007004732/)
Crossing over the stream that flows NW out of Lough Aluirg we climbed up the broad ridge to the col between the Aghlas. From here Aghla Beg (to the right) was a quick 60m ascent, retracing our steps and ascending the 100m up to Aghla Beg South (to the left).
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/6006463265_8d5749669e.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006463265/)
Walker on the ridge.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6030/6006467781_976e063ea7.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006467781/)
Looking back at Crocknalaragagh.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6123/6006465767_d33e99a64f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006465767/)
Still having Errigal as a target we decided to by-pass the summit of Aghla More taking the most direct route possible down to Lough Altan.
The climb back up from Lough Altan is a tough one over Beaghy, Mackoght and Errigal.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6130/6006470191_b870523663.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006470191/)
Lough Altan proved to be too much of a distraction.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/6007015962_ae2ae1cee0.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6007015962/)
The owner seemed to be happy to watch from his living room.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6012/6007018090_b52ec0f93c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6007018090/)
It was now getting on for about 16:30 and we knew we were at least a tough 1 and a half to 2 hours from the top of Errigal, even with skirting Beaghy and Mackoght so we opted to follow the farm track back up to the road.
It was then off to Sleepy Hollows where we got showered and our tents set up. We then beat a track for Leo's Tavern, landing in at 19:45, in the knowledge that they stopped serving at 20:30. Of course we hadn't realised that Donegal were playing an All Ireland QF. The place was rammed and would-be diners were turned away by the car load. Thankfully after a bit of pleading Bartley (brother of Enya) got us sorted....extra time didn't help in freeing up any tables. And grateful we were, the Steak & Guinness pie is sensational.
This place is a real hive of activity, with music every night of the week during the summer and pulls in lots of American tourists and the like. A great night was had.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/6006476095_78a22a8f4d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6006476095/)
Ohh Las Vegas in the hills of Donegal......
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That's a great wee write up... Seeing your pictures has got me well excited about heading down there on the 19th.
:D
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Was looking at this to get some training in for Peru , Maps is the issue does anyone know what map covers this?
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Hi Windy, the maps situation for the walk we covered is a bit annoying since it is split over two.
The OSI Discovery Series 1:50 000 map 1 covers the westerly part of the walk from Errigal to Aghla More (moving from West to East). It is difficult to say what the rest (Aghla Beg to Muckish) is on (we had a printed section for that), looking at the back of Map 1 it could be either Map 2 or Map 6. You'd be best to have a look at it before buying.
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Rumbledown
" i am matey, ive tried to get a map covering the whole glover walk and found it hard, so i talked to our 'fwiend' and i now have a copy of the whole walk, its also been sent to your email, 1: 25 000."
Any chance I could get a copy