Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => General Chat => Topic started by: Rumblebum on September 01, 2011
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Hi Folks, just to let you know that Whorya and myself have a trip planned on sat 17th sept, we will be heading up in the afternoon from the carricklittle carpark area.
Plan is to follow the river to the right hand side of annalong wood as we havnt taken that route before, then go up and spend the night on chimney rock where we shall drink wine and eat noodles! Wake up sunday morning where we will grumble for a while about our sore backs then look for the plane wreckage and hit another few peaks before heading back home.
This will be another summit camp ticked off my to do list and its not really one that id thought of doing, that makes it intreaging.
Il put up a proper post nearer the time but thought id let you know incase anyone is interested.
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Would love to come but I am away.
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This sounds interesting, i'd be interested nearer the time, once i get a chance to familiarise myself with the area.
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Hopefully my boots will have dried out by then. Damn that Drybag fella and his talk about the Mournes not being the only hills around! ;)
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We did Chimney Rock last year for a summit bivvy. Was awesome, highly recommended!
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1269.0
Can't see me getting out since I've been away 2 weeks out of the last 4 :(
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Come on jonno you know you want to, that bunch of roses you keep buying is getting bigger week by week lol
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I'm so far gone roses aren't even enough any more ::)
Come on jonno you know you want to, that bunch of roses you keep buying is getting bigger week by week lol
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I'd love to go, but I'm also away that weekend :( Not having much luck getting out lately! As RedLeader said we had a good night up on Chimney Rock last year so you should have a good one!
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Just to let you know our plans. We are hoping to set off from Rourke's Park about 5:45-6pm, heading up over the Seefins to Rocky Mountain. Once we've seen all there is on Rocky Mountain, we'll follow the wall up towards the Bog of Donard and then head off for Chimney Rock. It is forecast for a Westerly wind so may see if the torrs offer any protection on their eastern flank. In the morning we'll head back down the Long Mountain.
If anyone has any brownie points you're more than welcome to join us, or if you are up on the hill and see us, come and say hello :)
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I've never beet at Rourkes Park. Is that the other side of Annalong Wood from Carrick Little? What's it like for parking.
Just to let you know our plans. We are hoping to set off from Rourke's Park about 5:45-6pm, heading up over the Seefins to Rocky Mountain. Once we've seen all there is on Rocky Mountain, we'll follow the wall up towards the Bog of Donard and then head off for Chimney Rock. It is forecast for a Westerly wind so may see if the torrs offer any protection on their eastern flank. In the morning we'll head back down the Long Mountain.
If anyone has any brownie points you're more than welcome to join us, or if you are up on the hill and see us, come and say hello :)
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I've never beet at Rourkes Park. Is that the other side of Annalong Wood from Carrick Little? What's it like for parking.
Yes that's the one. Not really sure why it has the name, I think Park would conjure up a different image to what it is really like. I've not set off from there before, parking is limited but if you are lucky it could just cut down 1/2 mile of road walking.
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So, how did you get on?
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So, how did you get on?
Cheers for asking, I'll throw a few pics up in the next few days, but for now it would be fair to say we took a bit of a beating up there!
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Hi Paul,
Well, it was an adventure to say the least, i looked at Liams pictures of his campsite on saturday night at spelga dam, and i thought oh you jammy git lol, it looked nice and calm.
We set off at about 6 30 from the rourkes park area, one of the locals was kind enough to let us park in their yard, grabed our packs and set off at a right pace for rocky mountain, taking in Round and Long seefin.
It really did make such a difference to be on that side of annalong wood, all the small cottages and ruins that you never normally see, and trying to figure out what mountain your actually looking at, lamagan looks a rite beast to go up, its next!
Just before we headed up rocky we bumped into a sound guy from poland, the man was a machine who had got up and walked the mourne wall from 9am. He needed a beer methinks :P
From rocky we then decended back down to the wall, by this stage it was pitch black which was probably a good job as we walked on top of the wall to the bog of donard, walking the wall really saves you time but theres some serious drops at either side, and with a strong wind hittin your side its concentration the whole way
Then it was up the path to Chimney rock, it would have been good to have done a reacon for a campsite before we went up there for the night, i didnt know the area at all and as the cloud cover was low it was hard to find some where decent for the tent, after a while we found an area sheltered from the wind by a large area of boulders, this is where we had our tea, fire and the traditional bottle of wine.
All was good, we were fed, a little bit tipsy and retired to the tent for the night and fell asleep. Then it went mental, although we were sheltered somewhat from the wind, we pitched the tent head on into the breeze so that any unexpected gusts would pass rite over, this worked untill the wind direction changed and was hitting us side on, i was fine but whorya took a serious beating with the wind trying to constantly push the side in on top of him :D
We thought about getting up and turning it round 90 degrees to sort this problem but the wind was just too strong at this stage , getting all the gear out and removing the flysheet, some thing was going to get lost or ripped, sadly now i have to get two new poles as that experience has now left the originals somewhat bent and deformed.
It was a case of 'Where the fla did that come from' lol. So we got up sunday morning, packed up and went and made our fry and laughed about the whole ordeal, you just gotta take it for what it is and enjoy the experience, its an adventure isnt it. The plan was always to look for the plane wreck while we were there, and we wernt going home without trying, we found nothing lol, apart from a small carn of stones on the side of the path, maybe this marks its position?
Il find that engine yet!
All in all it was a great trip and one that neither grame or i will forget, it will give us plenty to laugh about over our next pint. I have some pics and a video that i need to get unloaded, when i figure out what im doing :-\
Alan.
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Still sounds like a great night, even with the gale! The one thing I remember about Chimney Rock was the awesome view out over the sea but I suppose if the weather was foul you probably didn't see much.
What sort of tent were you in?
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We got glimpses of the view through shifting clouds although we were a bit distracted trying to get the tent down at that point. I'd imagine on a clear day it would be cool.
The tent is a Vango Cyclone 2+, reflecting on how it 'coped' in the wind we were thinking it needed additional guy lines attached as some weak points were exposed.
I'll get pictures uploaded tonight at some point.
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Sounds like a cool trip.
I think you need those crazy nights in the hills, you get too comfortable when its always reasonable weather. A good storm shakes you up a bit, and lets you know who's in control :)
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Done a Bivvy up there few weeks back and it was clear most of the night but it was freezing!! The view is awesome just lay there looking down at all the lucky sods in there warm comfy beds. :P But couldnt think of a better place to be sleeping.
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Sun setting over Slieve Binnian, seen from Round Seefin
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/6169536307_7f8fa39947.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169536307/)
Nice wee spot for a pitch.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6152/6170076148_cb62395176.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170076148/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6173/6169542935_c6648e578f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169542935/)
This old cottage looked like a great spot for an NI Wild camp
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6177/6169546791_28d3f241c1.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169546791/)
Small cave on Long Seefin
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6179/6170084730_0b4ac683e7.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170084730/)
Route to Rocky Mountain
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6155/6170088280_e66edb9955.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170088280/)
Old shelter on Rocky Mountain
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6162/6169555945_7339fc3342.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169555945/)
Obligatory fire pic. The Torr gave great protection from the wind and rain. Great wee night spent there.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6151/6169557805_9430837d08.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169557805/)
The morning after the night before. The bent bit was my side. I reckon I got about 1hr 15 minutes sleep. My head was just where the poles cross and I had the pleasure of them hitting off my head every couple of minutes. I wonder if a guy line at that point would have helped? Unfortunately the next time the tent is pitched it may sit in the same shape :'(
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6157/6169557941_5c8c6171f5.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169557941/)
The wind had been coming from behind the torr, so we thought we had adequate protection. Then the wind changed direction.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6154/6170096312_92cff6e57d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170096312/)
Is that a glint of pot of gold?
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6157/6170102756_f76c961461.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170102756/)
Heading for Spence's Mountain
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6162/6170106424_2a09ae77d8.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170106424/)
Cairn on Spence's Mountain
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6167/6169575085_76ae4b1f33.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169575085/)
Anyone need any kerb stones?
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6174/6169580357_33477ecce7.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6169580357/)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6176/6170118872_849138183b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6170118872/)
Top trip all in all. As MG1 says sometimes the eventful ones are the ones you remember most fondly. A nice route for a day walk too.
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Good pics thanks for sharing!
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Great pics, looks like a top night. I think tents with fibreglass poles tend to have difficulties in wind because they're so flexible, probably extra guylines wouldn't help as they would be unlikely to take that sort of wind pressure all night.
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Nice pics. About the tent. Extra guy lines would of helped but the design of the tent is to have the end facing the wind. Changing wind direction is a pain in the arse.