Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => Meets, places, trips and reviews => Topic started by: whoRya on December 28, 2011
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Myself and Rumblebum took the opportunity of being off work to head to the mountains. Starting at the Ott carpark (Blue Quarry?) we headed up the Ott track then up and over Doan then over to Ben Crom.
Visibility was poor so for the first part of the walk the camera was left in the snugness of its case. From the summit of Doan we took a bearing to take us down and over the Ben Crom river and up to a point halfway up the lower slopes of Ben Crom. We then moved along the side of the mountain to have a look at what the gullies looked like from below. A few pics below show the rest the journey.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6584318893_656d56dd64.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584318893/)
Rumblebum takes on the boulderfield
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6584326453_d9de3dd8e8.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584326453/)
Summit gully from below
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6584330363_82e0951f6d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584330363/)
Rumblebum takes a look at the summit gully. I think the deceased mountain dweller told us everything we needed to know!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6584334691_22b98ac54d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584334691/)
Looking up the next gully
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6584343569_3d63219abb.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584343569/)
Taking a breather on the gully
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6584348813_b94db1383c.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584348813/)
Looking back down the gully
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6584358825_883bfe0a8a.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whorya/6584358825/)
I feel like I have really climbed Ben Crom now. As I have read elsewhere the summit gully is very difficult with large boulders to overcome and wet slimy conditions - not to be undertaken without adequate protection. The secondary gully was steep and flows out onto the lower slopes and the whole way down the mountain. There is obviously an inherrent risk when climbing the steep flank of a mountain and care must be taken to ensure that adequate foot placement and handholds are used. The gully got steeper towards the top but the feeling of getting to the top was great.
Another great day out!
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Always wanted to do Ben crom that way,looks like you had fun
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i've yet to do ben crom and that way certainley looks interesting, we were looking at the castle of commedagh yesterday think it would be great to spend a day exploring those gullys, but as you say, its risky :o
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Those gullies look really cool. We got stuck trying to climb down one on the gullies on Ben Com not sure which one it was. The weather was really bad and it had a waterfall flowing down. Luckly we were able to get back out of it ok.
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Those gullies look really cool. We got stuck trying to climb down one on the gullies on Ben Com not sure which one it was. The weather was really bad and it had a waterfall flowing down. Luckly we were able to get back out of it ok.
I'm usually game to have a go at climbing up anything. You're brave going down the way, think I'll leave that for a very dry day.
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It was a pretty stupid idea. No one got hurt so lucky enough. Would like to try climbing up it.
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Hi guys,
Does anyone have any co-ordinates for the entrance of Great Gully on Ben Crom?.
I spent a whole day yesterday poking around the gullies, climbing up several (Not Summit Gully!!!) but being forced to turn back or climb out of them.
I think we might have found Great Gully at the end, however we did not have enough time left to ascend and descend safely.
Anyone got a GPX file of the Great Gully route?
General advice: Wear a helmet on any gully route. My mate dislodged a large stone that almost hit me on the head. Silly to take a risk when a cheap helmet will make a huge difference.
J