C GROUP WEEKEND IN CONNEMARA
2 – 5 MAY 2014
NEVER MIND THE WEATHER SO LONG AS - - - - - - - - - there is still a group of optimistic Mourne Ramblers heading off to the West of
Ireland to see what the Atlantic can hurl at them.
They arrived on the Friday having read the promises of all known meteorological services that
high pressure would dominate the weekend – Harry Goodman, Anna Carragher, David Coates,
Trevor Russell, Peter Magowan, Aileen Finch, Pam Quiery, Toni Taylor, Marie Hoeritzauer,
Joan Hulme, Dermot MacDermott. Dermot, as always, kept his carbon footprint to a
minimum by careful use of train and cycle from Roscommon and pulling in after his ride from
Westport with rucksacks fore and aft.
A group of earlybirds made use of a stunning afternoon by stretching legs up Tievenabinnia
(379m) across from the hotel on the other side of Killary Harbour. Access was from the wood
at the rear of the Delphi Mountain Centre. It was an excellent point for taking in a panoramic
view of all the local ranges – Partry, Sheffrey, Northern Maamturks, Twelve Bens and the
Mweelrea Circuit.
Leenane Hotel was an inspired choice by Harry. Walker-friendly, modern bedrooms, sitting
rooms and bar with a bit of history, easy access to mountains and fine cuisine. Five stars for
the porridge which was sufficiently glutinous to stick to the ribs for most of the day yet creamy
enough to demand second helpings. Our stay coincided with a walking festival which added to
the general craic and liveliness of the bar of an evening.
Saturday morning explained why the mountain behind us rises from the Col of Despondency.
The plan was to take in the Devil’s Mother as one of the two big days’ walking. Visibility was
very poor and despite Anna’s attempts to find just one optimistic forecast on her iPad, it was
gloom all round and set to become gloomier. So it was Plan B – over Leenaun Hill, almost the
same height as Devil’s Mother and still shrouded in mist down to 150m but with easier
navigation prospects. (This change of plan was much to the relief of one veteran C walker who
had read Harry’s copious file on the Devil’s Mother route and was struck by the phrase “a
challenging walk for even the fittest and most experienced hill-walker”).
Going up the Maam road out of Leenaun/ Leenane we took a lane to the right and followed a
track upstream. A fence would take us most of the way to the summit with deviations for the
occasional waterfall and crag. A feature of the Maamturks is that bog gives way quite abruptly
to a cap of quartzite, leaving shattered, sharp and slippery stones on the summits. This led to
the occasional bruised knee, ungainly fall and on one occasion crack on the skull. At 618m the
summit was fairly featureless and after the customary photo op. we moved round the
horseshoe in thick mist and speculating on the views that might have been. The reward came
on our descent, when we emerged from the mist at 250m and surveyed Killary Harbour and
the islands beyond in full sun. A couple of viewstops and checking out the wildflowers around
the stream, we passed some derelict cottages and onto the Western Way. A short walk along
the Way and we were back at the hotel – some of the girls to luxuriate in the seaweed baths
thoughtfully provided by the hotel.
Preparations for the next day centred on the age-old, brain-numbing challenge for hill walkers.
How to plan a linear walk from A to B with x walkers, z drivers and y-1 cars. On this occasion
we resolved the problem by cramming Peter into the boot of one of the cars but surely some
technophile could come up with an app for the situation.
The route for Sunday was to cover the first stage of the Maamturks Challenge Walk ( 24k and
a total ascent of 2336 m and reputedly walked in the past by some Mourne Ramblers – article
for next newsletter please). Our starting point was the car park NW of Lake Maumeen and
again a kindly fence helped us up to the first summit of Corcogmore (609m). The weather was
worse than the previous day so we settled for continuous rain and visibility of 20/30m as we
traversed the ridge. Moving round the summit pond we took a vertiginous cliff path which is
clearly best done in thick mist (or with blindfold) and took in Mullach Glas NE Top before
tackling Mullach Glas (622m). Approaching our final summit Binn Mhor, navigation became
critical because of the steep cliffs surrounding our final descent. By this stage visibility had
worsened and Harry, ever the perfectionist insisted on touching the trig point before taking
final readings and off we set on a one in three descent, made the more tricky by the loose and
sharp stones.
As on the previous day we emerged into sunlight above the Pass of Maumeen (Pass of the
birds) and saw the little chapel and holy well sitting behind the lough. Caps off to those for
whom this was only the first stage of their 24k trek. Looking back it was quite a hairy descent
in the conditions- perhaps a good thing that we did not realise it at the time. Once again the
Western Way brought us back to the cars past some very distinctive finely layered rock
formations– just 7:30pm.
A sumptuous dinner rounded off the weekend and it was thanks to Harry for organising,
managing and leading another memorable event. And yes – we’ll be back for more.
Trevor Russell
June 2014