This Year

There was three groups in totally led Steve Twomey,Helen Ryan and John Carroll and Susie Heck co-led in some sort of unstoppable super group. The climb up was quite enjoyable if painful and once the top was reached there was a magnificent three tier human tower built I'm surprised no one was injured in this venture. As we made our way down we were greeted with the amazing site of a man jumping of the top with a big yellow parachute. It was a beautiful site and the quickest way down the side of a mountain I've ever seen.

When we reached the bus we headed to Kilarney and had some food etc.. We then left for Cork around 19:00. There was an excellent sing-song on the bus with the French doing there country proud. It was definitely a 12 point performance. Back in Cork we visited the star and enjoyed free finger food and a drinks promotion, so thanks very much to the western star for there generosity. It twas great day out and I hope everyone who went out had a good time and that we will see you all again next Sunday. 

We eventually reached the point of the beginnings of our travels and we departed the buses, with a style and finesse never before seen in the disembarkment of buses. We threw on waterproofs, it was raining (gasps of shock) and we split into our groups. Again this week there was 3 groups led by the one and only Steve,John Carroll and Susie Heck co-led again in some sort of unstoppable super group and I lead the other one with Helen lending a hand.Paddy Clifford, Askea and Clare backmarked for the groups.

My group went up the left hand ridge and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We somehow found the cairn on top and stopped for some chomps. We then made our way down to the bus, where we were greeted with a torrential down pour.After we were all changed we headed to Youghal were pints were consumed and fun was had by all. In Cork the star kept up their " 5 star " performance with free food and drinks promotion. Unfortunately I didn't see much of the food and I had to get involved in some thievery. Sincere and apologies most humble, I'm very sorry.

We set of on the way up in Helens group after a stroll along the road and path. There was much waiting around due to the almost vertical nature of the ground but as always everyone's spirits were very high. There was much wind and rain but some how the top was reached by the intrepid few.

The groups got off the mountain and headed to Bantry where a few of us saw a very different side to this lovely historic town. It was all good. I'm sure a good day was had by all.

It was the Sunday of the Cork Jazz Festival…Moral was high as we left Gaol Cross at 8.30 am, although the troops were at an all time low (?)(for this year, but otherwise better check the archives!), only 36 dedicated hard core mountaineers! ONLY JOKING! The clocks had changed, so although it was officially 8.30, it felt like 9.30…to some of us anyway!

So, with (only) one of PJ’s buses we made our way towards Killarney and the Daly Diner for food and other facilities, and then on to Tralee(having made sure there were 36 of us as opposed to any other number!). The weather kept changing, and so did Mr Feeney’s motivation to go hiking!

The Slieve Mish Mountains are along the same peninsula as Dingle, but to the north.The highest peak, Baurtregaum, reaches a respectable 851m. (no Susie they are NOT in West Cork!! As we say in french, ‘Passons’J !) PJ dropped us by the national school along the Castlegregory road, where having taken all the gear available, we made our way up to the Dingle way, about 60m across the bog. The weather threatened to break, but that didn’t seem to worry the French Twins who happily hiked in shorts!J

Having reached the Dingle way, we broke up the groups, John leading one and I the other (BOOHOO! That was the end of the John and Susie Supergroup!L ) Steve and Askea did great backmarking!J Thanks guys! Like all self respecting(?) Irish mountains, Slieve Mish is a horse shoe. John group headed straight up a spur to Derrymore East and Scragg(657m), before following the ridge to Ban Tri gCom (as Gaeilge!), Caherconree and Gearhane, and then down a spur to the bus… My group was supposed to do that hike but in the opposite direction…somehow that didn’t happen!J  I ‘lead’ my group up through a little vallee where the Derrymore river flows, along the side of the side of the spur we were supposed to take and up onto an unnamed peak at 723m. There we stopped for a very wind swept lunch and the on to the summit. From there we travelled east along the ridge above Scragg and the down an unnamed spur east of the Derryquay river.

We got back to the bus about 15 mins before the other group….The weather didn’t break all day and we even got to see Mt Brandon (class!). Mr. Feeney can confirm that it doesn’t always rain on Slieve Mish!!J How nice it was to get back to the bus dry and not get soaked while getting changed!(the Comeraghs, anyone?)The other group also had a good hike(I think!) and everyone was back at the bus before dark….It was definitely a cool day! PJ then drove us to Kilarney where we made the traditional stop at the Vintage, Den Joes and Busy Bees for an hour…

I am NOT knocking the Vintage, but it isn’t always as lively as it was Sunday night! There were quite a few locals and a ‘band’(or whatever you think is best to describe it!)was playing. It definitely livened things up! There was a really nice atmosphere in the pub…not that the atmosphere is ever anything but nice…The sing song on the way home was memorable, even if our chief sing song expert(Barry J ) wasn’t present…We even made an attempt at ghost riders!J Like all great things, the day had to come to a successful end and a few of us ended up in the Star for one(?)….

We reached the bottom of the worst road in the world at about 10:40 and we flaked on the waterproofs and got ready to go. Once we reached the top of that stupid road we split ourselves into two groups. One group did the coom-lougha(?) horse shoe (beekeragh,carrauntohill,caher) led by BrYan "budge" Feeney and backmarked by Anto and Someone else. The other group went up Caher to Carrauntohill and back down Caher. This group was led by Stephen "hotpants" and backmarked by me myself, Barry.I must say I really enjoyed the walk even if all you could see was cloud, it was really windy and the rain was wet. It was still a great day.

It was great to see so many happy faces on the way down and there was some amazing photos taken at the lake. We meet up with the other group and trudged on to the bus which was just around the corner (?????). We stopped in Kate Kearneys where we enjoyed some nice food and a pint. We also got to see the east Kerry division b section 5 football semi-final winners in there with there coach. The journey home was amazing with some great singing from Martha, Brian and Anto (and me). The christmas Carols sung from Macroom were also quite fantastic. It was a great day and I'm quite happy to be back in the swing of things see everyone next Sunday.

Everyone pulled on their wet gear not really knowing what to expect. There was two groups one led by the legendary Mike Clifford and backmarked by ??? the other group was led by Steve and I backmarked. We just went straight up from that gap with the name I can't remember while Mikes group was going to the pocket side to do the horse shoe. We had an enjoyable mud scramble up to the 546 spot height and all was good. But once we reached the top of Mulliginatin things changed and the wind really picked up. We decided that we had to go down and desended cautiously in very strong winds.

Once down we got out of our wet clothes and waited for the others who turned quite soon after we arrived. Surprisingly everyone was still in good spirits and off to Killarney we headed. We were nearly stuck in the classic cars rally, but if they took the time of our bus I think we were in with a good chance. Once we were in Killarney we realised that our beloved car park was blocked to buses by some l#@%*rs. So The vintage had to be skipped due to adverse weather conditions and the lack of parking. So we stopped in the daly diner where we actually gave them some custom. We also met the people from Cappanlee there and they seemed to have had a great weekend. I'm going to be honest and say that this wasn't the best day out I have ever had with the club but it wasn't the worst by any means, I hope everyone one else got enjoyment out of it.

We had a fair ould stroll along the road but sure it had to be done. We took a spur up to stoompa and everyone was in great spirits. On the last pull up to the summit the weather got a little worse but nothing serious. Once we reached the top the fun really started everyone just seemed to start messing. There was extreme bor jumping, the introduction of the three hags ( may they rest in peace to haunt the hills) and other such ridiculous behaviour great craic. We also got to see one of the most beautiful spots that I know of. Many rivers flowing into the Cladda valley have created a magnificent valley which is really a site to behold.

Now was it just me or was it really our leaders intention to make us cross every river at least once because it was definitely a sucess but I love getting wet though I'm not too sure about other people. We got back to the bus after a savage road walk and headed for Macroom. We enjoyed some rather slow fast food but in the end it was worth the wait as I sampled one of the worlds finest chicken burgers. There was great singing on the bus and everyone joined in (cept for those asleep). This walk was absolutely magnificent and I had a great day. Also well done to everyone who led for the first time ye all did a great job.

I was in Ruths group and the planning for battle had begun before we had even hit the hills we were ready for mortal combat. The stroll up was nice and relaxing and when the cloud cleared there were some lovely views. There was a magnificent ridge on the way up and this also proved to be rather enjoyable. The top was a rather barren landscape which reminded me personally of the moon and the perfect place to begin a war. To John Healys delight Ruth finally decided to eat lunch and we joined her. We got ourselves into the frame of mind for WAR. After lunch we strolled onwards apprehensive and ready to die for the cause.

After about 15 mins walking like rabid dogs, crazed lunatics or scary mountaineers with coats they charged. Unfortunately for them they had to cross a bog and a fence before they reached us ( good military planning Tom hehehe). The tomatoes and mud flew and it was not a place for the faint hearted. John Carroll was the first to fall as the mighty war machine that was Ruths group clanked into action. Our attempts to tie people up with tape failed due to the poor quality of my tape (sorry) but still we fought on. Tomatoes were flying everywhere and some devious woman (Clare) shoved some of the aforementioned fruit down poor Stephens pants. But our captain can adapt amazingly and he now has quite a meaningful relationship with the fruit. The battle then died down and we cleared up our rubbish.

We were ready to go until Finbar had to go and mention Heartbreak Ridge. The mud was just too attractive and so begin the most epic mud fight ever seen. It was flying left and right, up and down, there was head shots, body shots and gobshites jumping into the mud. Twas the most fun I have had in ages. Eventually the fun had to stop and we kitted up to head down. I would just like to pass on my condolences to the other group cause we kicked your ass in combat I know ye did yer best but thats just not good enough.

Anyway we walked down and stuff and everyone was in great form if not a bit muddy. The decent was a bit tough but everyone did well and we got back to the bus in okay time. Some misfortune befell the other group but thankfully everyone got hame safe and thats all that matters. We headed to Killarney and did the usual.

So that was that for what I would like to call a Very good first half of the year. Thanks to everyone who came out in the first half I hope ye had some memorable days cause I know I did and I hope to see everyone next year. From all the Committee Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We arrived at the church and made ready and we all set off at 11:00. There were three groups led by Anto, Stephen and Clare with Susie, Martha and John Doing the backmarking duties. The group I was in went up the spur to the 590m spot height and we headed for the first pap. It was a grand stroll and everyone seemed in good spirits. There was a bit of ice snow on the sheltered side of the mountain and there was much interest from those of us who never really see the stuff. We headed down to the col where the groups merged into what can only be described as one large congregation of people there was ice and falling and sliding and it proved to be quite enjoyable.

We got to the top of the second pap and we headed down. There was much fun had throwing stones on to a frozen over lake ( no it was brilliant really). After the distraction of the lake we setteled into the long long road walk and finally got back to the bus. We headed of to Macroom to eat the finest Chicken Burger in the world. Everyone then headed to don's pub and pints etc. were consumed. After we reached Cork a good crowd headed to the Star where we stayed for a bit consumed more pints and considered ways to achieve world peace!!

"Look at all around nothing but blue skies

Look straight ahead nothing but blue skies"

_{I can see clearly now – Hothouse Flowers}

Well the sky the blue and the air clear and fresh in fact the forecast was damn fantastic (better than a summers day) so the shoes were found, the woolly hats dusted off and the crowds gathered at Gaol Cross at the usual ungodly hour – and how they gathered – we filled a big bus and a mini and still 4 extra cars were pressed into service (did we make the century?).Gougane Barra, that holy and peaceful spot, was the aim with our mission to conquer the hills. We ended up splitting in 5 groups.

There was a super-elite breakaway group – John H, Brian Fantastic and Damian looking resplendent in spotless white trousers – who RAN off (at least while in our line of sight) looking for scrambles. I made the wise choice of aligning myself with Liam and Helen’s standard fast group – a well-matched group, who found our own pieces of rock to play in, and in Paddy Clifford’s case, fall off. And were the first-aiders delighted by this! Karen and Claire almost came to blows to see who could get to him first. After some impressive bloodstains and professional affairs we carried on with the invalid, cheered on by Rory’s endless supply of choccie biscuits – excellent backmarking skills that man - and debating such weighty matters as how many meters in a yard (are Anto and Karen talking again yet?).

Meanwhile, Steve and Askea were harrying us from behind with their supergroup of almost 40. Top marks to Steve for jogging back 2km when someone realised they’d lost a bag. Unfortunately all the effort was for naught – it turned out it had been left on the first hill of the day and not even our noble leader wanted to walk back that far. So if you come across a rucksack filled with mouldy sandwiches next year you’ll know whence they came.So who else was out? Oh, yes, Susie, JC and Ruth marshalled the other group in the widdershins (anti-clockwise for non-English speakers) direction before collapsing under their own weight into 2 subgroups – one of which ploughed on till the bitter end while the rest dropped straight down from the col at the western end into Gougnae Barra itself for a tranquil walk back to the forest.

Top marks for the day had to go to Patrice from Barcelona – arrived in Ireland (and UCC) only 2 days before and she was out on the hills not knowing what she was letting herself in for. Glad you had such a good time – but be warned it won’t always be this pretty!It was a class day out, - Gougane was (as usual) boggy and hummocky underfoot but the FANTASTIC, STUPENDOUS, UNBELIEVABLY EXCELLENT, views kept us in a state of constant delight. Even the small pockets off mist were appreciated as a great backdrop to the brown hills. I suspect that not only was it record turnout but record number of photos too. We came back to the lake-shore, to feed the swans (or at least talk about it before realising we were hungrier); paddle and, in Barry’s case go for a brief swim. Most of us paid our respects at the church on Finbarr’s island, and visited the money tree (see Silvia’s photos).

Then homeward via a pub tour of Gougane, Macroom and the Star. The only problem is, having been to Gougane Barra under such tip-top conditions – can we bear to sully the memory of an idyllic day by ever returning there again?

After the previous weeks walk in the beautiful setting of Gougane Barra (see report above), this walk had a lot to live up to, in terms of weather, scenery and crowds. Reflecting back on the walk now I'd say it bagged all three. The Sunday morning dawned bright, clear and most importantly dry, good omens I surmised, leaving the house on the way down to the bus. Word of mouth was obviously spreading regarding the merits of a Sunday stroll with UCCMC, as when I arrived at Gaol cross there was a veritable horde of people there, a good few new but with a good leavening of Hardened veterans to balance it all out. Our leaders must have been prior informed, or else had divine inspiration along the line, as they had not only the big bus standing by but also a mini bus. This convoy along with the help of some cars got everyone to the destination.

The banter was loud on the buses and the morale was high as we journeyed to the quiet and sleepy town of Tallow. The objective here was to kit our ration packs for the day's hike, which was accomplished with speed and ease. Just one point to note on the bus was the playing of a particularly effective but utterly cruel and heartless joke on the author of this piece, but following the incident all signed non-disclosure agreements so that's enough of that, for now...(Yes Barry, I haven't forgotten...don't know...time...place...revenge will be sweet). All done it was back on the bus, for the remainder of the short journey to the stopping site in the vee between the mountains we would conquer that day.

On reaching the vee, everyone rapidly filed out and the assembly of the leaders, groups and gear was started. There was to be four groups, two for each side of the road, covering the mountains on each side of the road. The groups would then hike the same routes in opposite directions. This all sorted itself out into four groups with Anto, Barry, Rory and myself leading and Martha, Ruth, Brian and Liam backmarking. Now the weather at this stage deserves a mention. After a great start it clouded over and threatened ominously with rain. Half way up the hill it was sunshine all round. At the top of this hill, it was just a tad blustery, as in people had trouble moving forward. Following this, rain and cloud, succeeded by sunshine again as we moved along the ridge at the base of the second summit. Here I must digress for a moment. From our position at the base of the second mountain, we spied Rory's group moving perpendicular to us along a ridge to the cairn at the top, and we endeavoured to follow him, in fact beat him, to it. The failure of this venture must in no way retract form the exceptional performance of my group at this stage. My U.S. Marines (Barry- Interesting) (Patrick, Jo, Jerry, Paul and Blake) in particular must be commended for 'exceptional resolve and speed above and beyond' the call of normal hiking. In any case Rory made it to the cairn first and was firmly fortified when we arrived. Nonetheless, both groups joined for lunch in a chilling wind and biscuits were offered as peace tokens between the leaders.

At the conclusion of lunch both groups hurriedly moved off, spurred on by the fact that we were now standing in a veritable snow blizzard! Talk about all four seasons in one hike. This slight weather inclemency however, did little to diminish the groups morale, in fact just the opposite. I think everyone found the snow a bit of novelty, which made the walk back to the bus a bit unusual (snow kicks rains ass any day) and enjoyable with just a hint of magic to it! The song 'walking in a winter wonderland' sprang to a few peoples minds I'm sure.

Luck or the Gods, stopped the snow on arrival at the buses, bring forth the sunshine once again, for the 20 minutes or so it took to get changed and back on the bus. The rain resumed as soon as the buses started moving again stopping when we got off at Lismore for the pub and food, and resuming yet again on the drive back to Cork. Some one on high was definitely watching over us that Sunday, now if only we could get that every Sunday, that would be legendary! With the usual singsong from Martha, Ruth, Anto, Barry and Steve to name but a few the buses reached the western road, followed by a brief sojourn in the Star, where we somehow got our hands on a free chicken curry( those of us who were fast enough that is! As they say the early bird catches the worm). In all. it was a great day; everyone enjoyed it and the new people I knew of were back the following week, which said it all. What's left to say but, Roll on next week.....

Writer Extraordinary

This Sunday , well it would be different. The weather forecast was ominous. Not great in the morning getting worse in the afternoon. Irish forecasters can be slightly off predicting the good weather; with bad weather they get it roght with alarming frequency. The person responsible for bringiong the good weather escaped this week, but we'll get them next week come hell or high water Gerard!( explanation in Gougane Barra report). Despite the rather gloomy weather predictions, we were off to see the famed and spectacular Reeks in Kerry. The crowd gathered at Gaol Cross was admittedly much smaller this week. Notably absent were some of our hardened veterans (Martha, Ruth, Anto, Clare, Helen, Askea and a good few others, guys where were ye??). Not deterred however, courageous bunch that we are, we departed as usual at 8:30 heading for Killarney.

The bus journey down to Daly's was very quiet, with many of our hikers dozing peacefully myself included. The explanations varied from the night before, the early start hour, to partying. In any case having made our customary stop in Daly's diner and having picked up supplies in the shop, it was off on the road again for the short journey to the reeks. Following the debarkation of the bus at stop and the splitting of the gear we all headed up the gap to the car park at the head of the glen. The road was long and the wind strong, but after a short time, we had all battled up there as one super group. Continuing on we took the short cut over the field and onto the path into the glen. Along the way the group split. Barry and Rory would lead one group up the bone along the ridge and down the heavenly gates and out the path. The other group led by myself and Steve would do the same but in the other direction. As well as this there was another group going doing somthing else themselves cause there hardcore.

The other two groups moved swiftly on, climbing up into the cloud covered Reeks with the wind picking steadily up. After reaching the Kerry Mountain Rescue hut and stopping for lunch, we ascended the steep, heavily eroded path to the Heavenly Gates. Disappointingly we must have missed Saints Peter and Paul on their lunch break, as they weren't at their posts. This being said a rather breath-taking view and a nice patch of snow, made up for their absence. The peak of Cauranthuahill remained hidden in cloud and whipped by high winds, so we turned our backs on it this time, vowing we'd be back for the reeks ridge walk. Moving on to the top of the Devil ladder, which in recent times has been know for very heavy erosion, we headed through a rather 'blustery' patch which was godd fun, but i think was alittle eye opener for the new people. Nonetheless we ploughed on, despite losing my map to the wind(it was thankfully recovered by one of the group legendary), movng up along the ridge towards the top of the bone, which was where Barry and Rorys group had come up. On reaching this we started a pretty long descent over some scrambling terrain. We had at this stage not seen Barrys group who we, it turned out at the bus, had passedsomewhere in the fog and Cloud. Continuing on the descent we eventually finished and having gained the road, heade back tot he bus using the inward route.

Arriving back at the bus, tires but happy after a day's walk, which had the general consensus of being pretty cool, people changed and sat back for the short ride to Killarney. Here food and pints were consumed with equal gusto, the atmosphere was relaxed and there was a simultaneous four-person massage ( on photo somewhere). A small sing-song on the bus wqas the order of the day on the bus journey. The days exertions had obviously taken there toll, as just a very small band of us headed to the Star for refreshment. With the weekend away to Lauragh sorted, talk turned to the destination for the hike following that: Cnoioc Everest.....

So this time around we started from the Limerick Side of the Galtees and very pretty it was. The weather was glorious and we were ready for action.Ciaran the local man guided Helen and Toms groups through the undergrowth while Askeas group would later struggle without this Local Knowledge. Helen and Askea would take long walks the opposite ways around while Tom went on a shorter but still quite long walk. I was in Toms group. Unfortunately at seperate times myself and Ruth had to take down people who were not feeling too well. So my day ended a bit short, but I still managed to go on an adventure stroll through some fields and hide from the farmer. The other groups all gort back safe and well evn though they had to hack there way through the undergrowth.

We stopped in Michelstown again and enjoyed some quality live music (spoof!!!!) and had a few pints. We then just headed home and looked forward to next week as you do. I think that a good day was had by all as usual and we'll see everyuone whenever.

Unfortunately we missed the group due to our late time of departure, where 9:30 is the definition of late. So our motley crew of 5 ended up being split up Mike, Helen and Meide headed home Martha walked from Castlegregory to Cloghane and I went on a Stroll in the Hills where I managed to meet up with Susies group backmarked by Liam maybe I ain't too sure. They were following the yellow route along the side of the Faha ridge up the steep Zig-Zags up to Bradon and down to the spur by Mastiompan (sorry bout my dreadful spelling I am yet to apologise for it but here is the first one), and I think they headed across the lowest point of the Faha ridge to avoid that shitty road walk. Anto led a group the opposite way and John lended a hand with Ciaran back marking.

Me being the anti-social fellow that I am flaked of on his own to partake in a stroll, so I can't tell you what the rest of them got up to but I did hear things about great boulders and stuff. The journey was grand and I was a bit tired we tried to sing but that was shocking but Anto and Clare kept us entertained with some amazing jokes. But special mention must go to Swiss MArtin and the orgasm joke that Anto was made the butt of simply Brilliant.

There was to be two groups one would try and do the whole thing led by Susie and backmarked by Askea while Helen with Tom backmarking led another walk which would also do a substantial portion of the walk. We set off up the steep start ready for action the weather was glorious, the type of weather thats not too hot or too cold perfect. As we were trying to do the whole thing we moved at a good pace and didn't stop too often. The views were fantastic and you could see for quite a good distance. There was much fun had by all in the boulder fields where it seemed that Susie and John were calling for breaks ever 5 minutes so they could go hug rock, but I must admit that nearly all of us partook in some of this interesting activity.As we headed for the second last ascent of the day disaster struck. Susie went over very badly on her ankle.

Thankfully she was just about able to walk with help so Bryan and some others stayed back with her while John took over the group and brought us down. The descent was good craic with extreme mountain downhill running taking place in abundance. Once to the col John ran off into the distance to go do the whole thing while the rest of us went down and out onto the road. We got back to the bus and meet up with other group who were just back. Myself, Liam and Tom then headed back in the road with headtorches and stuff because it was about 18:00 it took a while for Susie to appear and we were all a bit worried but eventually they appeared looking very tired and sore. We got back to Cork around half eleven just in time for pint in the Star. An interesting day.

The views were truly spectacular around the ridge and the walk was made all the easier by the presence of this stunning vista. Anyway all we basically did was walk around. We saw some cool fire and got back to Kate Kearneys around eight that night. All I can say is thumbs up for finishing in a pub.

After refreshments and food we returned to the bus where there was a singing/shouting competition between the Irish and the French. Needless to say Ireland won. This was a great way to finish of the clb walking in Ireland for the Year and long may the Reeks Ridge continue.