Wales visible from Lugnaquilla 19/12/2021

Sunday 19/12/2021 was a strange day for weather. To be able to see Wales from the top of Lug was surreal. I spoke to some locals from Donard in Fenton's in the Glen of Imaal and they told me they'd been climbing up regularly all their lives and never witnessed it.

The direction finder on the summit told me I was also seeing the Galtees and Keeper Hill to the west.

As I headed off I met some people who asked me about a pointy hill to the south east. It was one I couldn't identify. Mountainviews has confirmed it was Slieveboy in North Wexford. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/13/comment/23367/

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Lug from Glenmalure side

I climbed Lug from Glenmalure side. I start at bridge which crosses the Avonbeg River at the base of the Zigzags. Please use the gates and the marks to guide you… the zigzags are in very good condition. It was used as hunting trail long time ago but now they are renewed and still in use by the local farmers. As the path is still in use and it goes through sheep grazing grounds remember to leave your dogs at home and try not to scare the sheep’s. At the top of the zigzags there are a boggy trails, all of them will lead you to the fence but only one to the stairs over the fence. Please use the stairs and do not damage the fence.
When you find the stairs it is pretty straight forward. Keep on the path and everything should be ok. The path which is leading on the top of the Cloghernagh is weary easy to see. On the bad weather it is possible that it is muddy but I had the luxury of a good weather and excellent visibility.
From Cloghernagh to Lug the trail is harder to see but in good weather you just take the Lug as your target and go for it… Just be careful on your way back because there are no landmarks to follow so GPS or a map could be vital. I find my bearings using the surrounding mountain peaks.
Be careful there on bad weather. The rocky path is tricky and on some places there are holes on the path which will swallow your leg or ankle…
While I was in the middle of Cloghernegh I almost step on the hare. He jumped away but I was completely surprised. I have seen a lot of them near the Lought Dan but not so close. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/13/comment/15018/

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No parking at Aughavannagh Bridge - Ow river route up Lugnaquilla

Having climbed Lugnaquilla many times over the years via all regular routes with the exception of the Ow River/valley at Aughavannagh Bridge, I decided it was time to have a go at this route. On Friday 15th July 2022 I drove to the starting point at Aughavannagh Bridge Aghav Brg (T056 861).

The access point to this hike is via a standard Coillte gate. There is no parking at or near this gate as the entrance is not wide enough to allow a car to park and for a truck or car to pass to access the Coillte land and the signage erected by Coillte makes this very clear.

I drove for approx. 1500 meters in both directions from the bridge to see if there was anywhere else to park but there aren't any suitable parking spots. Most of the houses/farms nearby have NO PARKING signs erected on their gates/fences which leads me to believe that the locals must have had some bad experiences with people parking in and around this area.

So for the moment this route still eludes me!

[ According to MI 18th July 2022 Coillte are planning to create a small carpark near here - Admin ] Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/13/comment/23589/

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from Glenmalure

Walk Date: 23 Jul 2015. I had walked Lugnaquilla previously in 2011 from near the Glenmalure Hostel returning into the Glenmalure valley via the zig zags and walking the road back up to the car. This time we were staying nearby for a few nights and my daughter Rachel and son Dillon(dillonkdy) joined me on the climb. We climbed the same route as previously but this time returned the same way due to it getting a bit close to evening. It was a nice evening for the walk with good enough visibility and views. This time we were on the mountains for about 4.5 hrs covering over 14 Km climbing a height of 800m. See Dillon’s (dillonkdy) full story of his County High Point Challenge at https://dillons32chpchallenge.github.io/progress/index.html We also found Kieron Gribbon's High Point Ireland website (www.highpointireland.com) to be a useful source of information for our 32 County High Points challenge. Definitely worth checking out if you're planning to do any of the High Point challenges. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/13/comment/18803/

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Winter Climb of North Prison's Main Gully

The sight of the Great Sugar Loaf wearing a faint snowy hat and the desire to escape the ennui of the office convinced us to take to the hills! Discovering that the Army wasn’t using the artillery range, we resolved to make climbing the main gully on Lugnaquillia’s North Prison our objective for the day.

We parked at the first gateway to the artillery range up the rough track past Fenton’s Pub and began the long pull up Camarahill savouring the crunch and squeak of fresh snow beneath our boots. We descended the steep side of Camarahill towards the Bluffs rising steadily to gain the corrie beneath Lugnaquillia’s North Prison. Once off Camarahill the sun was surprisingly hot but the weather was fickle; kaleidoscopic clouds raced across a Prussian blue sky, occasionally grey and angry enough to generate flurries of snow. Huge granite boulders encrusted with ice lay amid drifts of snow feet thick on the outstretched arm of terminal moraine that seemed to gently coax us upwards and inwards to the corrie. Obstacles such as secret streams obscured beneath a blanket of glittering snow betrayed only by their musical tinkling, and patches of bog unseen until trodden on, slowed our pace considerably.

We located the main gully (E (T028 920)) at the back of the corrie, a white streak shooting some 200 metres upwards towards the summit. It didn’t look all that steep before we began to climb it, but appearances are deceptive. This is described as a Scot Grade I climb in the Wicklow climbing guide, but in places the slope surpasses 45 degrees and the fact that a fresh covering of snow lay atop granular, in places very unstable old snow and compacted ice, made progress difficult. Mcrtchly had to cut steps for almost the entire route and I would estimate the route in this condition was verging on a Scot Grade II endeavour. The crux of the route lay only 10 metres or so from the bottom where sheets of ice had consolidated over boulders making the use of the pick end of an ice axe essential to maintain upwards progress.

The view up the gully was superb. On the right, about half way up is a very distinctive pyramidal pinnacle of rock that was picked out sharply against a deep blue sky, making the surroundings appear and feel positively Alpine. Every so often chunks of ice and snow fell from the surrounding walls with a dull thud followed by a strident hiss as thousands of small chunks sped off down the gully.

By the time we exited the gully, cloud had enveloped the summit and we did not tarry there long as an icy wind beckoned a change in the weather. We descended rapidly in our crampons towards Camarahill surprised to see how quickly the snow had melted. Some 12kms and 8 hours later we were walking towards the warm, inviting glow of the window of Fenton’s Pub, drawn there by the cheerful sound of a jaunty Irish jig filling the quiet night and the knowledge that a glass of Guinness awaited us to celebrate our day out on Wicklow’s highest peak. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/13/comment/4574/

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