majestic meanderings from Glenade

Keeloges provides a striking counterpart to the vertical escarpments falling from Tievebaun and Truskmore across the floor of Glenade valley - a worthy rival to the more famous and travelled Glencar. It has a majestic presence from below - the rocky buttresses fitting like a well worn crown above steep scree spattered slopes.

The approach is as easy as could be, parking next to St Michaels church (G (G803 503)) which has loads of parking! A short walk south along the R280 brings a lane with an adjacent iron gate, cross the gate into the field and follow the path taken by tractors uphill. This leads easily uphill towards the towering slopes and cliffs ahead. A new fenceline and ditch have to be negotiated as head for a significant gully and landslip which has thrown a trail of debris far down the mountainside.

To the right of this gully a lush green track switches back and forth up the steep hillside, making surprisingly light work of the climb - this was late in the evening with fading light and a pack with camping gear. Looking along the slope aspect brought home just how steep it was and the clatter of falling stones as sheep crossed areas of scree confirmed my sight. As i neared the crest, between towers of rock on either side, a pair of ravens hovered not far overhead screeching at my presence in thier domain. The lights atop Truskmore casting an eerie glow as mist passed. On level ground the headtorch came out and i found my way to Lough Keeloges - the strong northerly wind pushing the water ashore. Tent pitched and hot food consumed a fairly comfortable night ensued, wind and the odd skiff of rain present on my hourly wake up.

Come morning a short hop and skip brought the prominent top, which provided a stunning vista across Glenade to the ice gouged sides of the valley and the heights of Truskmore and Tievebaun. My eyes roamed over the length of Donegal Bay from the heights of Slieve League to the Bluestacks, the beach at Bundoran and part of Lough Melvin. To the south were the crazily jumbled line of the Castegal Hills and the higher hills of Briefne culminating with Cuilcaigh.

A beautiful hill, imposing, dramatic and inspiring from below. From atop the views just add to the experience making this a relatively modest price to paid for the riches it pays out. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/611/comment/4683/

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A little gem of a hill

We approached Keeloges from the SE as the final hill in a round (Sat 22 May 2010) that had also included Arroo Mt, Aganny Top and Aghalateeve. (See also my comments on each of the other hills.) From Aghalateeve we dropped down NW to cross a stream, and then up to Pt 442 H (G81400 49725), passing across flat marshy ground with a number of small fenced in boggy areas. Pt 442 is a rocky promontory just S and above beautiful Lough Keeloges nestling in a hallow below the tiny summit of Keeloges. Our route took us down to the Lough and then around and along its W side, on a good stoney surface, for the short and easy climb up to the top and a superb viewpoint. This final hill of the day proved to be one of great character, with suberb views in whatever direction we choose to look. Close at hand to the W, or so it seemed, were the high hills of the Dartry Range, Tievebaun and Truskmore, while N beyond Bundoran across Donegal Bay was Slieve League and the long ridge of the Bluestacks. E across the valley was Arroo Mt our first top of the day and SW was the bumpy ridge of the Castegal Range across Glencar. This is a top on which to sit and while away a bit of time simply soaking up the atmosphere and scenic delights all around. We did just that. When there we met another walker who told us he was intending to descend by the zig zags on the steep escarpment just below and to the W of Lough Keeloges. Indeed from where we were sitting we could clearly see his intended path zig zaging down the slope. However as this route would have added an extra 2k of roadwalking back to the car we opted to continue with the planned route down. We descended by following the edge of the escarpment down NNE then up and over a subsidiary top before dropping down steeply and carefully away from the precipitous edge to meet a well constructed farm track I (G81900 50600), which we followed down for some 2.8k to the road and the sting in this "tale". On the way down, near the road there were a number of houses and, while we could hear voices from time to time we did not meet up with any of the residents. At the road was a notice indicating that the track we did come down was a " Private Road- No Entry". At the road we turned right and had a walk of about !k back to the start of our round J (G80481 52522). For anyone wishing to follow our round or to use the farm track for access it would be prudent to seek permission at one of the houses near the start of the track. More wisely I would suggest that you use the access to or from the hill by way of the zig jag path mentioned to us by the walker we met on the top and also identified by gerrym in his post of 5 May 2010 starting or finishing at St Michaels Church in Glenade K (G80300 50300). In total our round of the four tops (Arroo Mt, Aganny Top, Aghalateeve and Keeloges) was just under 18k and a memorable and rewarding day in the hills. Without doubt this is a hill well worth climbing in its own right. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/611/comment/5848/

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madfrankie on Keeloges

We approached Keeloges head-on from Glenade. Once you've negotiated the rough farmland you can pick up the nettle-infested zig-zag track that steeply ascends to the summit plateau. Keeloges's grassy summit knoll rises to your left, and as you continue, the lovely Lough Keeloges comes into view. It even has a tiny beach. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/611/comment/3898/

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madfrankie on Keeloges

Not a very good shot, but I had to use my rather dodgy camera phone, having lost my camera on the ascent (thankfully found on the way back down) Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/611/comment/3899/

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