The little tin bothy

Just like MV member Geo recently did, I also fulfilled a long held wish to climb Slieve Carr. Carr is widely held to be the most remote hill in Ireland, using a definition of being furthest away from roads, houses and people. The summit is about 14 kms from the nearest road along the Bangor Trail. The Trail is a 30km route that takes you through the area of near-wilderness of North Mayo in which Slieve Carr is situated. The Trail is little more than a guessing game at times as it passes through the most remote expanses of bog, and you need your wits about you when the bad weather closes in! The Trail skirts the SW slopes of Carr, and most people approach Carr from the north or south along it. Other hardy souls make a beeline from the west or east across vast expanses of bog or through kilometres of forest. This route is shorter, but equally challenging. It’s also possible to combine Slieve Carr with Nephin Beg.
Rather than going for a marathon 28km there-and-back hike in one day, I opted to stay overnight at a ‘tin bothy’ I had read about near the half way mark of the Trail. I planned to head to the bothy and sleep there after climbing Nephin and Carr. I started from the south and followed the Trail for several kms. This section is well marked, easily followed and a great warm up as you follow a river valley. Nephin Beg S Top is reached after about 4.5kms and I branched off the Trail to climb it. From here I continued on to the main Nephin Beg top. The views back to Glennamong and Corranabinnia were great in between the heavy rain showers.

After Nephin Beg there is a steep descent to the col with Slieve Carr. Carr presented as a hulking mass with steep sides from this angle. I had a heavy rucksack weighing 18-20 kilos. Because of this I was slowed down considerably and I was tired after several hours walking after an early start driving from Dublin. I decided to head straight for the tin bothy and attempt Carr the following morning. As I diverted back down onto the Bangor Trail in the vast bog below I dreamed of a comfortable, warm bothy, with a fireplace and furniture. I wearily reached the tin bothy an hour from Nephin Beg, my rucksack getting heavier in the trudge through the bog. As I reached the bothy I was presented with the sight of a ramshackle tin box with a hole in the roof and broken plywood floor. As I stepped inside the 7 x 9 foot box the floor cracked further as it was soaked from the rain coming in the open door and broken roof. I made the most of it and had a surprisingly comfortable night, enjoying the absolute silence of this most remote of Irish places.

Carr was climbed the next day and it was a surprisingly ordinary mountain, with boggy peat hags, small rock fields and a massive cairn. Someone called ‘Neary’ proclaimed his visit to the hill in 2010 by scrawling his name on top of the summit Trig Pillar. Remote in many ways Carr may be, but sadly still subject to graffiti. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/94/comment/6053/

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The Edge of Europe

I have yet to make my way to Slieve Carr in remotest Nephin Beg, although I have looked longingly in that direction from Corraunabinnia and adjacent peaks.The Nephin Begs are very special, and this lovely film by Sharron Schwartz and Martin Critchley is an important addition to our body of knowledge as we prepare to head into this wilderness. I like the gritty realism of the piece. All the usual suspects are there: drizzle, squelching bogs and low cloud. But there is also the moment of redemption, the magic moment known only too well to the Irish walker...as the clouds part, and the awesome vista of the western edge of Europe hangs briefly in front of you. Highly recommended Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/94/comment/6388/

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the hard and the easy ways

Yesterday, a friend and I fulfilled a two year ambition to summit Slieve Carr. Starting at the Brogan Carroll bothy, we followed the Bangor Trail on the outward route and returned by a forest track leading to the Western Way. The route did not include Nephin Beg. The following information may be helpful to people considering a hike to the summit believed to be the most remote in Ireland:
Distance to summit: 13.2km, took us 4 hours 15 mins.
Total round trip distance: 26.9km, finished in just under 8 hours overall including all stops.
Don't be fooled by the modest height of the summit at 721m, the accumulated height gain for this hike is a considerable 1266m; as both Bangor Trail and Western Way are undulating routes. For example, after 8.3km on the Bangor Trail (at a grey post), the point at which we departed the trail to head for Corslieve, the elevation was 154m yet we had already accumulated 371m of ascent!
The ascent from the saddle between Nephin Beg and Corslieve to Corslieve is steep; don't forget the Lucozade! Thereafter the gradient up to the summit cairn and trig pillar is kind.
When coming off the mountain, the spur north of the corrie lake marked 389m on the OSI map offers an easy and scenic descent. The photo shows that you can actually see four lakes (some corries) all at once; Nephin Beg is the mountain in the background. This spur also conveniently lines you up for the forest road at I (F936 124), and is visible from the top of the ridge on a clear day. There is a little clearing which will lead you to the road; although beware of deep forest drains covered in long grass. Turn right and after 1.7km, this track drops you onto the Western Way. Turn right, signed Nephin Beg. A further 8.5km will return you to the start. We brought trainers to change into when we got to the track which made for a hastier and more comfortable egress; we all know unpleasant it can be to walk with hiking boots on hard surfaces, especially having already walked 16.7km!
A viable option, for those looking for a dual-mode adventure, would be to cycle from the bothy to I (F936 124), and knock 10.2 x 2 = 20.4km off the full walk (which is 27.4km out and back along the Western Way), leaving just 3.5 x 2 = 7km on foot. Would that be cheating? The track is only suitable for mountain bikes in my opinion, I wouldn't recommend hybrids. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/94/comment/6446/

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Easier ascent up a green carpet.

Having read the dire descriptions of trips up Slieve Carr ("14kms from nearest road", "staying at tin bothy", "accumulated height gain is 1266m") we decided on an easterly approach. We found one way up but realised it could be improved, so the route described here is not what we did but what we suggest.

Park at OwMore Rv (F9759 1664) outside a sometimes locked gate. Ask permission at the house at J (F9657 1602). Proceed along a forest track over a newish bridge into the forest. The track winds its way to a small lake at around K (F945 145). Head SSE along a fence to open ground.

It is possible but dangerous to ascend directly to the summit from here. Hazards include very high slope and unstable quartzite scree. A preferable route is to contour from the previously mentioned point of emergence from the forest to around L (F923 123) which is the start of a comparatively gentle ascent up a SE spur. Steep at first, this spur is carpeted with gorgeous green moss. Eventually the gradient drops and you find yourself on a magnificent ridge heading North to the summit. There is a huge cairn at the summit with a small wooden cross apparently commemorating an aircraft crash (or so we were told by a local).

The views on a good day are immense, from much of the Achill/Corraun peninsula to solitary Nephin to the east, by way of Nephin Beg to the south. Track 1545 show the prototype of this route. it took 6hours 20m for 18.7km, somewhat longer than necessary but way shorter than the routes using the Bangor Trail.

Viewing the ground and with the benefit of hindsight, there may well be other easterly routes available perhaps using the tracks in the more mature forest to the south of the route described. bryanmccabe mentions I (F936 124) as one possible forest end. Remember however that the rivers and streams are not necessarily passable. Even in a dry period crossing the main north-south river would have been difficult without the bridge. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/94/comment/6782/

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