What an expedition for such a small hill! Our original plan for the day's outing was to take the bikes on the train from Belfast to Newry and cycle out to the foot of Slieve Gullion. Thwarted in the 1st mile before even reaching Belfast Central, by broken glass and a back-wheel puncture to Denise's bike which needed more tools than we were carrying, we returned home to repair the puncture and rethink plans. Reasoning that a shorter trip was the order of the day, we abandoned rail travel and decided to cycle out to Cairngaver, our nearest local peak. We had walked a couple of times in Carn Wood, but had never gone to the summit, which lies just outside the forestry. Its inclusion in the new MV list was all the incentive we needed! After a detour into Stormont for a spot of tourism, we began the steep climb that marks the beginning of the Craigantlet Hills, and it was here that disaster struck for a second time, as I picked up a puncture from a hawthorn twig left after hedge cutting. We had used our last patch to repair Denise's puncture, and, being Sunday, there was no cycle shop open to buy fresh supplies. If we wanted to achieve any summit in the day, there was nothing for it, but to lock the bikes to a farm fence and continue on foot. Fortunately, 1km further on, we came to a garage, where, by a great stroke of luck, we were able to buy a puncture repair kit. We decided, perhaps unwisely, to continue by foot. After a 3-4km trudge along the busy road, we were relieved to turn into Carn Wood for some peace, quiet and woodland scenery. The magnificent beech trees in this wood make it very attractive. A trail marked with a horseshoe to indicate a bridleway hugs the SW edge of the forestry. This is an interesting alternative to starting at the main car-park about 1km further E. There are several path junctions, but if you keep near to the edge of the wood, you will not go wrong. Don't be tempted to wander outside the wood as you will immediately come to a major quarry with dangerous cliffs. Briefly there is a rather ugly patch where grey dust from the quarry has clogged all the tree-foliage and ferns, but this is soon left behind. As you approach the summit, the wood tapers to a point. There is no stile, but we found a place where the fenced was clearly meant to be opened and re-fastened with a loop of barbed wire. From here it is just 200m to the summit itself along a clear track. This appears to be on private ground, outside the Forestry Commission's land, so bear this in mind if you meet anybody. However, we had no problems. The views from the summit were excellent, including the Ards, Strangford Lough and Scrabo Tower. We returned by the same path through the woods, and repeated our trek along the busy road. The puncture was repaired in just under half an hour (mercifully, as we were getting very cold) and all that remained was to coast downhill to get back home. All this for a 217m peak! How not to do Cairngaver...
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