One of Munster's Monsters

After our sortie on Hungry Hill using Lynch’s ‘Munster’s Mountains’ back in May we might have expected another challenge in the wilds of West Cork! We resolved to tackle Cork’s highest mountain via a gully from Lough Akinkeen described in Lynch’s book. There is room for only one car at CarigCapen (W02229 65760) by a gateway onto a forestry track where I was bitten alive by clouds of horseflies and midges before I’d even had time to don the DEET! The recently surfaced track leads steeply upwards to the pine fringed lough situated at 300 metres. Close to the tree line it splits; one branch leads straight through the trees toward the shore, the other trends right running around the SW shore to bring the climber close to the steep cliffs of Lough Akinkeen. There are several near vertical gullies etched deeply into the cliff face. The one we chose is above a fence, contains a small stream and is to the right of a long unclimbable gully that shoots leftwards toward the highest point of the cliffs. Leave the path and cross the fence below the gully. Climb about 100 metres up through long grass and heather to reach the bottom of the gully.

The 200m gully, described separately, was wet, much vegetated and the rock was green with slime and greasy to climb. Near the top, the views of Lough Akinkeen, Knockantooreen and Carran were inspiring until cloud suddenly descended. An eerie silence ensued as wafts of mist enveloped us in a ghostly embrace. As we trudged uphill through the heather towards the cairn on Caoinkeen the wind picked up and visibility was poor. The ground is very boggy hereabouts and I had my first experience of planting my feet on what I thought to be terra firma only to find myself sinking rapidly into shin deep bog and unable to extricate myself. Fortunately mcrtchly was on hand to haul me out of the mire that very reluctantly released me with a disgusting sucking sound. Suitably soiled we continued S-SW past the trig point towards Knockboy some 2.5km distant. The wind was now driving droplets of rain that landed on our Gore-Tex jackets and hats with a constant strident hiss. Passing Lough Nambrackdarig over hummocky terrain interspersed with rock, heather and thick carpets of bog, the rectangular silhouette of the trig point at Knockboy finally appeared through the gloom.

We did not tarry long at Cork’s highest point returning towards Caoinkeen but turning NNW to contour round and gain the W ridge of Akinkeen on steep ground near a fence. At about A (W00596 64944) (the 550m contour line) another fence branched off to the right and we followed this NE down the ridge until the 430 contour line at B (W01027 65440), then battled our way through slippery long wet grass to gain the track by the lake. Six hours and 12km later we arrived at our car, leaking wet and absolutely filthy, having completed another of Lynch’s ‘Munster’s Mountains’ which we have now renamed ‘Munster’s Monsters’!! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/104/comment/5985/

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Ogres About!

As part of our quest to stand at the top of every county in Ireland, me and my Dad found an opening in our calendars to attempt Knockboy on 9.7.17. Our fears of bad weather as we were crossing over the Youghal bridge were allayed as we moved further west and into blazing sunlight. After a little bit of asking around we found the entrance to the much-dreaded Priest's Leap. We soon found that Google Street View is not the best indicator of the quality of a road as Dad was forced to use the handbrake to get us over some of the most perilous dips (fortunately a brand new clutch had been installed the day before). Thankfully we did not meet anybody coming back down the road, which would have been quite inconvenient. As Dad was struggling to keep the car moving forward, I looked out onto the beautiful valley to our left (Dad remarked that it must have been formed by one hell of a glacier). Eventually, after one final dip, we came out onto the parking area (due to its size it took us a few minutes to find a suitable space). We met a man who was planning to run up the mountain. Fair play to him! We spent some time admiring the wonderful views (including my first ever view of the Reeks!). We followed the fence across the road as far as the first intersection, where we crossed over (no stiles). As we were following the fence, I fell into the deepest mud I've ever seen (sorry Arderin). Dad tastefully described what ended up on my shoe as "ogre s**t". After that unfortunate incident, we decided to avoid the rest of the Bog of Doom and cut across towards the lake. After crossing over a fence (this time with a stile) at one end of the lake, we began the final stage of the ascent. I have little to say on this, except that there are a few steep bits and a couple of annoying false summits. When we got to the top we admired the 360 degree views and had a few custard creams (I also presented Dad with my birthday card). The way down was basically the same, except for the fact that we saw a few people going up (one man even had a baby on his shoulders, much to Dad's astonishment. As we were heading down, we made plans to visit Moylussa at some point in August. 1 hr 20 mins up, 1 hr 15 mins down. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/104/comment/19589/

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Cork County Top

We decided to approach the priests leap from the north as advised by roscorocket who we had met on another county top. We had no OS map so make sure you take the turn for the priests leap rather than follow signs for the priests leap circuit which takes you away from Knockboy! Its a straight forward walk from the small car park by the cross (2 cars) to the trig at the top. There are signs warning you not to startle any grouse as they are trying to improve the population.
We had beautiful sunny weather and our reward at the top was a panoramic treat looking over to the Macgillycuddys on one side and Bantry Bay on the other. 2 hours up and down as you start the walk so high up. Lovely. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/104/comment/18258/

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aidand on Knockboy

There are ongoing access problems on Knockboy. Please talk to the locals before attempting to climb Knockboy, or contact the Kenmare Walking Club. I understand that some of the members of this club are trying to resolve the problem. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/104/comment/3043/

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sparow on Knockboy

You can drive up to the top of priests leap in a car - not a bus (simplifies the traverse to Ahinkeen). It makes for a short walk to the summit, ideal for winter or if you start out late. But, do not drive up if you like your car or don't like reversing. It's unprotected and passing spots are few - I had to reverse up the hill 300M to let a car through. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/104/comment/1492/

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