Need To Go Back For A Better Experience

Weather and other circumstances can make a huge diference to the experience of a hill, and although I'd had a brilliant time a little earlier on Breesy Hill, things were less pleasurable on Oughtarnid. Starting from the west at A (G97226 73311) was maybe the wrong choice as after an initial easy stretch on a track, the surface got more difficult, with squelchy bog, and deep heather and grass, and even a fair few annoying mini peat hags. The earlier haze had also thickened to gray cloud cover, and the evening was now very dark and gloomy, making the views look flat and uninspiring. The little lough near the top provided something more interesting, but I then made an error of judgement, leaping over a high sheep fence, and badly twisting my ankle as I landed in a hidden hole. I am normally careful to plant my feet deliberately and avoid jumping or stepping down heavily on such difficult ground, and it was only my high ankled boots that prevented a broken ankle or torn ligaments. A lesson learned or reinforced! I think I will also abandon recent thoughts of switching to lighter trail runners. I could have faced real difficulty getting back down, but thankfully the twist wasn't as bad as I first thought, and the bagger in me made me hobble on to the summit. But, the pain, and difficulty of walking over such hard ground with a sore ankle meant my heart wasn't in it. The gloom didn't help, and I barely glanced at the views from the top, instead turning almost instantly to limp back down. I wil have to go back in better weather, and taking more care, to better appreciate this hill.

There was a hint of the views to be had on the way back down as the evening sun broke through the merest gap in the clouds and lit up the drumlin country to the north and west in golden light, and made even the twisted ankle worth it. I'll still have the memory of that view long after the pain has gone! Oughtarnid will be worth a second visit for me. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1186/comment/18351/

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Open for Correction.

You can access the summit via Pepe's excellent directions but you can park at the entrance to the masts or as an alternative park at B (G97279 72767) on the main road beside double farm gates allowing access close to summit via a tractor track.Excellent views from the summit but I could not locate the trig marker having spent some time searching the summit area and, in conversation with a local farmer, he could not remember one, maybe someone older would .Maybe it is a trig marker as on Slieve Anierin now covered or one like on Annatoran but now missing. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1186/comment/16080/

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Climbing Uachtarnid

Not a bad way to pass an hour or so exploring the Pullans. Park the car at where a small road branches north off the R232 - mind the soft verge. Walk north on this small road for a couple of hundred yards then turn left onto a rutted track which is marked on the OS map sheet 11. Keep going past the gate, ignore the outcrop with ugly masts to your right, and continue uphill through a second gate. The track takes you almost to the summit, which consists of a plateau-like top with a few mounds to mark the high points. Hop easily from one mound to another (careful in case of bogholes) and see if you can spot Lough Folla up top. It's more of a large pond than a lough. Headed back down the way we came as the ground was very soggy. Back driving again on the road down to Laghey within 70 minutes of starting out. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1186/comment/15922/

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