St. Patrick's weekend 2003; and what a weekend it was. Beautiful sunny weather, blue sky and the mountains looking fantastic. What a weekend to choose to have an outing with a lovely group of friends - about 18 in all, for saturday and sunday. On Saturday, we started from the parking area just up from Clydagh bridge in the glen of Aherlow - R874 278 A. On our way through the woods at the start we came across a group of about 5 deer, who scampered away into the trees. then we were out onto the open expanse of the clydagh river valley. Following the good forrest roads until we got to the style for Lough Curra. Cross the style and head SW until we picked up the "Ice road". This is a pathway, that allegedly was the route for bringing ice down from lough Curra to a Hotel in the glen. This is a nice steady climb until you just come over a lip and there is Lough Curra in front of you in all it's glory. It's a beautiful spot with the almost full bowl-shaped coum rising all around you at the lakeshore. We the turned west and scrambled up the very steep climb to Slievecushnabinnia. Need to be very careful here in case you disturb a rock and send it tumbling down on someone below you. In such situations, it's always wise to spread out sideways and not in a line. Everyone took a well deserved rest on gaining the top - See Pic "1st climb over". Everyone recovered and onwards and around the top, picking up the lovely stone wall and all the way up to Galtymore. Time to enjoy lunch, sheltered from the almost ever-present wind on Galtymore. And indeed, time for more pics - "Galtymore". After lunch, fighting a fierce wind, we carefully made our way on down off Galtymore towards Galtybeg. Again a word of caution, be very careful coming down this side of Galtymore, particularly in strong wind. It's very steep and uneven. Very easy to slip or twist an ankle. Next stop was Galtybeg. Time to enjoy the beautiful views again, off towards the Comeraghs, the knockmealdowns, Slievenamon. What would you be doing at a parade when you could be up here. Down off Galtybeg and here I had a little surprise to give. Instead of going on up the natural route towards Greenane, we took a sharp left in the col and dropped down to a sheep track that circles right around and down the side of the coum over Borheen lake. This is a truly gorgeous walk, circling the lake from above with the cliffs rising up above your head. You come out onto the col leading to the last hill - Cois. NIce climb up to here and a last stop to refresh, Pic "Cois". From here it is a simple matter of continuing down to Knockmoyle and picking up the track and eventually the road back to the start. All back to the pub, where Joe entertained us all royally with his guitar playing. The craic was brilliant.
The following day, we started from the road to the waterworks R917 283 B. Follow the road/track all the way up through a beautiful valley to Lake Muskry. It was a glorious day again. When we got to the lake, we went around the right hand side of the lake and in around the back, rising up slightly to reveal the lovely concealed lake all in it's own private valley. Maeve was very impressed that we had arranged to have the lake made into a heart shape. This was a must-stop place for lunch and a sunbathe. After lunch, we continued around the circuit and back to the track and all the way back to the cars again.
A truly lovely weekend and my thanks to all the many friends who made it so memorable and enjoyable. Looking forward to a repeat in early May, when we hope to do Lug. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/14/comment/412/