Gorse free (almost) ascent for Baggers

Good Friday, showery weather, "Let's do one of the remaining easy ones in Local 100 " we thought. Didn't quite work out like that!
We would suggest that the start at DownsPath (O2600 1058) is no longer an option due to (understandable) parking signs / restrictions all along the lane. We started from the Grove Pub at Grove (O2655 0959) and strolled up the lane enjoying a sunny morning. Lovely views on the ascent forest track. As we reached the highest ground our thoughts turned to the summit. Initially we rounded the hill and descended slightly before trying to reach the summit from the south side. Problem! AVOID. We made 2 initial attempts to summit on "tracks" through gorse and failed. Our third was successful - luckily we were wearing our heaviest clothing and could push through bits of gorse. When we reached the summit we had a "so what" moment" with no views. Luckily we found a better descent track to the nearest forest track - and this is the section we have uploaded. We would advise using this section to ascend and descend the summit starting from B (O25453 10188). We have uploaded this section only as .gpx. We haven't uploaded the whole track since is is confusing due to our initial attempts and also because many of the tracks shown on EastWest have been disturbed by current harvesting of trees. Get out and do it before the gorse advances further. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1513/comment/24161/

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Oh Deer a blessing in disguise

Visited Old Downs Hill Sunday, following track 4058 along good path for approx 3km to second switchback on trail through forest, on the left here a partially cleared area of woodland gives a view upwards to the large ringfort wall surrounding the top of the hill, at this point it is a distance of 200m to the top, went easily through mature woodland to the wall, now 160m from the top, crossed the wall and followed a well trodden but very rough narrow Deer path through the furze and discovered a small pile of stones indicating the top. Views restricted at top, get there soon before furze grows
and bars way of ascent . Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1513/comment/20683/

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On yer Bike

There are plenty of bike trails on Downs Hill now, which makes it possible to leave good forestry paths and head straight up, more or less, following ascending bike trails - keep an eye out for mountain bikes obviously. I only encountered two of them on this visit, from Point A upwards. On my way to A I asked a friendly local man for directions. He advised me to park at the Grove pub and walk up. "You'll be lucky to find a place to park up there," he said, "there are no parking signs, cones and lengths of red and white tape everywhere to prevent people parking on verges."
He was right, there was so much red and white I thought Cork had won yet another All-Ireland. I did manage to find a spot adjacent to (but not blocking!) a commercial premises. This was my fourth local 100 top of the day and in the knackered state I was in no way was this pair of legs willing to walk up and down from the Grove (which would add approx 3 kilometres to the walk). Parking seems to be a big issue hereabouts, so if you have the time (and not involved in a top-bagging odyssey), then making a good roadwalk out of it, before you tackle the trails, might be in order. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1513/comment/23154/

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Viewed from Ballinastoe

Downs Hill viewed from Ballinastoe Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1513/comment/23777/

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Shorts not recommended!

A longer and more difficult walk than planned. We parked near the Grove Bar and walked up the Old Downs Road. On the way up I noticed a very suitable parking place at C (O26496 10379) - this is the entrance to the field containing the ruin of Woodlands Church. Peek over the gate and look to the left and you'll see it! Parking here would subtract about 700m from the start and end of the walk.

We turned off the road at DownsPath (O2600 1058) and up the path for about 500 metres, continuing straight at the junction and west on forest roads as far as D (O24607 10270), with fine views of nearby hills to the north including the Great Sugarloaf. At the trail junction we took the left turn to head back east towards the summit.

When we reached the high point of the forest road at B (O25453 10188) we turned off the road to try to make our way to the summit. This last 200 metres to the summit turned out to be a bit of a struggle. While there were some clear patches, there was no clear path all the way to the summit. At various points we had to push through gorse and conifers. I was wearing shorts and some blood was shed! Arriving at the summit there was no obvious high point or summit marker, and there were no views.

Arriving back at the forest road, we stopped for lunch and then continued south, following the forest road along a number of switchbacks to return to the top of the path. This part of the walk was where we made some poor decisions and ended up expending much more time and effort than needed.

Looking at the OS map, we decided to take a short cut down through the trees and link up with a minor road (shown in grey) which would link up with the Old Downs Road and cut several kilometres off our return journey. With some difficulty, we made our way down and discovered that this road does not exist! Well, it exists but does not continue as shown on the map. After much effort was expended in pushing through chest-high ferns, we had no choice but to give up and make our way back up the steep slope to the forest road.

Altogether we walked about 12 km and it took over 4 hours, but some of that time and distance was unnecessary. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/1513/comment/24258/

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