First time out on the hills in quite some time. A business trip to Tipperary gave me a couple of hours in the morning to bag Sugarloaf Hill. I had planned on climbing Knockmealdown but as I arrived at the Vee Gap, cloud cover meant that visibility was very poor so I parked up beside the grotto and headed up along the county wall behind the Bianconi Hut.

Although quite steep, this is about as easy as it gets - the wall offers a sure guide all the way to the top and there's a very distinct path alongside it. Despite this, I was tempted away from the wall by a path which I assumed offered a more meandering route but which led to a dead end meaning I was forced to contour along some thick rain-sodden heather for my stupidity. A final steep pull leads to the top with the summit cairn being a short distance to the left from the point where the wall turns for Knockmealdown. There is a second cairn a short distance away which I only noticed as it momentarily appeared out of the cloud cover. Although the second cairn is far bigger, I'm pretty sure the first cairn marks the true summit.


Made my way back down and typically the cloud began to move away as I reached the carpark at the Gap. All in all, a handy climb and one that would be suitable for a family walk on a nice summers day. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/170/comment/4667/