The weather forecast said "90% chance of rain" but we set off to scale Donard regardless, and what a reward we got! The sun shone through the clouds which resulted in a very warm day. We set off from Donard Park and climbed up the Glen River Path until the edge of the forest. We then met some Germans who were lost and asked us for directions, this was a good laugh as we did not speak German but still managed to point them in the correct direction. The climb up the saddle between Donard and Commedagh is steep and required a few stops to catch our breath and to admire the view, we could see well into the middle of N.Ireland from this point, although the height we had climbed meant the cloud covered the rest, which if we had waited long enough, I'm sure would have cleared to reveal Belfast. The summit climb is steady and would be easy enough to complete in under an hour, once at the top, the views were simply outstanding. Towards Newcastle we could see far into the distance, the opposite side and stunning views of the rest of the mountains behind Donard were crystal clear. Walking past the cairn revealed a wild wind which unfortunately brought in some cloud to cover the views, but we had seen enough. At the top, we had a small one-use bbq and some burgers, which we ended up sharing with the Germans who seemed very grateful. We returned to the car park the way we came, and all in all it took us 5 hours, with an hour and a bit for lunch, so really the climb took 3.5 hours.

It was amazing, meeting many people from Germany, England, Holland etc, and all so friendly. They all commented on how friendly we Northern Irish folk are. My only concern, was that since my last summit climb in July 2003, the rubbish in the Mourne Area has increased, which I feel is very sad, so if you are climbing in the Mournes, or in fact, any Mountain Area's, please take your rubbish with you. Thanks! Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/19/comment/977/