Benfree – Living in the Shadow of its Big Brother

Benfree is one of those mountains whose profile suffers from being in the shadow of its nearby Big Brother, Benbaun. Not only is there about 90M difference in height between them, but the later is the highest mountain in the range and a county top. This is very much reflected by the amount of comments on MV (1 page for Benfree and 4 for Benbaun), as well as the numbers of MVers who have recorded summiting both of them, 132 compared to 274. As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is normally done as part of circuit that includes Muckanaght and Benbaun from the Glencorbet valley, such as that mentioned on this site, or in Josh Lynam’s classic walks. What I don’t get is why nearly half of those on here who did Benbaun didn’t go that small bit extra to also summit Benfree!

My visit to Benfree came on the 31st May, the same day as our last referendum. The previous weekend had been our summer, a distant memory to us all now, but do you remember, that one weekend of glorious blue skies. I decided that if the weather kept up, that I was going to pretend I was a teacher on Thursday and take the day of the referendum off work and head west. The weather didn’t keep up its part of the bargain, but I had myself psyched up to go walking, so I still took the day off and went! An early start, to get the vote in when the polls opened and off I went to Connemara, hoping that I could get my days walking in and back to a junior football match in Drogheda that same evening. I needn’t have bothered with the junior match, but I would vote yes for the Twelve Bens.

Ideally I wanted to do the Lynam route myself, but having read plenty of comments about the treacherous underfoot conditions on Muckanaght in the wet, I decided to give it a miss. It was so wet that fording the Kylemore river was no mean feat. It was swollen and cost me a walking pole and got me a wet foot as I struggled against the raging torrent. Once across, I followed the route into the valley and stayed on the left of the river up to A (L77743 55393), where I turned 90 degrees and made a direct ascent on Benfree, along the side of a stream initially. This was quite steep, but perfectly fine to ascend. As I tired I wandered a bit to my right, eventually ending up at B (L77665 54532), before correcting my course on the final ascent to the summit. I would recommend this as a perfectly fine approach route, although I would be a bit more wary of descending this way. After a brief stop at the summit I was heading for Benbaun and another county top. For anyone doing Benbaun I would recommend to stretch themselves that little bit further to take in Benfree as well.

PS: I had been warned about the midges in this range by a mate who swears he will never go back there again. I can see what he meant. As soon as the drizzle and breeze ceased, they were straight in to feast on me! I was foolish enough not to bring repellent, I warn you not to make the same mistake. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/216/comment/14741/

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Owenglin Valley

Approached from the Owenglin valley to the west. Turn north off the N59 between the youth hostel and Clifden to get there and park at the entrance to the forest track just after the bridge ( C (L744 513) ). Its a fifteen minute walk straight up the forest track until you come to a wide stream that you get round by going to the left and you're in the valley where you can take your pick of the various saddles to ascend. Its a slog across this valley on rough grassy terrain, boggy in some places to get up the saddle between Ben Cullagh and Muckanaght. Once on the saddle, the views to the north open up and get better from the summit of Muckanaght. The descent from Muckanaght was quite steep. I took my time coming down on the right side of the east slope here as it was almost a sheer drop at one stage further left. The ascent to Benfree is a little easier than Muckanaght.. Fine views of the valley below, the Mamturks to the east , the other bens to the south and north, and the sea to the north west and south west. The drop from Benfree on the way to Benbaun is nowhere near as severe and its a straightforward ascent to Benbaun over rocky terrain that I found easier than the grassy slopes of the other two mountains. It took me exactly two hours from the parking area to Muckanaght, just under an hour from there to Benfree ( including a rest ) and around half an hour from Benfree to Benbaun. It took another two hours to get back from Benbaun to the car. I didn't feel like doing any more ascents and went back to the col between Benbaun and Benfree and descended to the Owenglin valley floor from there. Not recomended. A lot of hand holding and seemed to be waiting for ever for the gradient to ease further towards the bottom. When I looked back up from the valley floor I was thinking how the hell did I manage to come down that way. And the slog across the whole length of the boggeyish valley seemed to take forever. If you want to go up Ben Baun you're probably better off taking the eastern approach. But for the main summits west of Ben Baun this valley is a good approach. I had gone up Maumonght and Becullagh a previous day from here ( and clear weather on both days ). From those you can see the mouth of the Owenglin river where Clifden is located with Clifden a speck around it. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/216/comment/6360/

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simon3 on Benfree

This panoramic picture shows Binn Fraoigh, left, and Binn Bhan (729m) to the right. Binn Bhan is the highest peak in the Twelve Bens. The picture was taken from the northern slope of Muckanaght (Meacanach). Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/216/comment/699/

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csd on Benfree

Benfree on 28.12.2003, seen from closer to the summit of Benbaun than pdtempan's picture. The traverse from Benfree to Benbaun can be made out, finishing in the bottom right-hand corner. We got caught in a heavy snow shower, which lifted just in time to take this picture. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/216/comment/779/

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pdtempan on Benfree

Benfree seen from Benbaun. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/216/comment/753/

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