John Finn on Caher

My son and I did the Coomloughra Horseshoe on 30th August starting at Lough Acoose. We parked at the eastern end of the lake by a layby where there is a waymarker for the Kerry Way. If there is a distinct path up to the lower slopes of Caher we could not find it and it was a bit of a slog over damp ground before we got on to the mountain proper. From there on it was an enjoyable walk up the side of Caher looking down into Coomloughra Glen and as we walked the clouds began to lift. We reached the summit of Carrauntoohill after three hours of a fairly leisurely
pace and one long stop. Visibility was good and there was a very moderate wind so we decided to continue across the ridge to Beenkeragh. This ridge tends to frighten a lot of people off what with
descriptions of it being a knife edge and the like. It ain't that bad and certainly within the competence of anyone who can get the summit of Carraun in the first place. It is pretty exposed in
places and so is probably best avoided in poor weather conditions. Keep to the skyline as much as possible but if your nerve fails you you can drop down a bit to the side in the tricky parts. The latter part of it is a pleasant ridge walk and then it's a short and easy scramble up to the summit of Beenkeragh. The descent from Beenkeragh down to the Skregmore ridge requires care as its stewn with boulders. From there on it's a pleasant walk across the Skregmore ridge. We descended the steep slopes down to the old hydro works at Lough Eighter. Then it was another hard slog across damp and marhsy ground in places until we reached the car. It took us
seven and a half hours in total. In retrospect I think it's better not to start at Lough Acoose and to take the old hydro path (clearly marked on the OS maps) instead. I prefer to do it CCW even though it goes against the principle of sharp ascent and easy descent. Either way the hydro path
affords the easiest approach and finish for the walk, in my opinion. All in all the Coomloughra Horseshoe is a physically challenging day out and provides some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Ireland. The photo, taken on the lower slopes of Skregmore, shows the Coomloughra Glen with Caher on the right and Carrauntoohill on the left. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/3/comment/1155/

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simon3 on Caher

Caher is at just over 1000m and as you move east from it towards Carrauntoohil you will stay at over 900m for nearly 500m. This photo shows what it looks like in typical winter conditions, the snow starting to accumulate into a cornice. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/3/comment/2123/

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Fergal Meath on Caher

Encountered the magnificent Caher whilst doing the Coomloughra horseshoe ascent to Carrauntoohil. The wind was a bit high so the group decided not to do the Beenkeragh ridge but instead we descended by the scree slope into Coomloughra glen. Would not recommend this descent as we ran into steep ground and had to negotiate a couple of crags. The peak to the left is Caher with its West top to the right as seen from the ridge across to Carrauntohil. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/3/comment/2593/

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sliabh on Caher

This is a shot of Caher taken from Carrauntoohil on 29/12/2003. It was a fabulous day to do the Cooloughra Horseshoe. We had snow on the ground and an inversion layer formed as we got higher.
There are more pictures at: http://sliabh.net/images/ireland/xmas2003/images.php

We did the horseshoe up Beenkeragh and down Caher so we didn't have the slog up to Caher. Its much more pleasant as a descent Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/3/comment/821/

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wicklore on Caher

A tourist I spoke to recently talked about seeing Ireland as a mystical land, with verdant glens and misty heights. He thought that there is a essence to the Irish landscape not found elsewhere. This photo I took of the ridge leading up to Caher from Carrauntoohil perhaps captures some of that essence. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/3/comment/3301/

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