Just back from a great weekend in the Reeks. A group of us decided to go for a few more challenging routes than our previous trips to the Kingdom, with as much scrambling potential as possible. After the usual torture of Friday night traffic from Dublin to Kerry, started fresh on Saturday morning at the foot of Brassel mountain.
The plan was to climb the easterly ridge of Brassel, then join the main Reeks ridge and continue over the Big Gun and eventually down Drishana back to the car. From the road the scrambling potential on Brassel looked hugely inviting and sustained. It did not disappoint!! Great srambling on dry, super grippy rock with loads of options for routefinding. The views of Lough Calee and the Reeks ridge were fantastic all along with a nice bit of exposure to keep it all very interesting. The whole climb to the summit was completely engrossing and a well earned break at the summit was had to savour the great views across the Reeks ridge.
Unfortunately at this point the cloud cover descended to about 600-700m and brought with it driving rain and a wind that you could barely stand upright in on the Reeks ridge. Obviously the chances of crossing the Big Gun were diminishing rapidly! We continued along the ridge in the hope that the wind would push off the rain and clouds but to no avail. The route was cut short after a brief discussion and the dreaded compass was dragged from the rucksack. We naved off the ridge coming down Feabrahy and back to the road to the car. Altogether though it was a fine days route with great scrambling and views before the weather closed in. The full intended route will definitely be done in the future ( and hopefully in weather where there will be a better view than the inside of a goretex hood! ).
A word of caution though, when we got back to Dublin we found two people had been rescued by mountain rescue earlier in the morning that we started the climb, after both fell approx 150ft on Brassel. It may not be the highest mountain in the Reeks but there are all levels of scrambling difficulty and exposure on it. Pick your route carefully and be sure you're comfortable with the level of moves you decide on. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/317/comment/1161/