gerrym on Dooish SE Top

(see Saggartnadooish & Dooish for previous parts of walk). Drop of 100m from top of Saggartnadooish over wet ground down to Derrybeg stream before climbing steeply up shoulder of Se Top. I had high expectations here, having seen two eagles wheeling over this plateau two years previously from the castle below in Glenveagh. Despite keping eyes peeled and sitting quietly for a time on the top I did not get my wish. I did bump into my first deer on the climb as they stood intently watching me from the top - when I arrived they were nowhere to be seen. The steep sided valley of Glenveagh and the Lough and visitor centre can be seen from here and there is a tiny cairn. Again excellent views from the top taking in most, if not all of Donegal. I dropped down to col with Dooish which is an area of heavily eroded peat hags and then contoured around the side of dooish towards the distant cairn ontop of Maumlack. I met two further small groups of deer at closer quarters as I made my way back. i dropped down of the plateau, following a stream into the E shore of Croloughan Lough and followed the shore of the Lough and the river exiting at its N end. Followed this back to the road and the carpark at the bottom of Errigal. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/350/comment/1668/

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A walk to Dooish SE Top

As part of a May Bank Holiday 2010 week-end walking in the Derryveagh Mountains I planned a route that, in addition to Dooish, would also include Dooish SE Top, Keamnacally overlooking Glenveigh, Saggartnadooish E Top and Saggartnadooish. Apart from Dooish none in the group had been to the other tops. We parked at a layby on the R251 just NE of a road bridge Meenagop (B96944 21823) and made directly up hill to pass through the Deer Fence and then up to the right of Dooish to a rocky grove in the ridge, before turning left and climbing up over rocky humps to the substantial summit cairn. From here the long flat ridge of Dooish SE Top lay below us (see photo). Initially we headed down to the coll and then up to the lower top Pt. 545 before turning left and walking along the flat ridge for some 400 metres to the slightly higher summit at Pt 555 marked by a small cairn. ( For somone not wanting to complete the looped walk over several tops Dooish SE Top could be reached more directly from the ridge without topping out on Dooish.) Once there with the exception of the NW, blocked by the bulk of Dooish, the views are expansive with the Sperrin Mountains clearly seen away to the SE. From the top we then continued our walk due E down and across the Derrybeg Stream to the lesser height of Keamnacally A (C00600 20975) (not a listed mv top) before heading NW along the ridge to Saggartnadooish E Top. (For further details of this route see also my comments on Saggartnadooish E Top) Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/350/comment/4719/

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The boggy brother

See entry for Sagartnadooish for route. Unlike Sagartnadooish to the NE and Dooish itself to the NW, this top is decidedly lacking in boulders but more resembles a boggy Wicklow top. Pic shows the small pile of stones indicating the summit. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/350/comment/6338/

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eflanaga on Dooish

(See Dooish/Saggartnadooish for previous legs of route). A fairly simple & sedate descent south from the summit area of Saggartnadooish brought me to the valley floor. In keeping with the previous two legs of the walk the terrain was a mixture of rocks, small peat hags and long & wiry mountain grass. Shortly after reaching the valley floor I crossed the western end of Derrybeg stream before starting my ascent of the mountain via its northern slope. Tiredness, most probably due to the intense heat, was taking its toll and I found the steep ascent more difficult than it should otherwise have been. Nevertheless, I reached the top without mishap. The fairly flat summit area has little to distinguish it and again the true summit is not immediately obvious. There is a mini cairn (3 stones) on what appears to be one of the ‘heights’ and GPS reading here was 553m, two metres short of OS map’s suggested height. From the summit I took a bearing of 171degrees to take me to the track below Astellan waterfall. This descent from Dooish SE Top is well over 2K. I reached the waterfall after what appeared to be an interminable length of time – again heat exhaustion possibly played a part. There wasn’t a great deal of water cascading down the falls but I got the idea that it might be something special in wetter weather. I was going to trek across and drop into Astellan Burn but decided to risk the descent to the right (east) of the actual waterfall. This is extremely steep, not for the feint hearted and requires a degree of scrambling (minus the rocks) and great care to be taken. Had to drop about 3 metres at one stage when footholds ran out. Despite this managed to reach the bottom without mishap. Crossed a meadow and found a shallow part of Glenbeagh River just west of Sturricknagower IB (B99502 18426) – 90m, making for building alongside the trail, which I presume is a Bothy (maybe not?). From here it is a pleasant walk of around 3.5 K, flat at first then a climb of about 190m back to the starting point. The entire route was just over 16.2K, tiring in the heat, but a thoroughly enjoyable walk with wonderful scenery – recommended! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/350/comment/2344/

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