The walk along the Wicklow Way from
MilRd Croagh (T08543 86765) is very agreeable, sloping gently upwards on a well-made forest track with some amazing views across the valley towards Slieve Maan and the Lugnaquilla massif. After about 900 metres we arrived at the point suggested for leaving the track and striking out for the summit at
A (T07862 86105). This is the high point mentioned in the summary, just before the track starts to slope steeply down.
From there to the summit is 150m across an area of cleared forest, which was not nearly as difficult as I had expected. The only difficulty was where the leftover branches had been piled up into rows that are a bit tricky to climb over, but can in some cases be circumvented. We probably encountered and crossed about 4 such ridges between the track and the summit; the rest of the route was fine.
The summit is marked by a rock pile to which we each added a small rock before taking the usual summit photos. The 360-degree views of the surrounding and distant mountains are just incredible, beyond the power of words to describe. Distance from car to summit about 1.2 km, 100 m ascent, less than 30 minutes.
After returning to the track, we continued along the Wicklow Way for another 500 metres to the Mucklagh Hut, an "Adirondack-style" hut that can be used by walkers for shelter and overnight stays (no facilities - bring your own sleeping bag!). The visitors book is entertaining to read. Some kind people have left rice, coffee, and even medication for the next visitors.
On a less happy note, we saw that someone had dumped a mattress and bed base on the side of the road on the way up. Terrible desecration of such a wild and beautiful place. So we were reminded of both sides of humanity.
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