rmilne on Mount Leinster

Although the ascent starts at 400m, I was worried about the long distance to the summit (1.75 miles). What if I got lost?? I was tempted to drive up the private road, as the gate was open, but thought better of it. The ascent of the tarmac road in the forest went fine with my fears of a bear leaping out of the woods unfounded. However, after a tricky crossing of the cattle grid, I had major problems seeing the way forward. In the clear and cloudless skies, the sun was shining straight into my face, making progress difficult. After a few minutes of shielding my eyes with my arm I had to give up since it was getting cramp. I struggled on as best I could given the conditions. Soon however, I was again having trouble seeing the way forward. Sweat was dripping off my forehead and blinding me. Oh for a cloud to shield me from the sun! I managed not to get lost, since the edges of the tarmac road are pretty clear to follow. The rest of the ascent was tortuous. with a nice angle of tarmac road and excellent footing, I was forced to walk near VOx Max pace, breathing hard. As I thought I was near my physical limit and feeling far from the car (well over 1.5 miles by now) a welcome breeze arose and cleared the sweat from my face. I noted frost on the side of the road and wondered about the folly of not having crampons with me. Luckily the short stretch of frozen turf and puddles to the cairn only took about 30 seconds, so the risk wasn't unduly high. I was there! The advenurous committment to continuing in spite of hardship was rewarded with grand views! Watching the workmen haul a big cable up the tower added to the summit activities. I spent a long 5 minutes enjoying the view, not bad after the 30 minutes it thad taken for the ascent. Then there was nothing else but the very long plod down the tarmac road, back at the car in 25 minutes. The final treat was watching the hang gliders coming in to land. (13 Nov 04) Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/44/comment/1329/

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- from the 9 stones

Walk Date: 3 Jul 2016. Nice weather to continue our County High Point Challenge, heading east this time to climb Mt. Leinster, the highest point of Carlow and Wexford. Dillon(dillonkdy) and myself used the recommended route up the Transmitter road starting at an area known as “The 9 stones”. Even from the start the views were unbelievable on a very sunny day. We climbed almost 350m and taking our time stopping regularly to take in the views we were back to the car shortly after 1.5 Hrs. Off to Brandon hill next.
We returned to climb Mt. Leinster for an easy 17 points for gribboneer-of-the-year http://www.highpointireland.com/gribboneer-of-the-year.html on the 27 Dec 2016. This time a lovely frosty morning gave way to a beautiful red sky as the sun came up. Starting before 8am we were at the trig point, photo taken and back to the car in just over an hour.
See Dillon’s (dillonkdy) full story of his County High Point Challenge at https://dillons32chpchallenge.github.io/progress/index.html We also found Kieron Gribbon's High Point Ireland website (www.highpointireland.com) to be a useful source of information for our 32 County High Points challenge. Definitely worth checking out if you're planning to do any of the High Point challenges Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/44/comment/18821/

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black rock mountain from ballycrystal

Climbed to mount Leinster summit yesterday following route described by Djouce here,good visibility and quite an easy climb, took me 40 mins from start to the barn on the ridge,I took the track over to Black rock mountain and retraced my steps and headed for the masts at mount Leinster,the track is quite good and easy to follow.Couple of points worth mentioning, the track just west of the parking spot is blocked in two places by falling trees necessitating a detour into the forest and back onto the track, the end of this track is very muddy following cattle but is easily negotiated.On the mention of cattle I met them half way up the track where I had a brief stand off with a young bull, didn't notice the ring in his nose until I got close, thankfully he decided to give way and rejoin his herd.I didn't notice any signs warning of a bull, just wondering is this a regular occurance up here.I returned the same way I went up took me a couple of hours from start to finish. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/44/comment/17771/

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paganji on Mount Leinster

The day felt sour, I was indoors for too long, so I put my Boots on. After a brief drive I was at the foot of The Blackstairs and gazed upward toward the faint clouds sweep eerily over the summit of Mt Leinster. To my suprise the ground was firm and the humidity felt fresh. I was determined and just over an hour later I made it to the top and into the ever thickening cloud. Looking down the eastern slopes I could see darkness in the mists, as the heavy mountain was casting its shadow into Wexford. Now I had made something of my day. I went home, Rejuvenated. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/44/comment/2071/

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djouce on Mount Leinster

The Ballycrystal valley provides another way up Mount Leinster. There are parking spaces at Urin Rd (S860 506). Go up the track between the forestry plantations. Head for the summit of Black Rock A (S861 525). Follow the ridge NW past a ruined cottage on the col. Why is it there? Continue westwards over the east top to the summit. I'm told there are great views on a clear day. Follow the ridge down in a southerly direction and descend to the valley. Return to the car on the road (or park another car in the woods at the end of the road Urin Rise (S843 516)) Time taken about 4 hours excluding long breaks. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/44/comment/3018/

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