Great care is required desending BLET via SE Spur

Great days hike in Mweelrea mountains starting from Doo Lough north using ramp. Pic shows memorial plaque and elevated view of The Ramp, taken near BLET. Also Lugmore peaks (left) & Ben Bury (right). Great care is required descending BLET via SE Spur (pretty steep in places) to southern Doo Lough. Dry conditions & walking poles recommended. There is a mapped meandering trail thats tricky to follow, stray at your peril. This Leads to a narrow foot bridge on the Owengarr river between Fin Lough & Doo Lough belonging to PRIVATE property rental cottages. 4moreC https://flic.kr/s/aHsjXHdwpM Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/51/comment/16041/

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gerrym on Ben Lugmore East Top

I reached the East top as the last of the five separate tops making up Mweelrea, dropping from Ben Lugmore on a defined track with nothingness just to my left with the drop into the corrie and a river impossibly far below. Ben Creggan and Ben Gorm disappear as drop to the col with the E top, from here it is a short rise to a broad grassy area and a small cairn on the East Top - I took some time to relax here in the strong sunshine. Again there are big views to match this big hill - to the Bens and Mamturks - to Achill Island - amazing views along the back wall of the corrie with peaks rising sharply and along the sheer side of the E top towards Doo Lough. As walk easily along the broad top there is a gentle desent and the best views are to Ben Creggan, Ben Gorm and Barraclashcarne, all across Doo Lough. The further i moved along the top here the fuller and more impressive the views of the corrie became, but there was strong competition from the hills across Doo Lough. There are a couple of little upright stones at the end of the top before start dropping down. I didn't drop straight down the obvious shoulder heading N for Doo Lough but a little further to the E - this was pretty steep with all sorts of rock and grass and i did contour around towards the shoulder anyway. The entire descent is pretty unrelenting and there are some quite steep parts towards the bottom which need care, before coming back to the shores of the lough where i filled my hat with water again to try and cool down. A short walk brought me back to the car but still looking back up towards where i had been for the last 6 or 7 hours. Without a doubt one of the best days walking i have yet had the pleasure to experience in Ireland. There were very few people about on the mountain and no one else on the tops of Ben Lugmore - those that were about just seemed to be interested in the top of Mweelrea, they just don't know what else they could ahve experienced for little extra effort! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/51/comment/2462/

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SDillmore on Ben Lugmore East Top

I did this as a first stop on the Mweelrea circuit (the route is well described on those pages). A couple of comments: when heading south from Lough Doo, do yourself a favor and head south for 15 minutes. I took too early of an ascent and was rewarded with a steep, gentle scramble. I completely missed the grassy ramp. Additionally, the lot across from Lough Doo was occupied by fisherpeople (to be PC), so I asked for an received permission to park at the Delphi Adventure Centre. There are also some lay-bys along R335 you can use. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/51/comment/1775/

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madfrankie on Ben Lugmore East Top

Starting from the Delphi Adventure Centre, I walked north up the road (towards Doolough) for about 500 meters, then taking a track left, just before a bridge. Past a seemingly deserted farmhouse, I hopped over the river and continued north over rough ground. Facing me were three south-easterly spurs of Ben Lugmore, the middle of which looked to be the easiest.
A sweaty ascent ensued. Eventually this spur conjoins with the more rugged easterly spur, and the terrain steepens before attaining the summit ridge. In between breaks in the cloud you get to see the big drop into the northern coum - it's a long way down to the valley floor. And great views east, towards the Sheefry and Ben Gorm hills. After 10 minutes or so, the ridge broadens, and the summit (small heap of stones) is reached. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/51/comment/2467/

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Sublime

It was a beautiful September day, the last of the autumnal Indian Summer, when myself and my hiking partner Martin King tackled Ben Lugmore. The early morning mist and fog shrouded the Ramp and Ben Lugmore was completely unseen. We decided to press ahead to the central section of the Ramp and make a final decision on whether to continue or turn back. Thankfully after time, the sun increased in temperature and burnt away the heavy mist and fog. We pressed ahead.

Approaching via the Ramp, the best route is to keep left and traverse the lower slopes of the daunting series of overhead cliffs that envelop the Ramp on this side. Going this way avoids a lot of the soggy and very boggy terrain that covers the central route via the winding stream. It's then a matter of veering right and trekking across the central section of the Ramp, picking up the trail from there. The Ramp route isn't the hardest and we both covered a lot of ground in good time.

The summit of Ben Lugmore is reached by veering left at the cairn that sits atop the Ramp on the lower slopes of Ben Bury. There are a series of jagged and undulating ridges that lead to the summit of Ben Lugmore and extreme caution is advised. Do keep track of the weather as low cloud can quickly roll in. On this occasion it settled at the top of Mweelrea where it lingered for several minutes. The wind also picked up making our ascent to the precipice more challenging. We made it and were rewarded with a sensational series of sweeping vistas that included the white church atop Croagh Patrick in the far off distance. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/51/comment/23266/

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