simon3 on Gortagarry

Gortagarry, ah yes a rare thing that, a hill entirely covered in young Sitka spruce. As of 2008 anyway from whatever side you start you have around 80 to 120m of what orienteers call "fight" to reach the summit and even then it's a little tricky to be sure you are there. Only for the purist until the trees start getting thinned.

While this photo has dramatic sky it certainly wasn't taken on a clear picture postcard day. Still Gortagarry is a good place to see some of the northern mountains in the Shannon area. The three dancing maidens in the middle ground are, from left to right, Cooneen Hill, Ballincurra Hill and Knockadigeen Hill, all between 400 and 500m.

The higher summit behind Ballincurra Hill is Keeper Hill (694m) the monarch of the Shannons. The high ground in front of Keeper and behind the three sisters are the Silvermines. The low wooded bumps nearer to us are the northern echoes of Knockanora.

A wealth of interesting, if mostly rather low places, whatever about the weather the day the picture was taken. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/593/comment/3116/

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No laughing matter

A local informed me that Gortagarry means 'Field of laughter' from gort (field) and gáire (laughter), but given the torture of hacking my way through the forested area of the summit, the experience was anything but humorous. Followed jackal's excellent route for an easy ascent up forest tracks, except for the last aforementioned 100m or so. Unless you're a bagger, stay away, because the hill will have the last laugh. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/593/comment/23350/

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ahendroff on Gortagarry

The summit of Gortagarry is enveloped in pine trees. There is a bit of a clearing in what may be potentially the "summit" but it's a fair bash into the trees and is for die-hard baggers only. Thanks to Simon's GPS and gentle beckoning we would have never made it back out! Zip up all your pockets for this one if you don't want to spend a considerable amount of time picking out pine needles before the wash .... Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/593/comment/3114/

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YoungJohn on Gortagarry

climbed Gortagarry today,18th Feb 10, with my two (usual suspects) friends accompanied by jack a ferocious terrier. The mountain is as other commentators have said, covered in stika spruce. There are some grand views when the tree cover is broken. We walked a loop around the mountain taking us just short of two hours. An enjoyable walk and another hill bagged. We did get to see the silver loughderg, the aughtys, Keeper, Knockanora and the silvermines. To the south Slievenamon and the Galtees, Knockmealdowns and comeraghs, our view to the north was obstructed by 'The Bit'. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/593/comment/4406/

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