Only for the headstrong...

A question I have wondered before – is there any summit in South Kerry that I would never ascend again or recommend to anyone? Well, I found two beside each other, Knockbrack and its South Top. Both previously untested by MVers, and now I’ve done them I can only think what a sensible lot you all are! Can’t comment on the approach, did this as part of leg shredding hike from Turner’s Rock across the Priest’s Leap to Knockboy, on to Gullaba, before circuiting back around Coomclogherane Lake. It seems to me that one could access them from the east where a road leads up to a house on its flank at A (V987 692), but I suspect permission should be sought from there on. The ascent from Coomclogherane Top was very easy, bordering on the boring, although with lovely views down the Kenmare Bay and back into the waterfall cascading from Knocknamanagh NE Top into the lake. The south top was unspectacular, the walk from there to Knockbrack is unchallenging, but goes past an area of cleared bog/bog burst which contains a few cars that have seen better days. Moved past them, the view from Knockbrack into the Roughty Valley stretching from Kilgarvan to Kenmare and across to the Mangertons is nice, but as with the south top nothing you can’t get from its neighbours. Descended from there due west, one of the hardest descents in this part of the world as I battled broken boulders hidden by heather and ferns, thickets of furze and briars, a maze of fences all sporting barbed wire etc. Incidentally, for anyone who read my review on Knocknagullion, I have also been to a couple of raves on the western flanks of this mountain in the Bonane area...this area in South Kerry has a great musical tradition! Bonane also contains a Heritage Park which is pretty neat, especially as the two main stones in the stone circle are aligned with a large boulder on the Turners Rock-Priest Leap traverse on the horizon, known as the Altar. For those interested in the names of mountains in the area it identifies a few around Knockboy by very different names to those used here...

http://www.bonaneheritagepark.com/

I think the overall impression is that as mountains in Kerry go, these two give the least bang for your buck. If you make it to point A and access is not an issue, your eyes will inevitably be drawn to the spectacular circuit over Coomclogherane Lake to the south, which I would suggest is a much more appealing walk. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/655/comment/6508/

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Pleasant start to a fine circuit

I'd have to disagree with Conor74 here...I suppose we've all got different views and that's what makes the world go round. When I'm doing a small peak or a small round I like to include a road walk as i really enjoy rambing the narrow country roads that abound out west. This time I parked outside a disused quarry at approx. B (W01411 70213) and headed on up the quiet backroad to where thomas_g parked. It was a very pleasant saunter with a mixture of forestry, farms, oddly sprayed sheep [purple in a skunk-like pattern along the back] and some nice cottages. I left the road about 500m before the farm and made straight for the summit over messy but easily-navigable terrain. Yeah, Knockbrack is a mere bump on the ridge-line [aren't we all!?] but the views are great and the promise of loftier peaks over the coming hours made for a positive buzz as I descended to the col between K and its southern neighbour. Once on the ridge the going underfoot was easy especially in February before the vernal growth spurt. From the car I was on the summit in less than 45 mins. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/655/comment/22385/

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