One for all the family...the Sawney Bean family

It's been a while since anyone has waxed, lyrical or otherwise, about the brief (but full-on) experience that Castleconor offers, but there are some things about which the community should be periodically reminded.

Given its adjacency to the road I thought I'd give it a sporting chance by attempting the ascent during the torrential rain that swept Ireland on 7th June and so it was I sallied forth using the same route as everyone else. The peat bank commented upon by others was a nightmare of oozing slime of which HP Lovecraft would have been enamoured, conquered (it's not too strong a word...I've done boulder problems that were much less strenuous) by swarming up a handily-placed tree root at its left-hand end. A quick traverse right gained the forest ride, which was followed upwards until it gave out in a tangle of trees, stumps and trenches that could only appeal to the location scout for 'Troll Hunter II'. More by luck than judgement I emerged, gopping and battered, onto the vague clearing of the summit, before an even greater supply of luck allowed me to roughly retrace my steps to the top of the ride. And so it was that 25 minutes of waving AND drowning delivered me back to the car.

My usual tactic following experiences like this is to use glass-half-full thinking and consider them as 'character building'. On this occasion I just shook my head at the ridiculous fact that I've climbed Castleconor but I haven't climbed Mweelrea. Somebody should stop me. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/796/comment/6856/

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wicklore on Castleconor

I think the other contributers have summed up the experience of this hill rather nicely. The peaty bank madfrankie refers to is over 7 feet tall and is a barrier of slightly sloped wet turf-this is challenging especially if you are trying not to damage it in your frantic scrabbling for purchase. Of most interest to me was the strange fairytale forest that must be negotiated after heading up over the peaty bank. After following a brief firebreak, one must enter this ethereal world. Brilliant hues of green are everywhere as fronds of ferns or some kind of moss hang down in wispy threads from the branches. It was almost disorienting as the gaps between the trees filled in with these silent curtains. Thankfully I didn't get lost as the forest track and my car were only a few minutes walk down through the trees-the forest would have to find another victim to keep. As csd and madfrankie have said, watch out for the many hidden trenches and tussocks covered in deep heather at the summit. Other than that enjoy hopping about looking for the highest point of this uniform summit. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/796/comment/3617/

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csd on Castleconor

There are two possible approaches to Castleconor that I can see: from the Slieve Bloom Way to the north or via the forest track to the south. If coming from the north, turn off the SBW at B (N27973 02421), where a forest ride will make access to the summit a little easier, taking you within 50m of the summit. The top itself is that awful heather-grown-on-top-of-forestry-trenches business that will ensure you're always stepping into one hole or another. If the holes doesn't get you, the flies will! Since the top is ringed with trees, views are limited to Baunreaghcong and the Ridge of Capard to the north. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/796/comment/2762/

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madfrankie on Castleconor

The biggest challenge here is clambering up the steep wet peaty bank from the Slieve Bloom Way. Ascend the firebreak for five minutes. Duck under a few branches. Step into a few holes. Take a photo or two and descend the way you came up. My GPS claimed 900 meters of distance and 36 meters ascent. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/796/comment/3403/

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A step in the right direction

While amused by Peter Walker's description of his attempts to clamber over 'the peat bank of doom', I approached it with some trepidation, yet was pleased to see that some enterprising individual had jammed two pieces of slate into the bank to act as steps, making the task of surmounting it a great deal easier. They'll probably fall off in heavy rain, but still... On the hill itself, nice wildflowers, colourful moss, but little else...a trudge up through boggy ground and prodding forest to a small clearing with zero views. Oh well, at least I was up and down in 25 minutes. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/796/comment/23260/

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