Padodes visit

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, they say, and certainly the chill wind that has been blowing snow and ice across the Wicklow Mountains for almost two months has not been totally unkind. I find it has obliged me to renew acquaintance with humble yet more accessible outliers, and I have been pleasantly surprised. The Little Sugar Loaf is a good example. Barely 342m at its highest point and no more that a 20 minute climb from the Bohilla Lane starting-point ( Bohilla Mid (O256 141)), it will add little glory to your mountaineering CV, but don’t write it off too quickly. The walk along the ridge and around the slopes offers great views on every side. Bring your binoculars and a camera and you have hours of contentment before you.

To the W, the Great Sugar Loaf imposes its presence (see photo), but you would be inclined to think it no higher than its little namesake. It’s an optical illusion that conceals a difference of 159m. To the NW, your view plunges into Glencree Valley and only ends abruptly at the twin corries of Lough Bray Upper and Lower, with the mast on Kippure standing guard above. To the N and NE, the view stretches beyond Dublin Port to Howth and back along the Dalkey-Killiney coast to Bray. Directly E, the knobbly hillocks at Bray Head block the view to sea, but it’s again visible at Greystones before disappearing in a haze to the S. My attention was caught, too, by the historical Kilruddery House and Gardens, in the valley to the NE. Scenes from many films or TV series – among them The Tudors – have been shot around this Elizabethan revival house, whose beginnings go back, in fact, to the 17th century. With binoculars, I could even get glimpses of the classical statues in the glass-covered Orangery.

All in all, as I’ve learned, if you’re prepared to curtail a little your walking and increase your contemplation, the Little Sugar Loaf will not disappoint. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/909/comment/4380/

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An Opportunity Mist!

Climbed Little Sugarloaf on the 9/7/10 on the foggiest evening ever.Took the exit from the Kilmacanogue roundabout and followed the small road to the make shift carpark clearing just to the SW of the mountain ( Bohilla Mid (O25668 14100))with the Sign which indicates the beginning of the ascent. Views where non existent and weather was awful but that's all part of the fun of it! The summit was shrouded in a thick mist with about a 10 foot field of view but the quiteness was almost eerie. All in all a fun half hour or so which will be repeated on a clearer day.
PS:Carvings are located very close to the red sprayed marker which indicates the summit. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/909/comment/5960/

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Spiral Hunting

Fionn_rocks- I went up this mountain today to have a look for the possible spirals. Found them quite easily. They are typical in design but I can't be certain they are not more modern. My son also found another possible candidate. I can let you know the location if you wish. Thanks a mil to Dessie. The hill was a lovely walk- beautiful heather and gorse- but very windswept on the eastern side-the fresh air made me feel alive- and the views were unbelievable. I've wanted to climb for ages, living in it's shadow most of my life. The only little niggle (tiny) was that you could here the noise of the N-11 most of the time- but it wasn't a visible scar on the landscape that destroyed the view, so it didn't spoil the fun! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/909/comment/5976/

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Climbing at Sunset

We decided upon an evening climb of the Little Sugar Loaf and had a fantastic sight of the orange-red Moon setting over the Great Sugar Loaf. We also looked at the 'spiral' markings on the rocks. There are two sets; one on the main summit and the another on the subsidary summit to the north. Those on the main summit show lichen growth over the spirals suggesting that they are not recent. There are no features recorded in the Sites and Monuments Records for the Little Sugar Loaf and these spirals are probably not that old. The other set of spirals on the summit to the north are lichen free and appear to be very modern. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/909/comment/6036/

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Interesting views from this top.

The view from the top includes the Sugar Loaf in an interesting conjunction with the heavily tracked Djouce, views over Bray, towards Wales and of course over much of Dublin.

The top of the Little Sugar Loaf is a north-south quartzite ridge. The photo shows some of the view northwards from the highest part of the Little Sugar Loaf, just 1m higher than the nearer bump on the ridge. Right skyline is part of the Cooley/ Gullion area with the Clermonts visible. The white speck above this is an aircraft coming into Dublin Airport not something wrong with the camera! Just right of centre skyline is Slieve Gullion, central plug of what was once a huge volcano. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/909/comment/3292/

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