Bree Hill - We are not in the Shire Frodo!
A rather innocent idea that turned into a bramble wack and fern and undergrowth squeeze that made the infamous "Barranisky" seem like child's play! In days past Barranisky summit in South Wicklow was labelled difficult to find and reach due to the dense forest that one would have to stoop and "bow" to and of course with time and growth (in height) of trees, the way to the summit was easier than in the past. I put forth a rival to the idea that Barranisky is "difficult" to reach, Bree Hill is a down right nasty bit of work, especially when, on your first years wedding anniversary, sporting shorts and the idea of easy strolling one set's off to reach the "summit" of Bree Hill.

In the village of Bree in Wexford, not Middle Earth one can park at the community center (free parking) and trail head to the Bree Hill walks. There are 3 routes one can walk and our intention was a mix of the Blue and Red routes, and of course an easy fun stroll to the summit to enjoy the views. The back road out of the village is beautiful, and just the sort of road one enjoys walking along in the summer months. Following the markers (and it's well marked) you will enter a wooded area on good trails. Not long into the wooded area you will find yourself at a crossroads, not of life but on a gravel track. A lovely spot with a bench for a picnic! We turned right to follow the blue and green trail. The walking is pleasant with little uphill. Mountain bikers have a network of trails on the mountain so be mindful of this.

At S93657 33078 we turned off the main trail onto the mountain bike trail going uphill, again caution advised. 5 minutes later you will find yourself at a convergence of biking trails (which look great). We had a chat with the bikers to make sure we were not in their way as the single lane tracks can be narrow, and to be fair, they travel a little faster than us on foot. With some advice from the bikers we followed a trail South and looked for a clearing that would take us to the top. At the "clearing" and only 100m from the summit we were met with bramble, gorse, young trees, ferns and basically undergrowth that as hard as we tried we could not bushwack through. My shorts were truly proving themselves as the correct level of "protective" clothing that I needed.

After 2 retreats we circled back North of the summit and tried a different route, which proved much easier for the best part. After my torn skin, my slightly bemused and adoring wife asked if I really wanted to bushwack that last 40 meters to the summit. To be clear, this question was posed not because my wife was done with the outing but because I was bleeding from the knees down and full of thorns by this point. Naturally my answer was sure why not, we are soooooo close! Folly, a sense of achievement and 40 meters of dense bramble stamping later we arrived at the GPS location for the summit. The area is densely overgrown and a winter approach may lead to better success for others, however it is probably worth noting that the summit is and will be for sometime hard to define due to the downed trees and undergrowth. Happy and wounded we descended and retraced our steps to better biking trails.

We headed south following a biking trail and unsure as to where it would bring us, but as it headed south to our next location, the Ballybrittas Portal Tomb we hiked happly on. Once back on the Red and Blue trail we found ourselves right back at our original picnic spot at the crossroads. With tattered legs and happy hearts we headed down the red route to the Portal Tomb which is a well worth outing in its own right. The route is easy to follow and trail quality is excellent. The Tomb, one of two Portal tombs in Wexford is described as "probably Wexford's oldest standing structure" dating from 4000-2500 BC, so a little old you could say. After checking out the Tomb we followed the red route back and in a clockwise direction around the hillside, back to the "crossroad" and down onto the back road and village of Bree. What started as an easy ramble for our wedding anniversary turned into a bushwack and a half, however an adventure worth having and a day we won't forget any time soon. Happy summiteering folks!