31st May 2010
Rocky Mountain Way Joe Walsh
What fabulous views of Slieve Donard as I cycled along the road. I arrived there for lunchtime and left my bike at a sheltered accommodation home, thanks go to Jackalyn, the manager for being so kind as to let me leave my heavily-laden bike there.
I started to follow a path through a large conifer plantation but got a bit lost amongst the tall trees but as usual on this trip fate leads me to new opportunities. In the dense forest, I met yet another brilliant family of Mum, Rita [Queen of Speed!], Dad, Dave and their sons, Tom and the joker, Connor. They were camping out using superb looking hammocks that had extensive canopies above each. I Must get me one of those one day for future adventures. A Hennessey hammock.
What's small, round and white and can't stop laughing - a tickled onion. Thanks Rita.
Leaving them to their wonderful camping adventure, I found my way up Slieve
Donard. It was a long climb but relatively easy with a good path the whole way
and a large stone wall along the side of the upper slopes sheltered one from
the strong gale at the summit.
I met a group of folk musicians from near to my beloved Birmingham. They were going down as I was going up but we had a long natter anyway. They were all members of the Tamworth Folk Club.
I met Mark at the top, a man who has walked up Slieve Donard over three hundred times. A real inspiration this man as he had only been up once before he was 52.
Thanks Kieran from Armagh, for chasing after me with my pen that I had dropped some way up the mountain.
Boy, was I lucky? The weather at the top was clear even if rather cold and with a gale blowing. So the views over to Scotland, the Isle of Man and towards the Wicklow Mountains were clear also. A few clouds bubbled up but these were below the summit and added to the atmosphere.
Down the mountain by late afternoon, I collected the bike and journeyed through Castlewellan, camping about five miles to the north west, on the Bainbridge road.
So May ends and I continue to circumnavigate Northern Ireland.
No comments:
Post a Comment