June 2013 trip to Croagh Patrick, Leenaun and Mweelrea Mountains

Mweelrea with thick cloud/mist cover

I set off recently with my two brother's in law for a trip to Connemara and the prospect of, weather permitting, a few good days hiking the mountains around Leenaun.

Croagh Patrick in the background

On the way to Leenaun we stopped off to climb to the top of Croagh Patrick. It was a beautiful afternoon. Here I was going up Croagh Patrick for the first time and hearing about people who do it every week and some who do it daily. Once was enough for me. Now it's off the bucket list. The views of Clew Bay from the top are just amazing and well worth the effort. I don't know how some people do this in their bare feet.

We popped into a local bar/restaurant for a well deserved meal before heading for Leenaun. (there appears to be more than one way to spell Leenaun, Leenane )

A view of Clew Bay from the top of Croagh Patrick

Croagh Patrick in the background as we make our way back to the car park

Got devoured by midges when we reached our B&B.

We had a late start the next morning because breakfast did not start until 8:30am. It was overcast and mist visible on the Mweelrea Mountains. We drove to the Delphi Adventure Centre to check the forecast. We were advised that the weather would clear in the afternoon.

We set off,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Mweelrea in the background, well some of it anyway.

Our first view of Killary Harbour from the mountainside as we begin to ascend our approach to Mweelrea.

Well the weather did not improve. In fact it got worse. Heavy rain and mist all the way to the summit. Mweelrea is not an easy hike although I understand there is a less difficult route to the one we chose to take. There are so many cliffs, vertical drops into the milky mist below. I kept my distance. My glasses were saturated and misted up. Once on the summit I popped in a pair of contacts, much better visibility.

We considered our options for the return to base. With condition not improving we decided to go back the same route we ascended.

I know, i'm like a drenched rat and rain on the lens distorts the image even more, that's my story and i'm sticking .......

Visibility was poor so it was no surprise when we found we had drifted off course. We had got all the way up, a long route, and back down to sea level in eight hours. Not bad we thought. However, it was only as we got a short break in the mist did we see that we had come down on the Killary Harbour side. No road, path or track. We spent the next six hours making our way back to our car arriving there at 1:15am and 14 hours after setting out. Now that's a story for another day.

Sunset approaching and precious light fading,

As we came down Mweelrea towards Killary Harbour the setting sun cast a last brilliant light across the harbour

part of Mweelrea, the morning after the night before..........

The weather over the next couple of days was dreadful and after our Mweelrea we though it best not to head out again (on the mountains that is) without a GPS device. I need to check these out in the coming weeks.