Over the weekend, Deirdre, Mark, Brendan and I took a walk in the Comeraghs: starting in the Nire Valley, crossing over to the Gap, making our way around to the Western Lakes, then climbing up to a small cairn on the plateau.

We traversed the boggy plateau, briefly encountering a “spot of bother”, when one of our group (who shall remain nameless) began to sink into the mud, saving himself using a technique with two poles that I will never forget.

Brendan surveying his territory.
The fog lifts with shadowy trees in the foreground.
Mountains in the clouds
Walking towards the sun.
Hardy travellers.
On the way to the lakes.
Rocks and stones near the lakes.
The Nire Valley
The way that we went
The Nire Valley

After ploughing waist-deep through boggy streams and navigating through a cloudy and featureless landscape, we came to a point that we expected would lead us down the mountain. Instead of a gradual descent, however, we encountered a sheer cliff-edge. We had walked slightly further west than we had intended. We spent the next hour handrailing the cliffs until we finally discovered a safe exit from the plateau.

Just as we were going down, the cloud lifted, and we were able to make out a spectacular panorama. The walk back to the cars was almost magical, with the setting sun illuminating the valley in orange, yellow and emerald green.

It was a challenging, fun-filled, haphazard walk that we’ll remember for a long time.