After completing our three (two) summit hike on December 2nd it was announced that we would tackle Lugnaquilla, or the 'Lug' as it is sometimes called, on December 9th.. 'It is the tallest mountain in Leinster and it will be great preparation for your Kili climb', we were told.
I googled Lugnaquilla over the next few days, 'know your enemy' they say. Lugnaquilla and the many towns and villages in close proximity to it are remembered in many historical papers including the role played in our struggle against oppression over the centuries. However, I do not wish to be drawn into that aspect of the Lug at this time. What did catch my eye was a poem by Patrick Semple and I would like to share it with you here.
LUGNAQUILLA
The first time my wife and I climbed Lugnaquilla
we made love on the summit.
We had to do something to celebrate,
and we hadn’t brought anything else with us.
Since Lugnaquilla is a public place,
this was technically an act of gross indecency,
but, as there was no one else there
it was entirely private.
If the local Guard had been present,
after he had recovered
he’d have had to arrest us.Can you imagine the journey down the mountain,
especially as the local Guard
is over sixty and extremely unfit?
In court he would stand up and say;
‘Your honour,
on Monday the 24th September 1990
at four thirty in the afternoon
on top of Lugnaquilla I observed.....’
The judge would stop him and say to the defendants:
‘How do you plead?’
We would say: ‘Guilty your honour;’
He would then say: ‘How old are you?’
We would reply: ‘62 and 63 respectively.’
He would then say:
‘I find you guilty on a technicality,
but on account of your age
I recommend a citation from the President’.
The first time my wife and I climbed Lugnaquilla
we made love on the summit.
We had to do something to celebrate,
and we hadn’t brought anything else with us.
Since Lugnaquilla is a public place,
this was technically an act of gross indecency,
but, as there was no one else there
it was entirely private.
If the local Guard had been present,
after he had recovered
he’d have had to arrest us.Can you imagine the journey down the mountain,
especially as the local Guard
is over sixty and extremely unfit?
In court he would stand up and say;
‘Your honour,
on Monday the 24th September 1990
at four thirty in the afternoon
on top of Lugnaquilla I observed.....’
The judge would stop him and say to the defendants:
‘How do you plead?’
We would say: ‘Guilty your honour;’
He would then say: ‘How old are you?’
We would reply: ‘62 and 63 respectively.’
He would then say:
‘I find you guilty on a technicality,
but on account of your age
I recommend a citation from the President’.
 |
| Niamh ensuring we we all present and allowing us time to regroup. |
We met up at the Glenmalure Lodge for 9am on Sunday morning. The weather appeared to be living up to expectations, it was dry, mild and no sign of rain, yet.
There were eight of us present and no sign of anyone else arriving. We waited a short time as one other person was expected. Five of the Kili team were there, Carma, Fern, Vincent, Thomas and myself. Niamh, our guide, Gerry as backup navigator and Rose made up the rest of our eight strong party. After some final preparations all eight of us left the car park of the lodge and drove in three cars to the next car park along the Glenmalure Valley.
We started our hike by taking to the road and walked north west for almost two kilometres to the end of the road, the last car park and the start of our off road hike.
There were eight of us present and no sign of anyone else arriving. We waited a short time as one other person was expected. Five of the Kili team were there, Carma, Fern, Vincent, Thomas and myself. Niamh, our guide, Gerry as backup navigator and Rose made up the rest of our eight strong party. After some final preparations all eight of us left the car park of the lodge and drove in three cars to the next car park along the Glenmalure Valley.
We started our hike by taking to the road and walked north west for almost two kilometres to the end of the road, the last car park and the start of our off road hike.
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| Carma and Thomas shortly after we set off |
After crossing a footbridge Niamh said we would walk as far a the hostel before the incline would become more steep. She informed us that we would, over the course of the day's hike, burn thousands of calories. I thought this would be very unfair to the calories. After all they have been part of me for so long. I decided there and then to gradually release the calories into the wild in groups of two hundred at a time rather than burning them out.
We came to a 'T' junction on the trail. Going right, Niamh informed us would take us further into the
Glenmalure vally with Lugduff and Corrig on our right and Lugnaquilla to the left. We would take the left turn effectively going west along the trail and into Fraughan Rock Glen.
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| Vincent, Fern and Gerry, lovely day, very gradual incline, this is easy! |
Once in Fraughan Rock Glen we found ourselves facing our first serious climb. The only route not going up a mountain was the trail we just left behind. Art's Lough would be south of our position while Benleagh was to the north.
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| Thomas and Jack, ah they have no idea what's ahead : ) |
We started to climb a very steep incline next to Falls Brook waterfall. A mist started to form obliterating the top of this first challenge. The ground was treacherous, soaking wet with deep mucky bog holes, and littered with fallen trees and rocks. We stopped frequently to regroup as the mist began to thicken and we took the opportunity to catch our breath again.
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| Vincent leading the climb |
Your mind starts to drift as you trek along the less challenging parts of the climb and descent. I was thinking about what was going on under my waterproof jacket and fleece. Surely, I thought, this micro climate of warmth, perspiration, condensation mixed with microscopic particles of bog must be conducive to creating a new life form, a micro organism perhaps. I was determined to take a sample from my clothes when I got home, place it in a petri dish and stick it under a lamp. Who knows what would happen.
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| Fern and Gerry, the good weather left behind, heading into the cold and mist. |
It is at this point that I have some uncertainty about the route we took but suspect our approach to the summit took us over Cannow. The weather conditions continued to deteriorate as we climber trough 700 and then 800 meters
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| Vincent taking a very short break |
The ground was very slippy now with ice over rocks and small pools of water frozen solid. The wind had also picked up some more, it was bitter cold. The cold brought rain, hail and sleet and the first signs of snow. As we carried on towards the summit the entire surface was covered in a blanket of snow. This made it difficult because you often stepped into bog covered by snow or slipped over rocks just below the surface. Walking in Niamh's footsteps minimised the risk of keeling over or sinking into a hole.
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| Fern and Gerry pushing forward |
Niamh informed us about the spectacular views from Lugnaquilla. On a clear day you could even see Wales. Today we could not see more than 30ft to 40ft in any direction.
It was freezing cold on the approach to the summit and visibility was very poor. I would not have been surprised to stumble across David Attenborough in a crouched position talking to an Emperor Penguin, it didn't happen. A picture speaks a thousand words but our images cannot convey just how miserable it was as we approached the summit, while taking a short break and our initial descent.
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| Jack and Carma, freezing on the summit of Lugnaquilla |
The wind was now freezing cold and Niamh assured us we were nearly there. If visibility was better we might have seen Percy's Table before actually arriving within a few meters of it. We had reached the summit. We all climbed onto Percy's Table and took a few photographs. It was so cold you could not stay there for more than a couple of minutes.
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| Carma and Thomas on the summit of Lugnaquilla |
We took cover, from the freezing wind, behind the rocks that form Percy's Table.
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| Carma's Photo captures the conditions at the summit of Lugnaquilla |
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| Carma in one of her own photos on the summit |
Conditions on the summit were dreadful, high winds, rain, hail, sleet, snow and freezing temperatures. The Gods were not pleased with us so you could not rule out a plague of locusts to top it all off, but I don't think they like the cold either (the locusts that is).
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| The team shelter from the freezing wind at the summit and take a very short lunch break |
Removing our gloves we dipped into our backpacks to retrieve a packed lunch and hot drink. Having devoured our lunch, which took no more that a few minutes we packed up and prepared for our descent.
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| Quickest lunch break ever, we needed to get down the mountain asap |
Walking in single file we followed Niamh as she guided us trough the whiteness all around. I believe we took the Clohernagh route and then on to or close to Jim's High Rock. Thankfully we started to come out of the mist and the temperature became noticeably more comfortable.
We passed Little Lough, on to Corrigreine before reaching and crossing a stile. We could clearly see the road now and we were informed that the final zig zag trail was close by. Rising up from the valley below we could see Mullacor right in front of us and further north we could see Lugduff.
It was at this point that Carma, Thomas and I started to joke about the extreme cold on top of Kili. No doubt brought on by out summit experience earlier. Carma joked about bringing home a frozen nose or finger in a box. Now if I have to lose a bit up there I can only hope it's one of those bits that are plentiful, e,g, finger or toe. Not any of the solo bits, e.g. nose etc...
This made me think about something on my 'Bucket List'. Should I be unlucky enough to 'shed' a bit up there in the freezing cold and bring it home in a box I could have it cremated and send the dust up in a rocket....... Thus achieving part one of a bucket list entry I had never considered bearing witness to. You see, every cloud can have a silver lining : )
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| Leaving the mountain behind, weather back on earth much better |
The final part of our descent took us through a steep slope covered in heather small streams of water and some slippy patches. I think I must have slipped and fallen over at least three or four times. We then reached the zig zag path through farmland and eventually onto the road again.
After a short walk along the road, about one kilometre, we were back at the three cars. We said goodbye to each other as this was the last hike before Kili and probably the last time the Kili team would see Niamh, Gerry and Rose.
We drove back to the Glenmalure Lodge where all the cars were parked. After removing our muck covered outer layers we climbed into our cars and set off for home
I would like to congratulate our team for reaching the summit of Lugnaquilla with the weather working against us. I would also like to congratulate Patrick Semple for summiting.
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| Fern leaves the train and emerges onto the road for the final trek back to the cars |
September 24 1990 must have been a beautiful day, weather wise. I doubt anyone was celebrating like Patrick Semple on December 9th 2012. For our part we were elated to have reached the summit in such dreadful conditions and happy to leave it behind us.
I would like to congratulate our team for reaching the summit of Lugnaquilla with the weather working against us. I would also like to congratulate Patrick Semple for summiting.
The Stats :
We walker 16.75kilometer in 6hours 45minutes. Actual walking time was 5hrs 3mins. We climbed to the summit of Lugnaquills at 931mts (that's 3054ft in old money)
One other stat, I weighed 1.5Lbs less after the walk so,
1.5Lbs = Thousands of Calories
This hiking lark has opened up so many possibilities, so far I have (a) misplaced my 'sanity' gene, (b) released thousands of calories into the wild and (c) started developing a new micro organism on a petri dish in my man cave. I wonder if the sanity gene meets up with the calories will they know each other?
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