Hiking in Glendalough

 

27th of January, 2008

The plan was to meet up at ten, grab the maps and hit the road. Our plan was to get out to Glendalough and climb Derrybawn (474 metres) before crossing the Derrybawn ridge to the summit of Mullacor (657 metres). If all went to plan we would cover a distance of approximately 12 kilometres and climb about 880 metres altogether. So with the plan in mind we set off from the hall at about half ten to carry it out.

When we set off from the car park we really had the weather on our side.
The last time we did this hike we had to cut it short because we were knee deep in snow. We quickly established a pace and after a few stops to train the lads in navigation we reached the summit of Derrybawn. We crossed the Derrybawn ridge (one of the only two ridges in the Wicklow mountains) and stopped for lunch at the base of Mullacor. At this stage tiredness was starting to creep in so we let everyone rest before the tough climb ahead.

The ground underfoot was very boggy which slowed progress but we worked through and soon reached the summit of Mullacor. We took advantage of the clear day to do some feature recognition with one of the training groups whilst everyone else descended to the track that would put us on the Wicklow way. From here it was a short walk along the Wicklow way back to the car park.

All in all it was a good days hike. We accomplished what we had set out to do, we used the opportunity to advance the skills in the group and we accumulated 1131 metres for the Everest Challenge.

Stephen O'Connor
soconnor@45thscouts.ie