On this very hot Saturday afternoon the Others having gone to Glendalough for a walk leaving me with no particular duties, I decided to go on my own walk. So I drove to the small car park above Lacken and took the usual route via Black Hill to Mullaghcleevan mountain with Cleevaun Lough as the final destination.
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| the interesting part of my track |
Total distance 9.29 miles, average speed 3.28mph (ok so I ran some of the downhill bits), elevation gain 655m, maximum elevation 847m.
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| Altitude with time profile |
Having got so close it seemed a shame not to climb Mullaghcleevaun so I did, and followed that with its East Top before heading back to Cleevaun Lough which I therefore approached from a new direction. I met only one other soul - she was heavily equipped as hikers are c/w two walking sticks, so what she made of me, scantily clad and barefoot, I know not. After that I had the mountains and lake completely to myself and made the most of it. The flat part of the altitude profile above is time I was at or near the lake.
As always you can click on the images to show them at full resolution.
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| Our lake from the car park, note the smoke haze |
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| Black Hill summit, gorse fires at Sally Gap in the distance |
There is an ongoing "gorse fire" in the Sally Gap area, with firefighters and even helicopters trying to contain it. This has resulted in smoke haze in our area for the last 48 hours or so. Today the gentle east wind was carrying most of it Blessington way and thus not so much our way.
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| Smoke haze meeting the gentle east wind before Moanbane |
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| The final climb to Mullaghcleevan summit ahead |
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| Mullaghclevan summit, note the distant gorse fire smoke |
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| Strange terrain on the way to the East Top |
There are "fields" of peat between the summit proper and the slightly lower East Top - all dry in this hot weather and wonderful for running barefoot on.
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| East Top summit, fire in distance again |
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| Lough Dan in the distance looking towards the east |
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| First sight of the gem Cleevaun Lough |
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| One of the many riverlets feeding the lake |
Lough Cleevaun is a glacial
corrie lake. The photo above shows how it "hangs" on the north slope and it amazes me how it continues to hold water. But it does and for me it is a magical place. Not many come here and thus one can swim naked with reasonable assurance of not being Seen.
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| Looking down into the water |
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| The lake in all its glory and it was truly glorious |
The water remains quite shallow near this "beach" and the bottom is studded with rocks. Being peaty the water appears black once more than about a foot deep and it is therefore somewhat treacherous on bare feet. So I choose my "safe" swimming location along the steeper slope on the left and here I enjoyed a brief swim. I have never known the water so warm. I could have stayed in this place all day, but had to get back for supper at 6.
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| The beach |
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| North-west end of the lake - my lens must be smeary |
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| Back at Black Hill summit, overlooking our lake |
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| And back at the car park |
