Camaderry

My track 13.8 miles, average 2.2mph, gain 792m

This is a commentary on my Google album by the same name.

I biked to my starting point where St Kevin's Way crosses the Asbawn Brook, at the end of L8530. I followed St Kevin's Way up and over the Wicklow Gap, hence pictures of Kings River and a footbridge over same where it has dwindled to a mere stream.

I left the Way (there's a picture with the Way marker) to climb Camaderry East Top via the old lead mines. On the way I passed the controlled outflow via conduit from the lower reservoir of the Turlough Hill pumped storage scheme: picture with warning sign. There's a picture of what was a mine adit in the mining area. The track is good all the way and agrees with OpenTopMap. 

I took pictures from the East Top thence to Camaderry proper. Between here and Turlough Hill I enjoyed a quick lunch and was overtaken by a party of seven. They left me to descend by the ESB access road to Wicklow Gap, whilst I went on to beautiful Lough Firib. By this time I had dinged two toes, using insulation tape to bandage them. Hiking barefoot has its challenges as well as its rewards. From Lough Firib to Art's Cross and then down into the glen and back to base.

Formerly I have descended beside the stream - one gets wet but the route is fairly direct even if not "official". This time I thought I would follow the track marked in OpenTopoMap which first crosses the brook and then circles around before descending. Unfortunately this track is decidedly lacking in substance, although I had followed similar tracks successfully up until then.  I ended up clambering through thick heather which is always a bit scary because of the possibility of deer ticks. And I saw (and heard) plenty of deer.

The Kings River

Through king Turlough's land I flow

Snakelike, shaping as I go

Upon my bed rest ancient stones

Washed crystal clear, as my body runs

Changed to shine in different forms

When kissed by rays of golden sun

Sparkling natural gems are born

I earthly years some say I'm old

Some shy from me when summer's gone

For fear of catching winter's cold

Great pity them, for missing out

On my hypnotic tranquil sounds

Oh come, sit down by my side

And hear me sing, in beautiful tones

Songs of beauty old and new

I am a river fit for the king

Majestically my waters flow

Forever on in timeless mode

Johnny Carroll, October 2017

Johnny, a friend of mine, is into poetry in a big way. He claims to write a poem a day, or more, a feat that is quite alien to me. Poetry rarely tickles my fancy but this one caught my ear mainly, I suppose, because it is about something I love.  Naturally I wanted to find out more about the poem's allusions.

Doubtless the king in the first line is Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair aka Turlough Mór O'Connor, King of Connacht (1106–1156) and High King of Ireland (ca. 1120–1156). I can, however, find no evidence that the name "Kings River" refers to this king in particular, although there is a Turlough Hill close to its source. But the hill was named Turlough quite recently and in any case the name is common and means a low-lying area which becomes flooded in wet weather, a description that could apply to a large percentage of Ireland. That's OK, I'm not complaining - I don't mind a bit of "poet's licence".

As far as being "crystal clear" the river is, as most are in this area, peaty brown but is otherwise clear and with a quality of "pristine nature" as testified by this report by the EPA. And I love to swim in it and clamber on the many rocks it flows around.  In the summer, that is.

I thoroughly identify with "great pity them" - I wonder that so few people really appreciate the Kings River. Spurred on by this poem I have made a mental note to do more exploring next summer (if we have one) like starting at Ballinagee bridge and rock jumping all the way to its source.

In the unlikely event that my reader is as besotted with Kings River as I am, the best mapping I can find is by Bing (much better aerial photography than Google maps in this area). Here you will see that the source of the river is on the western slope of Tonelagee towards Stoney Top.