A quick Sunday afternoon mountain

 

 

Cycling to Ballyknockan then along a forestry track to Silsean, our nearest mountain (700m).

Returning to Ballyknockan via the quarry road. Hiking stats: 3.8 miles, max altitude 697m, elevation gain 563m. Barefoot of course.

Lunch on Mullaghcleevaun

Lunch was two soft-boiled (in the sun) eggs and a flask of Wicklow Well Water.

The lockdown now permits exercise up to a 5km radius which took me to the quarry at Ballyknockan, gateway to the Wicklow Mountains, where I figured I'd be off the radar. Apparently others did too. I met two hikers on Silsean, a group of four descending from Mullaghcleevaun, and a lone woman hiker at the summit. We kept our distance of course...

Such cramp - I had to rest awhile on the way back.  And aching muscles the morning after.

Glad I'm back home

Eternal blue skies, hot weather, brown grass and fake skies be blowed - I'd rather have Ireland any day, even though it's perishingly cold at the moment. My usual circuit plus a bit of the lake today, bare foot of course.

Four peaks again

This time S and I took some visitors with us. It was the same route although I made the hike more accessible by ferrying them by car to the start and from the finish, reducing the hike to a total of 10.7 miles. We did well, no bones broken, all present and correct though tired, but there's a big difference between being on one's own (you can choose your own pace, and choose to take no backpack) and being with a group (you are sort of obliged to carry lunch and water and spare clothing for emergencies because.., and your pace is set by the weakest, so that S and I had to repeatedly stop and wait, getting cold in the process). And to add insult, before the hike I had run six miles first thing in the morning, and in addition the car was full so I had to bike to the start and run back from the finish. I was the only one bare foot. The others realised the benefit - their shoes were sodden - but steadfastly resisted.  Not that I would recommend a mountain for one's first encounter with no shoes.

4 peaks and a couple of birds

Following my recent post I thought you might like to see the four peaks mentioned there, all in a row, viewed from just up the road from us.  And a couple of birds who got in the way. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

BTW - After clicking to enlarge I am able to navigate through the pictures at full resolution by using the cursor left / right keys or by clicking on the small picture icons. One viewer has complained that this does not work for him - is this a general problem?  Feedback please!

Four peaks and Mullaghcleevaun again

A gorgeous day - could it be summer? - and the hills were calling me again. This time I biked to Ballyknockan (marked "Start" on the map) and hiked from there.  The route encompassed four peaks: Silsean, Moanbane, Mullaghcleevaun and Black Hill, and included my Favourite Place lough Cleevaun, which I entered by its back door. I swam a few strokes in the lough - it was a bit cold and I am not a strong swimmer so am cautious when on my own.

My track

Track statistics indicate just short of 13.5 miles hiking. My "hiking" includes jogging when the conditions are favourable. Elevation gain 1137m with maximum altitude 845m. The biking part was a bit less than 4 miles each way.

The road bit back to my bike was hard work - my legs no longer wished to run and I needed a drink. But the mountain and lake part of the hike was wonderful, idyllic, almost unbelievable. The weather was warm but not too hot, and the hills were alive! Meanwhile some others from the community were at a CrossFit do all day (it was in aid of cancer research). Fair play to them and I hope they enjoyed their day as much as I did. I cannot imagine that they did, mind you, but then that is my perspective.  I prefer having the hills to myself so let the Others do what they will.

These photos have got themselves in reverse order - it was my first time importing directly from Google Photos, I must try harder next time! You can enlarge the pics by clicking on them, then use cursor keys to navigate through the album.

Back to civilisation but my feet didn't want to run any more

Thank you, kind landowner, and yes, I did have
appropriate footwear (none) and clothing (not much)...

Green road and war memorial

The amazing Green Road 

One of many spot the deer photos

Zoomed in

Black hill in the distance, and my way home

West end of lough Cleevaun

The lough from the west end

Shore at east end, a good place to camp

The peat (turf) fields nearby, barefoot runners paradise

Close up of the small pond 

A small shallow pond near the lough

Another view of the sandy shore

Same again (do I love this place?)

Proof that I was there

Waterfalls on the slope of Mullaghcleevaun

From the shore looking west

First sight of lough Cleevaun from its back entrance

Mullaghcleevaun from Moanbane summit

Silsean from Moanbane summit

The small and bottomless pond and Moanbane summit marker

Silsean and the pond in the saddle

Same again - Riche swam here when we took him camping

Silsean and 16 miles bare foot

Ballyknockan, Silsean, Granabeg

We had no work party this morning so I had a leisurely start with my usual breakfast, followed by brunch at the bungalow. Once dishes were done I had to force myself to go out but, once forced, I was glad for it. I figured it was about time I climbed a mountain (at 698m some would call it a hill). So I did. As you can see I chose the nearest one to home. Even so the return trip was 16.17 miles, barefoot of course, average speed moving a mere 4.55mph (lots of hills) and elevation gain 784m.  Here are some photos I took so you can get the atmosphere without having to retrace my steps.

Half way up

I followed a stream

Some snow near the top

A very muddy place (I collect them)

Summit

Hazy view descending

Back to civilisation

A quarry near Granabeg

It's that time of the year - I love gorse!

That's the mountain I was up a short while ago

When I am laid in earth

When I am laid, am laid in earth, may my wrongs create

No trouble, no trouble in thy breast;

Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate.

Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.

The occasion: Dame Janet Baker performing, in 1966, the role of Dido from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. Apparently it is widely considered to be one of the greatest expositions of tragedy in modern operatic history.

The reason? One of the zillion or so O-levels I did at PSS was music. Our teacher was Harold Perkins. I excelled in music theory but my lack of understanding of the plot cost me dearly - I passed but did not have a good grade. I remember two set works, one was Dido and Aeneas and the other Brahms Saint Anthony Variations. I had not a clue as to what was expected of me as far as understanding these works, but I enjoyed the music and this many years later still do. So, if I am at all musical, it is only a very simple sort of musical. But as long as I don't try to be something I am not, I think that is OK.

What this post is meant to be drawing attention to is the beauty, the poignancy, the emotion in Dido's lament, which has haunted me ever since. Well not exactly haunted, but stayed with me at least. Which is all the more remarkable because as a rule I dislike opera - I do not like the highly trained voices, as a result the lyrics are hard to make out and if you do the plots are often imbecile - in short it is music at its worst, rather like putting raisins in rice pudding. This of course is IMHO and if you happen to like opera I salute you for your endurance.

Here is a more recent performance which includes some sheet music and words.

Whilst writing, here's what I did this afternoon. I attacked Silsean from its backside as an alternative access - so I cycled up the road behind Knockalt and parked the cycle in the forestry area. That oblique line on the map represents a fence. The fence posts are there (concrete too!) but no wire. One wonders what the purpose is or was!

Silsean from Garryknock forestry

Me atop the cairn

The cairn atop the mountain