Coumloughra Horseshoe pics

We now come to what has got to be the best days walk of the holiday and the day during which I believe the best pictures were taken. The day had started very cloudy but as I climbed the hill the clouds revealed the scene in the first photo in the walk report. This was taken on top of the ridge leading to Skregmore looking past the opposite end of the horseshoe showing the spectacular temperature inversion with the clouds drifting out of the glen. The next picture in the walk report is a Brocken Spectre, a common atmospheric effect during temperature inversions. This one was not particularly clear but the shape enveloped in the halo was me, standing on a rock, taking the picture.

The picture below was taken from the same ridge as the two pictures above and shows Skregmore with Beenkeragh behind.At this point the clouds had re-entered the glen as they gradually lifted out of the valleys. The next picture shows the highest hill in Ireland, Carrauntoohil, surrounded by the ascending clouds.This picture was taken over an hour after the previous one during which time I had walked around the back of Beenkeragh onto Knockbrinnea, where this picture was taken. The clouds were now all around me as it rose past the mountain tops. The next picture shows the start of the narrow ridge linking Beenkeragh and Carrauntoohil. The guy I walked with for part of this walk can be seen making the crossing ahead of me. The clouds almost obliterate the left hand side of the ridge but the tip of Carrauntoohil can just be seen peaking through the clouds.

I took many pictures once on the top of Carrauntoohil including the third picture in the walk report that shows to good effect the large metal cross that adorns the summit. This picture was taken by descending the north face to the edge of the cliff and looking back at the summit. I was able to get a picture of the summit without any people in view or any sign of a footpath as these were all on the other side of the mountain. I'm quite proud of this picture, but of all the pictures I took on top of Carrauntoohil I think the one below is my favourite. It was taken from the footpath leading down to the top of the Devil's Ladder and clearly shows the six summits of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks with Lough Callee in Hags Glen below.I like this picture so much I have made it the wallpaper on the desktop of my computer. As you can see the clouds had now dispersed enabling me to take some of the best pictures of the holiday. The next picture was taken at the col between Carrauntoohil and the final mountain of the horseshoe, Caher. Lough Eagher, Coomloughra Lough and Lough Eighter can be seen in the glen with Brandon Mountain crowning the Dingle Peninsula in the distance. This picture has also graced the desktop of my computer.

A sea mist prevented any good pictures being taken while on Caher, but cleared as I neared the floor of the glen letting me take some more cracking pictures like the last picture from the walk report, which shows the whole horseshoe from Beenkeragh on the left through a hazy Carrauntoohil to Caher on the right. Lough Eighter lies in the foregound. I wish I could have put more pictures up from this walk, but I think this will have to be the limit. It has been really difficult trying to decide which pictures to include. I took almost 50 pictures during this walk and few were duds. It was certainly the highlight of the holiday for me.

Gap of Dunloe pics

With more pictures from my holiday in Ireland last month we come to a day that was blighted by the weather, but it didn't rain, it was simply very windy. The first picture in the report for this walk is of Tomies Mountain surrounded by clouds and strong winds. After this walk was abandoned I went up the Gap of Dunloe, a popular tourist attraction of outstanding natural beauty, as shall be seen. The picture below was taken at the end of the abandoned walk on the path as it meandered through the gorse bushes back into the valley.The next picture was taken on the road part way up the valley on a bridge over the River Loe looking across the Black Lake at the dark cloud-topped Gap ahead.The wind was howling down the valley at this point, so much I had difficulty holding the camera steady. The last picture in the walk report looks just like this one but is subtly different. I was holding the camera while taking the picture above but the picture in the walk report was taken with the camera sitting on the bridge. It was so windy I thought it was the only way I could get a steady picture. As you can see it didn't really need it.

The next picture shows the road winding its way up the valley with a number of people making their way up it.

This picture was taken on the left hand shore of the Auger Lake and you can see how windy it was by the choppiness of the water. These two pictures may have given the impression that it was a grey overcast day, but this was not the case as the next picture shows.Auger Lake can be seen again now looking back down into the valley with clear blue skies beyond it. The only clouds in the area were over the mountains including over the Gap of Dunloe. The middle picture in the walk report was taken from a grassy mound near the road looking back down the valley past a stone bridge at Black Lough.

The last picture below was taken from the summit of the Gap looking back across the wide grassy plain at the head of the gap with the road winding its way through it.A poor start to the day with little opportunity for photo-taking had turned into a spectacular afternoon resulting in some, in my modest way, quite good pictures. But these pale in comparison with the pictures I took on the following days walk.

MacGillycuddy's Reeks pics

Here are a few more pictures from my walk last month over the MacGillycuddy's Reeks in Ireland. This first picture was taken while climbing out of the Gap of Dunloe at the start of the walk.

The sun is shining through the clouds on top of Purple mountain into this picturesque valley. The first picture on the walk report for this walk was taken on the wide grassy/boggy plain leading up to Cnoc an Bhráca with the smaller Cnoc na dTarbh visible to the left behind. The hill to the right leads to the rest of the Reeks and as can be seen at this point in the walk was still covered in clouds.

The next picture on the walk report was taken on top of the ridge looking forward to the first two of the 3000 foot summits on the Reeks, Cruach Mhór and The Big Gun. This next picture was taken a little further back and shows Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh on the right beyond the rugged ridge of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks.

The clouds had now nicely cleared the tops enabling great pictures to be taken but unfortunately that wouldn't last. The next picture was taken from Cruach Mhór and shows Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh above Hags Glen with Loughs Gouragh, Callee and Cummeenapeasta below.

You can see the clouds beginning to encroach upon the Reeks from the south. This next picture was taken on the ridge leading to The Big Gun and shows the summit of Cruach Mhór with its statue-carrying structure on top.The clouds were now heavy on the southern side of the Reeks and would soon envelop all around. This next picture shows the narrow ridge from The Big Gun leading up to the highest point in the Reeks (east of Carrauntoohil), Cnoc na Péiste.Once on this ridge I was surrounded by cloud for the rest of the walk until I descended into Hags Glen. The third picture in the walk report was of Maolán Buí, which was the next peak along the now grassy ridge after Cnoc na Péiste. The final picture in the walk report is of the scree at the bottom of the Devil's Ladder. Some great pictures were taken on this walk, but two things spoiled them. Firstly my inexperience and secondly, more importantly, the clouds in the latter half of the walk spoiled the extensive views that should be seen from this walk. C'est la vie.