Brandon Mountains pics

I've been really busy for the last few weeks and have not been able to continue to put more pictures up from my holiday in Ireland in September, but now I'm determined to finish it. So without much further ado I'll proceed with the first picture from my last days walk in Ireland, which featured in the report for this walk and was taken on the path as it headed towards Brandon Mountain. In damp, overcast conditions we can see the path as it contoured around the 822m peak east of Brandon Mountain. The tip of Brandon Peak can just be seen on the right with the crown of Slievanea visible in the distance.

The next picture I'm rather fond of and shows a view of Brandon Bay taken from high up the mountain side looking through the serrated edge of the eastern ridge.Beyond the 822m eastern peak of Brandon Mountain we can see Brandon Bay filling up with water as the tide comes in and beyond that Tralee Bay can just be made out; the mountains on the right must be Beenoskee and Stradbally Mountain. The ridge in the foreground looks enticing for a scramble but the lack of a defined path along the top reveals the complex difficulties inherent in this grade 2 or 3 scramble. I wisely kept to the Pilgrim's Track. This next picture was taken once I was at the top of the ridge and is the view looking west.

In the foreground the path along the northern ridge can be seen as can the path I followed to get onto the ridge, the top marked by the white post. In the distance is the north-western coastline of the Dingle Peninsula with Smerwick bay in the centre; Inishtooskert and the other Blasket Islands can just be seen in the distance.The picture above shows the top of Brandon mountain where there is a wooden cross and the familiar trig point. The clouds were quite dark at this point but the weather soon brightened as can seen from the second picture in the walk report, which shows breaks in the clouds as the sun shone on Brandon mountain. This picture was taken much later in the day from the top of Brandon Peak. The rocky eastern ridge of Brandon Mountain can be seen on the right with the grassy western slopes bathed in sunshine on the left.

This picture taken on the southern slopes of Brandon Mountain shows the Feohanagh River winding through the valley with Mount Eagle at the south-western tip of the Dingle Peninsula visible in the distance. The final picture in the walk report was taken from the same position and shows Brandon Peak with Gearhane partnering it to the right.

The weather wasn't perfect for much of the day but I think I was still able to get some good pictures out of the day. It was only a pity I had to go home the next day.