Running on the Galtees and the Capagh Glen

Saturday 14th July,

 Last Saturday Kevin and myself went to the Galtee mountains for a run. We started from the car park at Glengarry Wood and ran up Greenane and along past O'Loughlans Castle and down to the col under GalteeBeg. Man the ground was boggy. We have been having a miserable summer weather wise and this was reflected in the ground underfoot. The Galtees are pretty boggy at the best of times but this day it was more akin to skating through muck and water. At O'Loughlans Castle we came to a wide bog hole and Kevin opted to try and cross the right side of it and jumped and sank a foot into the muck. Me being really clever opted for the other side and jumped into the muck and sank to above my waist. The smell was less than wholesome and the remains of several fleeces meant that I was anxious to get out as soon as possible. I wallowed to the edge and got out easily enough and continued on the run.
From the col we opted to head down and slipped and spluttered down to a conjunction of three streams where I took the opportunity to give myself a plunge in a nice pool and clean some of the muck off me. This was as you would expect pretty cold but I was glad to be rid of most of the muck and I soon warmed up when we ran on down the forestry track back to the car. Kevin put in a spurt of speed over the last few kilometers and finished a few minutes ahead but I was well happy with our outing. 17 kilometers and almost 800metres of ascent made for a good workout. Getting out and about with Kevin is always fun if a little exhausting.

Sunday 15th July,




Frank looking keen

Today I was heading to Kerry for an outing with Frank. I was delighted to get up and be greeted by wonderful blue skies and little breeze. Perhaps we might even be able to get out and do a bit of rock climbing. So I packed up all the necessary equipment and headed to the train station. Yet again the skies clouded over as I headed west and by the time I was nearing Killarney plenty rain was in evidence in the mountains. Well that put paid to any rock climbing so after we got our customary coffees we decided to have a hike in the Capagh Glen.

Bennaunmore looking lush

Sure enough by the time we were getting ready to leave the car the rain arrived so we put on our waterproofs and headed off. The whole area was looking really lush after all the rain we have had and it only added to the beauty. After entering the glen we paused to look across at the gully where Connie Looney had his accident a few years ago. It still looked black and slimy. Thankfully Con has made a full recovery now. We continued on into the ever more rugged scenery and the conversation flowed as freely as the river that was our constant companion. Further in we were delighted to see an eagle soar lazily into view above us over the slopes of Bennaunmore. We gazed in wonder at the majesty of it and felt privileged to see once again this magnificent addition to the Irish landscape.

Clear evidence of the volcanic history of the area

Where the little folk live??

We went to the back of the glen and climbed steeply from there to the saddle on top and then descended the other side to the very wet ground between Lough Crohane and Lough Nabroda. From here we made our way to the narrow wooded glen that cuts between Bennaunmore and Crohane, stopping on the way to admire the spectacular Basalt columns on the eastern side of Bennaunmore. The little glen is a magical spot that is full of moss covered boulders and a babbling stream. Soon we arrived out into the open ground at the base of the glen and returned to our car. Another lovely outing.