The Clydagh Valley Horseshoe..Before the snow melts.

We had a short cold snap Monday and Tuesday and there was a good dump of snow on the hills so with a decent forecast I decided to head to The Galtees today and I opted for one of my favourite circuits on the range The Clydagh Valley Horseshoe. This gives a nice outing that is around 14 kilometers long and had over 1000mtrs of ascent so it gives a reasonable workout as well.
I could see the Galtees from home yesterday and they were well covered to low levels but there was a fair old thaw underway and the cloud base was down at around the 600 mtr level as well. Oh well I was here now so I set off for my first peak..Cush and I was basically snow free most of the way to the summit. In the cloud on top the lying snow still made for a nice wintry atmosphere and it was certainly chilly enough in the stiff wind. I dropped down to the col under Galtybeg and then trudged up the seemingly never-ending slopes to the summit. Now at over 2600ft it was quite wintry and I then dropped to the col above Lough Muskry and plodded up to the main top of the day Galtymor and now at over 3000ft it was definitely still winter so I crossed the summit plateau and then dropped easily on deep banked snow to the level ground above Lough Curra. Once on the wast side of the lake I again used a deep snow bank to descent all the way to the lake shore and then returned easily to the forestry and the car. Four hours out in bracing wind and snow was just what the doctor ordered and I was pleased to get out in what might be the last snows of the season. Note to self.if you go to the trouble of bringing the camera then it would be a good idea to put a memory card into it as well..DOH⛄

Gaining height on Galtybeg looking back at Cush

Lough Curra to Cush