A frosty night and the promise of a blue sky day saw me head towards the Knockmealdowns for one of my infrequent visits. I took my boots and trail shoes with me and decided that I would decide exactly what to do when I arrived at the car park at The Vee.
There was a gentle but chill breeze at the car park and several groups were already getting ready to head for the hills. It was such a beautiful morning and I was really looking forward to getting out. I decided to try for a trail run so I put on my runners and left the boots in the car. I decided to run towards the Liam Lynch monument on the northern side of the range and I would decide en route how long an outing I would try for. It was such a beautiful and easy start. A gently downhill jog on the quiet road allowed me to enjoy the lovely views to the Galtees and Comeragh mountains. When I reached the point of the hairpin bend I joined the rough trail that heads down to the river in the glen below. This is at times steep and rocky so, being mindful of my fall on my last trail run on Bray Head, I took my time and was careful. When I crossed the river a nice trail headed up into the woods on the other side and on a whim I decided to take this. It rises gently until eventually you reach an exit gateway to the open hillside. Unfortunately this gate was decorated with a large sign that said no dogs and no walkers. Hmmm, what to do?. Of course I ignored it and crossed into the open ground beyond.
Now things got tougher. A steep climb up the heather strews slopes of the ridge ahead. I was heading to Knockmoylan, an outlier of Knockmealdown itself. It was a tough 300 metres ascent as I tried to keep up a reasonable pace but it was worth it whe I topped out on the broad crest and the wonderful views opened up.The strength of the breeze also open up and it was cold and biting, so I wasted no time as I headed for the main top. I was once again able to run on the easier ground and once over this top I trundled along all the way to the summit of Knockmealdown. Progress was made a little easier as the ground was frozen solid. An easy run followed to the saddle under Sugarloaf. The 100 metre pull soon passed and I briefly stopped to enjoy the view. My mind was drawn back to the last time I was up here almost three years earlier when we were in the middle of a heatwave. Then temperatures were nearly 30 degrees and the landscape was burnt to dusty brown. The descent from here to the car is short but steep and it would be an exaggeration to say I sped down here. I hopped and shuffled but made my way safely down. It had taken just 2 hours 20 mins to cover 13 kilometres with 850 metres of ascent. Nice.
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