The Wild And Wonderful Dunkerron Mountains

 

I was down visiting Sneem for a week and taking advantage of great weather I decided to do mostly cycling while there. It would have been a shame not to include a mountain day as well so I decided to do a hike on the Dunkerron Mountains that I have been wanting to do for a while. When you are in Sneem there is a beautiful wall of mountains curving around the towns northern hinterland. The peaks stretch from Coomcallee all the way to Finnararagh and offer some of the wildest and roughest walking to be found in Ireland. 

On the ridge to Coomnahorna

I drove in the lovely little lane that goes ever deeper into the valley under the mountains and a little beyond the water treatment plant I found a parking spot. I walked back along the lane until I reached the Lomanagh Loop and I followed this up into the forestry. I was able to follow this road until it eventually reached open ground under the northeast ridge of Coomnahorna. I had a delightful encounter with a deer and her fawn just before exiting the woods and it buoyed me up no end. The going isn't steep and I was able to gain height steadily on the wide boggy spur. The views are as you can imagine sumptuous and the weather was perfectas well. Mostly clear skies, light winds and temperatures just slightly on the chilly side made it a perfect day for hiking. I had been tempted to forego Coomnahorna and head instead for the rocky buttresses of Slievenashaska which promised some scrambling action but I saved it for future days. As I neared the top of Coomnahorna some cloud billowed up the coum and obscured the ground that headed for Slievenashaska. Bugger and dam it I thought that my luck was out. As it happened when I began my descent it cleared and I remained cloud free for the rest of the day.

Rough ground towards Slievenashaska S T

The descent from Coomnahorna is rough but okay and once down I was on a wide expanse of super rocky and rough ground that curved around the large coum, at the bottom of which nestled a lovely lake, before rising to the next top Slievenashaska South Top. This stretch really displays why these mountains are so special. Though the elevations are modest, the ground is super rough and progress is a constant twist and turn and up and down as you avoid the rock strata that always seems to run in the direction you least want. Though it was only about two kilometres to reach Slievenashaska and only one hundred and thirty metres of ascent was shown on the map, the reality was very different. It presented an engaging series of obstacles and route finding options and on a nice sunny day such as this I found myself grinning and loving every step. The final climb to the summit offered some rock buttresses and I enjoyed a little scrambling which only added to the joy of the outing. There are around six little loughlans in the area (more may be hidden) and some didn't reveal themselves until you reached the edge. 

Feeling a little erratic

Curved rock strata

Once on the top ( a  wide plateau like area that held a few small loughs) I headed to the next top Slievenashaska main summit about a kilometre away. The going was easier here but still not easy. Over the rather indistinct top I went and dropped the two hundred metres to the wild and rugged pass alongside the beautiful Coomavarhanniha Lough and faced into the two hundred metre climb to Cnoc Breasail. This climb offered a lovely scramble at the start but it was all to short and there was a long slog to follow. Finally I reached my penultimate top of the hike and I could see across Knocknagantee not too far ahead. I could also see that the ground was a lot easier and I was looking forward to enjoying easier strides. After losing about 50 metres I reached a fence and there was actually a trail alongside it. The next kilometre and a half saw me reach the broad summit of Knocknagantee 676 metres (the highest point of the day) where I enjoyed superb views of the rest of the range and all the way to the wonderful Macgillycuddy Reeks. I dropped down to the track that offers an easy descent back to the valley and before too long I was back at my car. It had taken me six hours to cover the twenty one kilometres and there was twelve hundred metres ascent included. I had loved the day and delighted in the wildness of these mountains. Don't let the modest height fool you. These are challenging mountains.

Easy ground finally towards Knocknagantee