Coumeengeragh to Carrauntoohil

Yesterday I went once again with Frank for a climb on the Kerry Mountains. An early start saw us meet in Killarney at 07.40 and after a brief chat we settled on a visit to Coumeengeragh gully on the northwestern flanks of Beenkeragh. The weather promised to be pretty good so we were looking forward to having a good day. It was quite a surprise to see, once sufficient daylight arrived, that there had been some snowfall down to around the 600mtr mark. I was already regretting bringing my cheap Karrimor boots that are as waterproof as a cheese grater and I was resigned to the fact that chilly feet would be guaranteed in the snow. A swift drive around to Lisliebane followed and after a short wait for a passing shower to depart we set off on the long rising traverse across the boggy ground. At around the 500mtr contour you finally crest the shoulder of Knockbrinnea and enter the deep recess and the gully rises at its end. The scenery is quite spectacular with steep rocky ground on either side but especially on the left where black cliffs guard another steeper short gully which was complete with waterfalls. At the base of this gully there was something orange to be seen and I went across to investigate and to ensure that it wasn't some unfortunate climber after coming to grief. It was with some relief that I saw that it was a storm shelter that had probably blown away in the wind. I gathered it up and brought it with me as I didn't want anyone else to think that there had been an accident and it would have been an eyesore anyway.

Nice day for it

Looking keen

Finally in view

The tricky step at the start

Exiting the gully

The fun starts straight away when you enter the gully when you are faced with a wet slimy step with a big old stone jutting out at the top which forces you to climb the left side. It is only perhaps eight feet but it is tricky and I was glad when it was behind me. This is the crux of the route and we sailed up the remaining 200 or so meters of Grade 1 scrambly ground. It was quite lovely at times when the snow started to fall in silent windless slow motion all around and it made for a nice atmospheric scene at times. Windless it certainly wasn't when we crested onto the ridge below Beenkeragh and it certainly felt like proper winter conditions as we were pelted with horizontal snow and a little hail. It eased as we gained height and soon enough we reached the deserted summit. We didn't delay and dropped down and crossed the ridge towards Carrauntoohil and it wasn't until we were almost at the top before we saw anybody else out. A nice spot of lunch on a windswept summit and we descended back to the Hags Glen via the Heavenly Gates. The weather improved as we got lower and at times it felt positively balmy in the sun down below. It had been a nice outing and gave an unexpected glimmer of winter conditions. Alas back to the rain and wind again this week.

Posing at the Heavenly Gates

Looking into the Hags Glen

Alohart and Cruach Mhór

Being a glutton for punishment I set off first thing this morning back to Killarney where I hooked up with Frank for another outing. After a brief discussion we settled on a visit to The Reeks and after chatting with Kevin yesterday about Alohart I suggested that this would make for a nice outing and Frank, never having been there, readily agreed.

Most of the snow gone😢

Still...reasons to be cheerful

Alohart comes into view

Possible rock routes to explore??

The thaw of yesterday was still in full swing and the snow levels were substantially depleted but the landscape still had nice wintry look about it. We set off from Lisliebane and after crossing the bridge over the Black Stream we set off up and across the bog that sweeps down from the slopes of Cruach Mhór. The weather was a bit of a mixture of cloud mist and drizzle but thankfully we avoided the worst of it and we actually didn't need to put on our hard shells until we reached the col between Cnoc an Brácha and Cruach Mhór and it was so mild we only used a base-layer until then. The slog across the bog is fairly tedious but suddenly you reach a crest and the beautiful area of Alohart is revealed with its pair of lochlans and the broad gully that rises to the col between wild and rugged rocky bluffs. Frank was in good form today and we made short work of the near 300mtr pull to the col. Misty glimpses of the Black valley came into view now but the stiffish breeze and hint of a chill meant we didn't tarry and set off to climb the remaining 300mtrs to the summit. By staying on the south side we stayed out of the wind and after the tumble of yesterday I was extra cautious on the snow covered rocky sections but we arrived at the top without incident. Now all that remained was the drop back down to the lake and once there we made short work of the return to the car. It had been a very nice stress free day and as usual the company was great. Thanks Frank.

In cruise control

Cnoc na Péiste ridge

Trying to get all arty farty with the new camera😁

The Hag Tooth Ridge...A Different Proposition Under Slushy Snow

Saturday Jan 14th;
We have had a quick cold snap during the week and quite a bit of snow fell down to low levels. The mountains were white and while there hadn't been a lot of frost I was hopeful that if there had been a frost up high myself and Kevin might have gotten a decent route in (ie. Howling Ridge). Alas a thaw had set in overnight and it was obvious when we exited the car in Cronins Yard that the snow was being stripped back rapidly and any chance of a winter route was gone. Such are the joys of trying to get some winter climbing done in the southwest of Ireland. We left all the gear bar one axe and crampons (we are nothing if not optimists 😁) and we set off into the Hags Glen.

Plenty snow but a thaw was well underway

Still lovely to look at though.

You'll never guess😉

It is always a bit of a shock to the system when you start out with Kevin and I had to almost trot at times to keep up but things soon smoothed out. We decided that the Hags Tooth Ridge would make a fun outing and so it proved. Both of us had done the route recently but it was a very different proposition today with the rock running with water and slushy snow covering the steps and grassy places. We climbed carefully up to the overhanging section, picking a winding way up through the steep sections. The going was at times delicate and some care was required for safe progress. We arrived at the narrow section near the crest, where a small hole in the rock allowed us to creep through to the other side where we were able to use good holds to join the crest and climb the remaining steps to the top of the tooth. A little down-climb and we continued up the remaining steps towards the summit of Benkeeragh.

Concentration required

Obligatory bum shot

Squeezed through...phew

Oh what we wouldn't give for some frosty weather now.

 Shortly after the tooth I managed to take a nasty tumble backwards after stumbling on snow covers stones but other than a sore wrist and some bruising I was okay. We continued up the ridge, enjoying some nice scrambly sections until we came to a difficult step which neither of us fancied in these conditions so we opted to drop down to the right and traverse below it. We didn't go down quite far enough and we ended up making a rising traverse of some interesting ground that again required care to get past. After this we finished the drag to the top of and descended down the far side where a welcome bite of lunch was had. Here at over 900 mtrs it was windy and cold but the temperature was still above freezing and the snow, while plentiful, was soft and sugary. We traversed the ridge as far as O'Sheas Gully which was banked out but this made for swift easy progress all the way down to the lake. Lots of people were going up and I didn't envy them the job of wading up through the deep snow. We continued down and back to the car and I was back in Killarney in good time to catch the 15.45 train home. Again we had had a smashing day and we made the most of it despite the less than ideal conditions.Thanks Kevin😊