Ireland day 1022. Tuesday 16 July 2024- Camenabalogue Recce

Today’s summary	Took Val to the airport first thing then drove down to Glenmalure to check out a poor-weather alternative to the Conavalla route we recced last week. Went up Camenabologue via Fraughan Rock Glen from Baravore and back via the Table Track. Much easier (but less interesting) than Conavalla and a reasonable path all the way. Disappointing weather today but not as bad as Galtymore last week.
Today’s weather	Cold, drizzly, windy and misty on the tops, milder but overcast at lower levels. Moderate north westerly wind. Appx 10c on tops, 18c in valley.

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Camenabologue Recce

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

Val had an early flight to the UK this morning (she’s there for a couple of days, for some meetings) so I set the alarm for 6am and we were on the road by 7. Val was safely despatched to Terminal 1 shortly afterwards.

But rather than coming straight back to the flat from the airport and going to sleep (tempting as it was), I decided to make a virtue out of the necessity of the early start, and to head down to Wicklow to do some hiking.

Actually, I did have a purpose in mind for my explorations today.

When we had recce’d the walk up Conavalla from Baravore last Thursday, we all agreed afterwards that while it was a great walk, it would be pretty miserable if the weather was bad for the walk itself (on 17 August). So we better have a less challenging “Plan B” alternative in our back pockets to deploy on the day if the elements conspired against us.

So today’s mission was to explore one possible option. I had in mind a plan which followed the same start and finish as the Conavalla walk, but instead of heading over to the north east side of the Glenmalure valley, I would head south west to Camenabologue instead.

I already knew the start section, up the Fraughan Rock Glen (we did it a few weeks ago, on the way up Lugnaquilla) and the end section, down the Table Track from the military bunker at Black Banks pass. It was only the middle section, along the ridge to Camenabologue itself, that was missing.

I arrived at Baravore at the unheard of time (for me) of 8:45am and was walking well before 9. The route turned out to be very straightforward. The weather was a bit underwhelming – thick mist, wind and drizzle almost the whole way, and pretty cold. So I didn’t see anything. But there was a reasonable-ish path along the ridge, and not too many peat hags, so I definitely found it a lot easier than Conavalla.

I paused briefly at the top to have lunch in the shelter of the cairn, then headed on down quickly, as the rain was starting to get worse and I didn’t particularly want another soaking.

The whole route was just over 14km and took 4½ hours, and I didn’t have any difficulties along the way. I saw one group of walkers heading up the Table Track, but nobody else all day.

Once back at the car, I finished off the last of my sandwiches and then drove speedily back to Malahide, pausing only to fill up with petrol at the busy Circle K station in Kilmacanogue.

I’ve got a half price Tesco pizza for dinner, so now I’m going to stick it in the oven, rustle up some salad to go with it in a nod to my waistline, and then I think some semolina for dessert will finish it off nicely. Batchelor bliss?!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Crossing the ford (which wasn’t flooded this morning) at Baravore	In the “upper” Fraughan Rock Glen – the bog with a few trees growing in it used to be a lake until relatively recently – certainly within living memory

Hardy trees clinging to the shop on the steep section up near the Liags waterfall	Looks worse than it actually was – the ridge leading from the top of the Glen to Camelabologue was boggy, but not too many peat hags

At the bunker near Black Banks pass, where the path from Camenabologue meets the Table Track	*Glenmalure An Óige* Youth Hostel**

On the top of Camenabologue with expansive views all around (not!!)