Climbing Mweelrea, Connaught's Highest Mountain.
Mweelrea is with 814m the highest mountain in Connaught. Its located right beside Killary harbour, Irelands only fjord. I had thought about climbing Mweelrea for some time, but the weather was never right. Because the mountain is so close to the sea, its often covered in fog.
Even though Mweelrea isn't particularly high, climbing it can be a bit of a task since the ground around the base of the mountain is very boggy. Very, very boggy to be precise....
There is no trail up the mountain, when I asked the girl in the coffee shop at Delphi Adventure center, which is located at the foot of Mweelrea, for directions, she simply replied...Well, there is a small forestry road, you follow that for about 2km, and then you are on your own...ok, sounds simple enough.
Delphi Adventure center
As always, click on the picture for a larger version
Delphi Valley
She did however tell me to turn left after 2km. Of course I had to turn right. Which led me straight into a bog. On the plus side, I found this beautiful lonely tree
Delphi Valley in the background
Bog!
I decided to follow a little stream up the side of the mountain
The trees are getting smaller
After about 2hrs I was on top of the ridge, and had for the first time a good look at Mweelrea
Looking down into the valley
View along the ridge, Mweelrea is the summit on the far left
Thankfully, the light got better during the day
Halfway though the walk, and I get my first glimpse of the Atlantic.
View into Doolough Valley
Blue seems to be the color of the season up here
Finally, the summit. And what a ...disappointment! This is one small cairn... But the views from the top are simply fabulous
Killary harbour
Entrance to Killary harbour
The summit, 814m high
And the light got even better
I made a little panorama, view over Delphi Valley form Mweelrea, click for a larger version
And that was pretty much it. It took me about 6 hrs to complete the tour. Overall it was great fun, even though some sections of the route are very boggy. I'd certainly do it again, and can only recommend the tour to everyone with an interest in hill walking. The views over Killary harbour, the horse shoe and Doolough valley alone are worth the climb.
Killary harbour
As always, thanks for looking and comments are welcome....
A last view back