Club Outing -- First time doing The Claragh Loop

 On Sun. March 11th for the first time we had a club outing doing the Claragh Loop , to get there you go into Millstreet, turn down the road between Centra & the Church and travel out for about a mile until you meet a Grotto and just beyond this you park on the right on the bend. You then proceed to walk up the small road on the town side of where you are after parking until you meet the entrance into the forest on your right . This is the start of the Claragh Loop.
 On this day we started with a good crowd of 11 including another new member & 2 day visitors which was a great turn out

 The Claragh Loop is another good walk for us in that it is not that far away and in some ways for us it is so close most people never bother doing it, thinking the far away fields are greener. The way we did it is by first climbing the traditional route to the top of Claragh Mt. and going as far as the Cross but instead of turning back you continue on until you meet you meet up with The Duhallow Way and the follow the waymarked signs.

 As you descend from the top in front of you is Caherbanagh with views stretching on towards the Kerry Mountains and on a good day the pinnacle of our days out - Carrantoohill.

This way is marked but you would want to watch out as an odd sign may not be standing up but it is relatively easy and just follow the paths and after a while it is time to turn around & head back towards Millstreet and this  leads to the one bad point of doing the Claragh Loop in that this section can be mucky in places. Today we were lucky in that it was dry for a few days and it was not too bad.

Clara Mt. is now on your right with its gorse filled sides, if you wanted you could go straight up or down to reach the Cross from around here if you were feeling really adventurous . As you are travelling along you are looking on towards Millstreet town and the rest of Duhallow. Another thing about this route is that there is a sting in the tail in that just when you think you are nearly back there is a fine tough little climb up through the forest to join up with the original pathway which led you up to the top & the cross, at this point you take a left & back to the car.

Claragh Mt. may not be the talest you will ever climb but it is always a good test or a very good workout  and the full loop is always worthwhile but allow for a few dry days if you can because it can be mucky in places but overall a good day out

The Clara Loop - Somewhere so beautifull but so close

After doing Mangerton on Saturday and with the fact that I had a few other things on I was looking to go somewhere but it had to be close. The Clara Loop was decided upon and one thing great about it , this also allowed us to bring a few young lads as it was suitable for them.

Once you got to the cross which we got over with early nearly all the hard stuff was over with, after passing on the Cross and the Stones we headed on westwards facing on towards Caherbanagh.

After a while strolling along with some good weather on our side, not to forget we got some nasty showers in between. Thought the April showers were supposed to be gone, so much so one really nasty shower came within 50 yard of us but passed along beside us without dampening our stride. At this point of our was good because looking back towards Caherbanagh & Kerry was breathtaking. At this stage you are under the cross and mountain and above Ballyday and some of our younger companions were mentioning Cadburys, bringing to mind the thoughts of nice chocolates on seeing the factory below us.

The reason you do not do the Clara Loop more is that it can be mucky in places so just make sure if you decide to do it that it has been dry for a while.

Another thing about this trip is that when you think you have all the hard stuff done, there is a climb back up into the forest which is a bit of a drag and can take it out of your legs.

On coming through the forest we meet up with the most common used  pathway up to the cross and we turn for the cars on time leaving us with plenty of the day to do other things and yet have a good day out.

Carrauntoohil For The First Time in 2016 Part 2 (& Clara)

Two groups went out this time.

The first was a small group of those who couldn't go up Carrauntoohil last Sunday. Together with Denis O'Mahony our favorite  Mountain Leader, we climbed it today. For two of the group, Roseann and Stephanie this was the first ascent of  'The Big One' and they did very well.

We decided to follow the same route as the group of us who did it last week. Starting from Lisleibane we climbed up The Heavenly Gates hoping for the clouds to lift up, but we had no luck this time. 

The Boots at The Heavenly Gates

The cross was occupied by the group of Scouts from Dublin who were doing The Four Peaks 2016 Challenge and as a result of that we had to wait for our turn to take our group photo. But the cafe was ours, because we were faster than them and there was too many of them to fit inside (LOL). 

The Heffernan Gang: Roseann, Stephanie & Anna (almost Heffernan) at the top

No views from the top this time so the 2 girls will have to come back some day to see it.

Denis minding us on the Devil's Ladder

As we were descending the Scouts were behind us singing mad and having a great time. We were very happy that they decided to go down The Zig Zags, because they could move a lot of stone going down The Devil's Ladder(!) Big groups should avoid this route especially going down.

We descended carefully with no rush.

When we were down, we looked up and of course now the top was clear. We admired the north-eastern side of the Big One for a while, planning to do Hags Tooth and Howling Ridge(!) some day (only the hard core part of the club :) ) 

We walked back to the car and went back home stopping in Rathmore for a drink and a chat. We had a lovely day out and just can't wait to go back there as we love the place so much...

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The second group went up Clara, a small but lovely hill with gorgeous views of our beloved Duhallow.