Caherconree & Club Barbecue

For the club outing on Sunday 02/09/18 we travelled west to Camp in County Kerry. Our walk was to the summit of Caherconree. 835 meters over sea level this is the second highest mountain in the Slieve Mish mountains and is the 26 th highest peak in Ireland...lt was a bright clear day when we left town at 08.00.... Someone said the forecast was for passing showers in the Dingle peninsula...how right they were...they omitted however to say how long it would take them to pass. Approaching Blenerville there was a beautiful rainbow over the windmill. But the summit of Caherconree was shrouded in cloud..We stopped here to have coffe / tea. Refreshed we continued to Camp village and turned left up bothhar na gCloch ( Road of the Stones ). Parking up there was some rain so we put on our wet gear... Conditions underfoot were quite boggy and as we made our way uphill the rain
became persistent and heavy.. eventually reaching cloud level visibility was reduced and we arrived at the remains of the stone fort of Cu Roi mac Daire the legendary sorcerer and king of Munster who apparently lived during the Iron Age.The fort is situated about two thirds of the way, it is a national monument, and a protected structure. The mountain bears his name. Using his magic he could rotate the fort to  confuse his enemies... He was a buddy of Cúchulainn until they fell out over a woman. Cúchulainn killed him...
With the rain now coming down we trudged up the steep climb to the summit. On a clear day the views from here would take in both sides of the peninsula. Today it was not to be... After a quick stop for photos we retraced our steps. Reaching the fort we had a wet lunch ,before beating a hasty retreat back to the cars..... Here while trying to change out of our sopping clothes, our misery was compounded by 10 million midgets that were waiting to greet us... Cursing and scratching in a cloud of insect repellent we managed to change...While the midgets ingratiated themselves into every opening available to them..
Finally reaching the sanctuary of the Junction Bar the mood lightened considerably as we eat our chowder, fish and chips and had a pint.

Reaching Kanturk we continued home to get ready for the club BBQ in the Alley Bar...at approx 18.00 we assembled for what was looking like it was going to be Ireland’s first vegan BBQ. However the day was saved when plan B was put into action and soon the delicious smell of cooking sausages and burgers whafted around the bar.... A banquet fit for a king was laid out before us and we all had our fill.  A special word of thanks to the people who prepared all the food, and well done to the chef..
There was a great amount of work behind the scenes to put it together....So thanks again. Thanks to the Alley bar also.... I think it’s fair to say everyone enjoyed the evening....What ever about the day.

 “ You need special shoes for hiking —and a bit of a special soul as well”
...........Terri Guillemets