Kanturk Hillwalkers and Mountain Climbers | Blog

  On Sunday 14 July ( Bastille day) Vive la France, the club outing was to Killarney. In Mediterranean type weather we left a town at 08.30. We travelled to Mucross house where we parked up. We headed  for Torc waterfall and continued up the steps, to join the Old Kenmare road. As we were a large group we formed into two smaller groups. The first group then went ahead with the second group to follow after an interval of 10 minutes.  The second group had some navigational issues to find the Kenmare road and after a vigorous work out we eventually got on track. The sun shone from a cloudless azure sky as we made our way along the valley between Torc and Mangerton, with the Owengarriffe river to our left. Then on to Esknamucky glen between Cromuglan  and  Stumpacommeen mountains. Reaching the junction for Galways bridge we followed the path to Derrycunnihy church by the N71. We rested here and crossed the busy road onto the path for Lord Brandon’s cottage. The...

On Sunday 14 Oct on a beautiful clear morning, with a slight touch of frost we left town at 08.30. We were headed to Muckross House in Killarney. As the morning fog along the Blackwater valley burned off, the Derrynasaggart mountains were in sharp relief against a blue sky to our left, in front of us the Reeks could be seen. Arriving at Muckross we changed into our gear,and went to the cafe for tea / coffee. Outside the windows the lush parklands stretched out before us, with Torc Mountain as a backdrop. The summit of Torc Mountain at 535 meters was to be the highest point of our walk. The first part of the walk took us through gravel paths on level ground before we crossed the N 71. Then we were climbing gradually through woodland and finally we reached the path on our left. This is the start of what seems a never ending stone staircase. Up and up they go all the while fantastic views of the lakes coming into view behind us. On our right buried somewhere in the dense unde...

On Sunday 26/11 the club set out for Killarney leaving town at 08.30 we headed for the car park out the Muckross road just after Torc waterfall. Our route today was up by Torc waterfall and up through Muckross wood on then onto the old Kenmare road. With the Owengarriffe river to our right we ascended the steps which would lead us past the iconic Torc waterfall which is between 70 to 80 feet in height. The Owengarriffe river rises in the Devils Punchbowl. We continued past the waterfall. Looking back through the trees the lakes were visible as well as Muckross. Reaching the old Kenmare road we followed it past the Torc summit path to our right and with a snow covered Mangerton to our left we continued for a few kilometers along the Kerry Way. We were fortunate to spot some red deer on route. These native animals blend in with the habitat. We were informed by a knowledgeable member that these were the female of the species.He had his way of knowing. After some time it was decid...

  As we were away for a while since November it was great to get out into the fresh air again and start another year on our travels exploring new places and some old as well and meeting new people along the way.  We started this year with a relatively easy day out and we went somewhere we were not before and that was Torc Mountain in Killarney. We arrived with 9 people which was a good number especially as the weather was not great and some could not make it .  We started at the bottom of Torc waterfall which is always nice to see and up the steps we went which leads us up to the Old Kenmare Road. This road was the old way of going from Killarney to Kenmare which is part of the Killarney National Park and which is also closed to traffic. We made our way along the road for about a quarter of an hour unti we met the sign for Torc Mountain.  The one thing great about Torc is for a lot of the way up you are walking on timber sleepers which are covered with a steel...