First hike of the year


Caption. Letterbreckaun summit , at 667 metres.
I was hoping for snow on the top of the Maumturk mountains today, but apart from a few pockets of hailstones, there was no white stuff to be seen. It was very breezy, cold and overcast but the promised rain never came, and the sun even broke through as we descended from Letterbreckaun. So all in all, a good day’s walk.

The only ‘snowdrift’ on the mountain was this accumulation of hailstones, so naturally I had to go over and roll about in it. I’m from Westmeath – I’ll never get over the novelty of snow in mountains (or even just mountains).

I usually make soup to bring on winter hikes. I roasted carrots and onions and made a vegetable soup with stock made from the Xmas Day turkey carcass. Delicious.

I resisted the temptation to chuck this ‘snowball’ at my fellow hikers.