Full Moon Rising

Phew! It’s been a long day today – I was on the road before seven this morning – driving up to Headford as thick snow fell. By 9, I was in Clonbur (An Fhairce) and the snow had turned to slush, which made driving a bit easier. The Galway Walking club had organised a flat walk around Gleninagh in the Burren, but a few of us were planning a trudge through the snow in Connemara instead.
I met up with the rest of the crew at Joe Keane’s pub at Maam at 10, and we headed to Leenane. We decided to climb Leenane hill – the 600 metre ridge that towers above the village. We climbed up the centre of the valley – which is a faster (but steeper) way of reaching the top of the ridge. There was plenty of newly-fallen snow – almost a foot deep in places. It’s a real novelty to crunch through snow on the hills but It was very tiring. Along the ridge summit, there was a bitter wind. I have unhappy memories of Leenane Hill because it is the worst stretch of the Maamturk Challenge – i.e. the last bit. The good thing about the hill is the range of views – Killary Harbour and Mweelrea on one side, Maamturks and the Twelve Bens on another, and Kylemore and Diamond Hill to the west.

The sky was clear, and the sun had set, by the time we got back to Leenane – we had been walking for around 6 hours, and I was knackered.  As I approached Maamcross, on the journey home, the moon was just rising above Lackavrea (Leic Aimhréidh) – bigger version here.