Bengower & Ben breen

Wednesday 26th March 2008

On this walk I saw the best of the Twelve Bens and the worst, with some really amazing scenery and terrain, and some of the worst weather I have ever seen on a mountain. The walk started from the youth hostel as I climbed the unrelenting slopes of Benlettery, zigzagging up the hillside, picking my own route as there are no footpaths to speak of on these mountains. The weather, in fact, started quite well, but soon it deteriorated with a bit of sleet, snow and hail; I was exposed to all sorts of weather on this holiday that gave me a real trial of my hill walking skills. However, when the weather was good I saw some amazing views such as on this walk during the ascent of Benlettery. The Twelve Bens themselves were hidden behind the hill, but the views south to the sea across the Roundstone Blanket Bog was astounding, like nothing I have seen before; it looked like hundreds of small lakes stretching across the landscape. By the time I had reached the summit the bad weather had cleared, which was a pattern that would be repeated throughout the day. Leaving Benlettery I walked across fantastically rocky ground to Bengower, almost wetting myself with enthusiasm for the rugged terrain under my feet and the views ahead of more mountains to come. My day was still going well when I reached the top of Bengower, the weather was good, the views were fantastic and the challenges ahead seemed exciting, but then my problems began.

The route I picked to go down to the col was terrible, involving a tough scramble down a steep gully where I ripped my new waterproof trousers; it was a horrible experience. I had to lower myself carefully, terrifyingly all the way down, throwing my walking pole down ahead of me to stop it getting in the way. I remember reading in the youth hostel a description of the walk around the Twelve Bens that mentioned a Devil’s Col, I’m not sure where that is, but in my mind it is definitely the col between Bengower and Benbreen. When I reached the bottom of the col the weather turned nasty again so my climb up the scree slope to the top of Benbreen was really horrible with strong winds and hail, but thankfully I eventually reached the summit where once again the sun came out. The Twelve Bens are amazing mountains with really changeable weather, but the complex, rugged terrain was taking me a long time to walk over and I was beginning to get worried about my slow progress. Even though it was already lunchtime, since the weather was good I continued along the ridge over the central top, but on reaching the final top of Benbreen the weather turned nasty again as the clouds closed in once more, so I decided it was now time to have my lunch.

During lunch I seriously considered abandoning the walk: the weather was becoming too inhospitable and my slow progress was making my planned route seemingly too ambitious, and also because my right ankle had started hurting. As I left my lunch spot the weather decided to answer the question for me by starting to snow heavily. With low cloud, strong winds and on this really complex terrain snow was the last thing I wanted so I decided to get down off the mountain, but in these conditions that was not going to be easy. Utilising all my navigational skills (and the GPS) I eventually made it down to the col where I dropped down south east into Glencoaghan. Progress along this valley was very slow due to boggy conditions, but after a long walkout I eventually reached the road, successfully avoiding the farmer. More rain welcomed me as I walked along the road back to the youth hostel. Sometimes you have a fantastic day on a mountain and sometimes the mountain bites back. I was defeated by the weather on this walk and I just couldn’t continue with weather like that. It would have been dangerous, it wouldn’t have been enjoyable and it would have taken me ages to complete the walk (and let’s not forget also that my ankle was giving me problems). The scenery when the sun was out was simply amazing; this is a stunning area, but it is difficult terrain to walk over, especially down the northern side of Ben Gower. I don’t know what is the correct route down, but I’m sure I didn’t take it.