The Sheeffry Hills

Monday 24th March 2008

The weather on this walk unfortunately was not very good with low cloud, strong winds on the higher ground and regular rain showers. It was not the sort of day to be out walking up a mountain, unfortunately that is what I was there for. So first thing in the morning I set off to and parked at Tawnyard Lough. With a grim face I set off up the road and within a couple of hundred metres I turned around and went back to the car. The weather was so bad I decided that the walk I had planned along the full length of the Sheeffry Hills was just too ambitious in this inhospitable weather. When the weather is like this, if you have to do a walk, you don’t want to do a complicated one, you want a straight forward up and down, nothing fancy. You go up to the summit by the most easily navigable route and then come straight back down. After much debate about what to do instead, including seriously considering going up Devilsmother (seriously, that was the name of a local mountain), I eventually parked near where I’d parked the day before and made an ascent of Barrclashcame, which is the western most top in the Sheeffry Hills and coincidently also the highest. I climbed up onto a low ridge near the road and followed it up as it climbs ever steeper onto Barrclashcame’s north-western ridge, plunging into clouds when the gradient became very steep and into strong winds.

When I eventually reached the top of the ridge, at Barrclashcame’s 580m north-western top, the weather was so bad with rain and very strong winds, that I had to put on a second cagoule (!). Battling against the elements, I made my way along the ridge and up to the summit plateau, where I eventually found the summit cairn of Barrclashcame. The conditions were really terrible so any thoughts of traversing the summit ridge to the centre top of the Sheeffry Hills, Tievummera, which sports a trig point was never seriously considered. I had lunch sheltered below the southern slope, but I didn't want to stop for long so I quickly reversed my steps using my GPS, or at least that was the plan, but the GPS was acting crazy and giving me wildly varying positions and messy tracklogs. I guess the bad weather was playing havoc with the reception. Somehow, I found my way off the summit plateau and walking back along the ridge I reached the north-western top, where I thankfully descended away from the strong winds. The descent was just as steep as the ascent had been, but eventually I emerged out of the clouds with the spur ridge clear below me that led back to the car. At this point the weather cleared up a bit, which provided me with an enjoyable descent along the ridge and good views across Doo Lough, but it didn't last and soon it started raining again. I’ve got to say that was a tricky walk! The weather conditions at the top were really bad, mainly due to the wind. Rain and the cold can be easily deal with, but there is nothing that can be done against strong winds except battle against it. I was hoping that the weather would improve but it never did (in fact it did get better, but only once I was back at the youth hostel). This was not a great walk by any standard but I don’t think the Sheeffry Hills are that great, despite being right next to mountains that are. Their views are perhaps their only advantage, unfortunately.