Kanturk Hike
Date: 15th February 2009
Starting Point: Oldbridge
Start Time: 10:30
End Time: 16:30
Description: Another poor turnout for the books - whether it was the early 9am start, the Six Nations match or just people trying to avoid the cold weather, I’m not too sure. Today’s walk consisted of Eoin, Maria and Peter.
This was not the original walk that we had planned for today. Because of the melting snow and the rising levels of the rivers, we had to bring our back-up plan into action. So the good news is that we’ll get back to walk our successful Lough Dan Walk again later on in the year!
Starting out from Oldbridge, we had an easy start on the road, gradually making our way to the slopes overlooking Lough Dan. When we got down to the Inchavore River, it quickly became apparent that it was going to be impossible to cross it, so we continued up the course of the river, battling into the remnants of the snow.
After leaving the river, we followed a sheltered forestry track heading towards the Wicklow Gap Road. Because the trail was so unexposed to the sun, the snow here was quite thick and we had the privilege to be the first to walk along vast stretches of the pure white snow. Progress was very slow as we trudged through snow that was knee-deep at times. Taking turns to lead at the front, we eventually arrived at the road - just in time for lunch by some coincidence!
Peter’s Kendal Mint Cakes provided the sugary boost we needed to tackle the next section of walk up towards Kanturk, once we’d turned off from the Wicklow Gap Road. Snow, slush and hidden bog-traps were the order of the day as we indulged in our Kanturk Challenge.
Other than having to deal with the Mint Cake rush and having to create some Snow Angels en route, we had no major problems in getting to the top and back down to the car.
Roll Call: Eoin, Maria and Peter.
Distance: 17km | Ascent: 450m
