If anyone prefers watching to reading, here’s the video version of the report (with some nice drone footage towards the end when the wind was not as strong!).
The parking spot at 52.335231, -8.157424 is good for three or four cars maximum, but I was early, and it was a weekday, so there was no competition. It was only after I had changed to my hiking gear when the second car arrived. The man was both much older than me and much more fit, and a fast walker to that. He quickly caught up with me on the trail. We exchanged a few words and he paced on.
It was still before sunrise when I reached the stone which commemorates the airplane crash of 1976 which killed the crew of three. Some distance further, the rubblestone trail forks at a large cairn. Most hikers take the right there and climb Galtybeg first, then head west to Galtymore. I wasn’t interested in Galtybeg, so I took the less frequented left turn to head straight onto Galtymore. After meandering between some peat hags the trail, which had been unambiguously clear thus far, became almost non-existent, and I followed my nose (and the AllTrails app). All the way to the saddle between Galtybeg and Galtymore, where the views onto the northern side of the Galtees open. I was in no position to admire the dramatic landscape though, as I was focused on keeping balance. That’s how strong the wind had become! At that point I knew activation will not be easy or comfortable.
When I reached the 918-meter summit, the wind was horrific, and the visibility was close to none. It was moist but not raining per se, so at least that helped. It was the first time I used my new SOTABeams mast, purchased following recommendations from the more experienced folks at the SOTA Reflector forum. I guyed it with three lines, and amazingly it was able to withstand the crazy gusts. I sat with my Elecraft KX2 (another first on this hike), spotted myself, and easily made 12 contacts. Really it was only thanks to the stony shelter that I could hear anyone at all. After disassembling the antenna and mast, I quickly run down without even reaching that cross which I know is further to the west of Galtymore. It was just too unwelcoming up there.
Back at the cairn where the stony path bifurcated earlier, I assesed my energy levels, and decided to go and climb Greenane too despite the lousy weather on higher elevations. Going back to the bifurcation was deliberate — had I just walked along the ridge, as the “Galtee Challenge” hikers do, I would have had to deal with much larger elevation differences. My goal was to successfully activate two specific summits, and not to stick to the ridge trail.
It was a good decision, because Greenane, despite beling lower than Galtymore, proved to be more difficult to reach. The peat hags there were killing me. Don’t get me wrong, I love their dramatic look, and their palette with the pitch black undersides, but to say they are a nuisance on the trail is an understatement. Does anyone have any tips for how to deal with them? I always think I’m heading for the easiest spot to descend from them, and it always turns out to be a 2- or 3-meter drop, and I need to go back and try again elsewhere. Or I find myself next to a black muddy slide, and I don’t know how hard the surface is, so either I go back again, or I risk and step onto it and fall into peat. This time I fell knee deep at one point. Not only did I look disgusting (as if there were any watchers… there were none), my leg was also wet and cold. Love and hate those peat hags.
The O’Loughman’s Castle, on the way between Galtymore and Greenane, is not really a castle, but it looks like one. This odd rock formation looked spooky like hell in the fog. Later I learnt that it was actually somewhere close to it where that airplane crash happened. I trudged on, made it to Greenane, and activated it with just barely over the minimum 4 contacts. It wasn’t pleasant there at all; the wind was less strong than on Galtymore, but there was no cairn to shelter in. Just the trig point and some stones on which I did the activation.
On my walk back I realized lost my GoPro camera with the selfie stick. I had already lost my microphone somewhat earlier. I had given up on that microphone as it was too small to even attempt finding, but I didn’t want to give up on the GoPro. I had already made it to Greenane West, a neighboring summit, and now I had to retrace my steps back towards Greenane proper. It would have set me back an hour or so, but I guessed I must have dropped the camera when I fell into the peaty bog, so I had a good hunch on where to look for it. And yes, it was there in mud. Good!
Finally I could head back towards my car. I stopped halfway down, where the wind was not as strong anymore, and flew my drone to videotape some of the Galtee’s beauty. I color-graded these recordings and they can be found towards the end of the YouTube video embedded here. They don’t look bad at all for the small drone I was using. Overall, I was elevated and happy despite losing my micrphone and being covered in mud knee high – in the end, I activated two summits in one day, and scored 20 points!
) version too as it is so helpful. Haven’t started exporting and presenting the GPX trails in my reports yet, but I’ve seen people doing that. Need to start on that habit.
Luckily it had been dry for a few weeks so they were walkable to a large degree but a veritable warren of twisty passages 1.5-2.5m deep. I did think I would have to say PLUGH and turn my lamp on when crossing them.
