Cardiac Steps & Torc Mountain

To give ourselves a break from big walks, we decided to do a nice and easy one this time. Torc Mountain is suitable for any level of fitness and even boots aren't necessary. On a dry day you can do it safely in runners as most of the way you walk on timber sleepers.

Torc Mountain Footpath

Climbing up the stairs

We left our cars at the bottom of Torc Waterfall. To make our walk a bit longer and more interesting we headed back the road to Cardiac Steps first. This trail goes up the north slope of Torc but it won't take you to the top. It goes about half way up before leveling for a while and then descending again back to the forests and lakes. You won't reach the top this way but you'll be rewarded with gorgeous views of Killarney town, Muckross and Leane lakes, and Shehy, Tomies and Purple Mountain on your left hand side. Climbing up the stairs it's a good exercise but better pace yourself if you don't want to get out of breath too quickly. There's hundreds of them! This part of the trail is dark, cool and shady so you won't overheat during ascending. The presence of rhododendron plants is responsible for making the place even darker and you can see how it takes over the forest making the growth of anything else very difficult as the light isn't sufficient. Despite it's beauty it's an invasive plant. Trying to control it in Killarney National Park is a constant battle for over 30 years. Given a chance rhododendron would swallow all Ireland's woodlands in no time.

The view towards Tomies and Purple Mountain

At the top of Cardiac Steps

At the highest point (about 300 m.a.s.l.) you'll find a well and a little shelter although we didn't need any shelter this time as the day was warm and sunny and just perfect.

An alternative starting point is the Dinis Car Park if you want to do only Cardiac Hill loop without climbing Torc.

After admiring all the views and taking some pictures we followed the path back down to the point where it meets The Old Kenmare Road which is a part of The Kerry Way.

You're now in the valley between Torc and Mangerton. Just follow the road until you see the little signpost for Torc Mountain and the footpath turning right. From there it's advised to keep to pathway to prevent erosion. Please respect that and remember that you're in National Park area. It won't take long to get to the top as walking on sleepers is relatively easy and they cover most of the trail. As you climb higher the views start stretching towards the Eastern Reeks and further when you look to the West. The place can be quite busy on a sunny dry day and you will meet walkers from all different countries.

The view towards Eastern Reeks from Torc Mountain Footpath

Us and some Polish walkers we met at the top 

The top was surprisingly windy and chilly and keeping the camera steady was a hard job, but the visibility was just amazing... 

We spent only about 10 minutes at the top before heading back down and following The Old Kenmare Road once again to meet the right turn for Torc Waterfall and walking down to where we started.

The walk takes about 3 hours and it's 13 km long (Cardiac Steps loop and Torc Mountain). It's a perfect place to do some training before doing bigger climbs and longer walks.

Killarney town and the lakes seen from Torc Mountain top

It was a really enjoyable day out. A pity that only 5 of us could do it as the rest of our club members were busy running races or doing other things. We hope to have a better number next time! See you on Sunday, 9th April in the Galtees :)

Tomies and Purple Mountain

After cancelling our last walk twice due to the weather warnings, we were delighted to see some blue skies this time and could not believe we were finally heading somewhere. When we arrived at Kate Kearney's Cottage it started to rain... Oh no, not again! But luckily it was only a shower and it didn't last too long.

The view towards MacGillicuddy's Reeks from near Purple Mountain top

Climbing Tomies Mountain

Off we went when the sun started coming out out again. The first ascent up Little Tomies (or Tomies North Top) is quite challenging and tough as the path disappears between high heathers. Together with wet and boggy ground it makes every step not easy. After a quick stop at Little Tomies we headed up Tomies Mountain. The closer to the top the stronger the wind was and at some stage it became extremely difficult to walk on more and more stony ground. We were delighted to find some shelter at the top where we had our lunch. 

Purple Mountain summit

After that we had to drop down a little bit before climbing Purple Mountain NE Top and finally Purple Mountain main top (832 m.a.s.l). One thing you should remember about this walk is that the car park is almost at the sea level which means that you actually have to climb all that 800 m. It's like climbing Carrauntoohil from the bottom of Hags Glen and it's about 16 km long. It's not a small walk so. And yet again we had to fight with strong winds blowing us out off the mountain. The wind chill was unreal, reminding us that winter in the mountains it's not over yet.

And then suddenly after turning south west from Purple NE Top to the main top the wind calmed down and the sun started warming us and it felt like being in completely different world altogether. 

Us at the top of Purple Mountain

The views towards Lough Leane and Muckross on our left and the amazing Gap of Dunloe on the right side were just stunning. From the top of Purple Mountain we went down to the car park at the other end of Gap of Dunloe, passing Lough Glas. The weather at that stage was just gorgeous and no strong winds down in the valley, so we really didn't mind walking back through Gap of Dunloe to Kate Kearney's Cottage. 

Gap Of Dunloe

First walks of 2017 | Clara | Carrauntoohil

Sunday, 29th January

We started this year with a small walk up Clara, one of our local hills, which we could call our headquarters as Denis our club's boss lives at the bottom of it :)

Only very small group decided to go that day.

Instead of doing the full loop we only walked up to the cross and back down. The day was wet and foggy and there was no point in staying there any longer. There will be more days to visit this place later on this year. 

Clara is always a nice place to warm up before a big climb...

Wet but happy | Clara Mountain

Sunday, 12th February

On our second walk up Carrauntoohil we were a bit more lucky. The day was quite dark and foggy but we stayed dry this time.

On our way to O'Shea's Gully

Higher up, near O'Shea's Gully

We decided to climb up O'Shea's Gully and leave the decision about which way to go down for later when we know about the conditions higher up the mountain. Well, the conditions were challenging enough with a thin layer of snow covering all the loose stones in the gully and some icy patches making every step difficult. With the fog down on us all the time and  quite strong and changeable wind it felt like being inside a giant winter storm cloud. The gully was definitely the hardest part and we had to be very careful and make sure that everyone was safe. A thin layer of snow may be even more dangerous than the thick one, cause it makes loose stones very slippy.
A fresh dusting of snow higher above the gully made the path very poorly visible. It was pretty easy to get lost there that day. Thanks to Denis, our leader and his experience we made it to the top safely. 

The top Of OShea's Gully

Happy at the top :)

We didn't stay long. Sometimes it's better to go down lower and then find some shelter to sit down and eat, especially at this time of the year. After taking a few photos we headed down so and decided on the way that it was safe enough to do The Heavenly Gates. We had our lunch at the mountain rescue hut, when the steepest and the most challenging part of the route was over.

We met a few small groups going up and down and they were usually well prepared for the winter conditions apart of three man heading up to O'Shea's Gully in... shorts! We noticed them from the distance while having our lunch and complaining about our hands getting cold so quickly without the gloves...
Yes, maybe some people are tougher than Hard Core Hillwalkers, but  it is winter and appropriate clothing is essential. End of story.

Going down from the Heavenly Gates to the mountain rescue hut

By the time the guys in shorts reached the top and hopefully learned their lesson, we were warming ourselves in our cars.

We finished the day with a small drink in Torc Hotel, planning our next adventures.

Sunday, 26th February

The next planned walk was from Mullaganish to Millstreet, but we had to cancel it due to the weather warning. We decided to move it to Saturday, 4th March.


| 4th March UPDATE |

Mullaganish to Millstreet walk cancelled again...