Another Expat Adventure: Northern Ireland: Day2 Mourne Mountains

Day 2: A 7am alarm had us all up and hopping on Sunday morning. The sky was showing signs of sunlight which was going to make for a good day of hiking. I had actually reviewed the weather forecast before leaving for NI and noted that Sunday was much better than Monday, so the plan was set to hike in the better weather and save the Belfast sightseeing for the rainy day as we had indoor plans on the docket as well.

We all layered up for the ever changing Irish climate and mosied on down to the lobby for breakfast. A full English breakfast was available although the kids stuck with the more American choice of cold cereal! Knowing hiking was in order, Steve and I partook of the eggs and bacon to get us set.

We made a quick stop at the hotel desk to validate our parking and found that we were half an hour early to get into the parking garage! So we had to wait around for a bit in the lobby...got to read the Sunday paper and then we were on the road again. We had an hour drive into the southwest part of NI to the Mourne Mountains.

I had read of the beauty of the mountains and found some hiking paths on the http://www.walkni.com/ website. One of the routes included climbing to the top of two of the peaks. Given that this was Ireland and not the Alps, it seemed completely reasonable to climb these "mountains." How high could they really be? I had planned that it would take about 3 hours to do the hike and then we could even make it to two other places: Castlewellan park and Mount Stewart, National Trust site. It was going to be a fun day and the sun was shining brightly!

As we drove toward the Mournes, we suddenly rounded a bend and the mountains were in view. Katie gasped. "Those are too high! I'm afraid of heights!" We assured her that when we got to the hiking trail they wouldn't seem very tall at all.

Just when the Mourne Mountains came into view.

We made our way to the first car park mentioned in the walk guide and found that at 10am it was already full and that the loads of people all gathering to make out on the trail were over the age of 17 and in quite a bit of REI trail gear. We ventured on further up the road to the second car park and pulled into one of three remaining spots. The other two were filled immediately after us. Again, everyone in the car park was attired in proper hiking gear with walking sticks and day packs. Our kids in Lands End fleece and sneakers were probably not in proper attire. Steve consulted one of the guides in the parking lot who was pointed out to us by a lovely couple at the car next to us. Apparently there were three hiking groups all gathering to set out on various trails from this trailhead. The guide pointed us in the right direction and after a quick stop at the toilets with a backpack loaded with water and snacks, we decided to try it. How bad could it be?

The beginning of the track was a well stoned path. We made it over a wall and into a field. A group was heading off to the right but our direction was to go to the left. Looking left we had an open field with no trail until we got about a half mile down to a track in the distance. We headed across the very soggy moors. My gortex shoes were holding up very well, but Katie and Cameron were not so happy. Not half an hour into the trip and their feet were soggy and they were still looking for ways to keep them dry. If we only knew then that it was only to get worse, would we have turned around? The mountain was looming and calling our names. It still seemed kind of doable although Steve and I were having our doubts.

open field walking

Apparently we even had to cross a stream or two!

Finally on the path heading into the mountains.

This seems easy and fun!

Once on the track we went along without any problems. Sometimes it would be very wet and we would try to step on rocks to cross the water or go alng the grassy side which was often saturated. We even caught up with one of the hiking groups. Our little family was doing pretty well without investing in trail gear. We came to a split in the path: one trail headed straight into the valley between two mountains and the other went up. The hiking group was going up, so we followed. Mistake #2 of the day (we will call mistake #1 the choice to not turn around when we were in the parking lot...then again mistake #2 was probably not turning around when crossing that open field with no trail...anyway). After much anguish trying to find the trail as by now the hiking group was quite a bit ahead of us again, we managed to scale the side of the mountain and make it to the same crook in the two mountains that the other path led to. Looking at the path we didn't take it was apparent we had taken the high road but in this case that was not the right decision. At least we all made it safely, if not very muddy.

A view of the top of the second mountain in the hike!

From Wikipedia: "The Mourne Wall is a wall which was constructed to enclose a reservoir's catchment area in the Mourne Mountains, Northern Ireland. It was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to enclose the water catchment in the Mournes.

The wall was crafted from natural granite stone using traditional dry stone walling techniques. On average the wall is about 1.5 metres high and 0.8 to 0.9 metres thick. It is 22 miles (35 km) long and passes over fifteen mountains."

Taking the High Road...can you see the easier trail in the background?!

Wow! We are high up and this isn't the top of the mountain.

We were finally at the Mourne Wall. We had a snack and some water and wondered if we should continue on. The mountain loomed to our right. A set of stone steps would start us on our assent. Mistake #4 (or whatever number we are on now) was that we decided to continue on and not turn back. The mountain top seemed so close. We headed up the steps but from there it was hard to find the trail. There were two women hiking with their dog and we were following them a little, but they were just as confused. How do we get to the top? The big hiking group we had been behind before was lower down than us. We weren't sure if we were on the right path. We managed to make it around the side of the mountain and could see the Mourne Wall and the top, but to get there we would have to go straight up. The dog kept running back and forth and around us, he didn't seem to think this was a problem at all. Mistake #789 - we chose to go straight up.

The ground was wet, our legs were getting tired. Steve and I both slipped more times than can be counted on one hand. Cameron was NOT having fun. Katie was actually leading this part of the trek and Jacob was pointing ways to go. They seemed ready to help me, but I kept the camera around my neck and Cameron's jacket in my other hand (getting muddier and muddier each time I slipped). The black Irish mud was eating our shoes and the soggy ground was better for snowboarding than for hiking. I don't have ANY pictures of this part of the hike. We were in survival mode. We wanted to get to the wall and to the top and find the trail. Steve and I were both nervous but trying not to let the kids know it.

Going over the wall at the crook of the mountains.

Climbing the stone steps up the side of Slieve Bearnagh

Looking down at Steve and Cameron making their way up the side of the moutain without a path. The other group of hikers decided to follow us. I wonder if they thought it as foolhardy a decision as we did!

Safe at the top, taking in the view. Oh, and the clouds rolling in.

At the top, we tried to get our legs to stop shaking. We had a snack in the protection of some rocks as the wind had started to pick up. We asked a small group of hikers next to us (2 men and a woman) for some advice and showed them our trail map. There was still Slieve Meelmore to climb if we were to continue on the trail we had started. They actually pointed out that if we followed the wall down, we would be able to go over it and through the valley out the way we came in. This would help us to avoid the second mountain but would also add at least another mile to the hike. We looked over to the other peak (which I sadly never took a picture of that view) and realized there was no way we could ask the kids to go up another mountain, even if it was 43m shorter (Bearnagh is 727m high and Meelmore is 684m high). When I broke it to them that we would be hiking more than 7 miles and not just the original 6, they didn't even seem to mind. We just wanted to all be safely back at the car. We thanked the hikers for the advice. They were so friendly they even shared with us the last three Maltesers cookies they had. A little sugar to give us the energy we needed to go on.

In Gilligan's Island fashion, our three hour tour had become something much longer. We took our time going down the mountain which was a very rocky route. At the bottom, we took one last look up the next mountain toward the tor at the top and said good-bye to the Mourne Mountains. We happily climbed over the wall and headed out of the valley on the trail ahead. We didn't mind the black mud sucking our shoes off or the streams of water seeming to think that the trail was their path. Wet and muddy we trekked down the stone Trassey Track to the lower car park and up the half mile stretch of road (hillier climb than we thought) to our car at the second car park. More water more snacks out of the boot of the car before climbing in at 3pm in the afternoon. Five hours later we had made it back. Maybe we hadn't made it to the top of two mountains in the Mournes, but we can say we did make it up one. The only casualties are the socks and maybe even jeans that may never come clean.