Date: 27/08/2011
Area: Galty Mountains, Limerick / Tipperary, Ireland
Maps Used: OS Sheet 74
Weather: Dry (odd drizzle), warm, clear visibility, strong winds at the top
In preparation for the trip to Mont Blanc in September, I met Sinead, Walter and some other friends and we decided to go for a climb around the Galtees. When driving out of Caher, we took the R639 road towards southwest until about R873164 where we took a right turn. This is a local access road and we kept driving up, eventually taking a left at the Y-junction and parking at R866191. From the car we kept walking along the road northwest until you get to a sharp right bend - at this point there's a trail starting to the west and then shortly north into the valley. The trail can be followed until it starts to zig-zag upwards towards the col between Bengower and the unnamed summit at 629m. From the col we descended east into the Glounreagh valley until about R867222. Here there's a trail going southeast but we climbed directly northeast towards Knockduff - a steep climb but an excellent training for our trip in September. From Knockduff we climbed northwest until we reached the famine wall and then veered right (northeast) one last time to reach the summit of Galtymore at 919m (the tallest inland mountain in Ireland). It was very windy up at the top, so we didn't hang around much. We descended back from where we came, using the famine wall as a handrail, passing by Lough Curra on our right and following a counter-clockwise route towards Bengower ridge. We found the zig-zag trail that leads back into the Blackrock river valley and climbed back down to the car. Overall a very good climb at a steady pace - some great training for the Alps.
Duration: 5:20 hours
Distance: 15km
Total Ascent: 910m