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| Click on this image to see our track in Google Maps |
Another Sunday, another completely different set of weather, with the cold snap making its rounds back with a vengeance.
Today, we'll venture not that far from home, to yet another hill named Crockmore next to Lough Salt, and then some, to visit an old acquaintance of ours...
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| The start of our wintry path |
Weather is overcast with some rare sunny spells, but very cold. As a matter of fact, there's a very light occasional dusting of snow in the air as we start our walk, and some small accumulations here and there on the ground. Most of the water we come across is frozen also.
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| A small frozen pond |
First part of the way is uneventful. Just follow the path around Lough Greenan, enjoying the views of the old trees and dwelling as we come down.
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| The abandoned farmhouse |
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| Lough Greenan, towered by Loughsalt Mountain |
I'll skip over talking about Loughstalt Mountain today - It is always a nice presence, but we climb this often enough so we'll get back to it in due time...
Then at the southern end of the lough, leave the track and climb our first small peak across the vegetation, whilst leaving the crows to complain about how our initiative disturbed their peaceful afternoon.
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| The view from the hilltop, with Errigal in the distance |
While we do appreciate the views from the top of our first hilltop, and especially the ones from a sunlit Errigal, the eastern wind is pretty chilly up there. As a matter of fact, I'm starting to grow a bit tired of having to freeze my right hand every time I remove my glove to take a picture. So we press on towards the small valley to the west, where, without surprise, we find that the streams are also frozen.
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| More frozen streams |
As we pass through this valley, I can't help but share a great example of the blonde hue that has captured the wilderness grass at the end of winter. Of course, we'll see this tint change as we progress through the year, but I must say, I do have a small preference for the almost wheat-field like tint we get at the end of winter, especially when a bit of sun decides to play the highlights.
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| The hue of the Donegal grass, at the end of winter |
On the other side of the gap, we start climbing Crockmore in earnest, which is not a big feat as there are plenty of granite spreads to help us out. From the top, good views of Glenveagh are to be had, as well as Errigal and the summits next to it.
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| Gleanveagh National Park and its eponymous lake |
Yet we're still not at our final destination. So we press on, first by coming across some these interesting Nasca-like lines patterns in the grass:
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| Line patterns in the grass |
While I'd prefer not to burst your imagination bubble, my understanding is that these come from old turf trenches (we're in turf cutting country after all). But then again, I may be wrong. Maybe those are alien landing strips after all...
By now the landscape gives way to more and more granitic outcrops.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: a nice inclined granite slab underfoot keeps a hillwalker happy.
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| Gently sloping granite slab, I could kiss you! |
By now, we have arrived at our goal. Enter the (sleeping) Dragon:
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| The sleeping dragon |
This may look like a tortoise's head, but don't let it fool you, it's a sleeping dragon alright...
Furthermore, according to the legend, if you rub its nose a certain way, it'll wake up from its slumber... and breathe fire on you!
Now, while I may be cold around these exposed parts of the county, I don't think I am willing to take that chance. So we leave it to its 6,000 years nap undisturbed, and move along.
Besides, with the winged beast behind us, we get enjoy more views of Errigal in the distance. Definitely looks like Someone is pointing us towards Lough Altan and the nearby peaks. Maybe we'll accept this invitation for once, and go there next week, since we've been longing to go back there for some time...
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| Not visible in this picture: Lough Altan and its glistening surface, under the bright sunshine |
Time to turn back. This was a pretty uneventful walk, so we'll add a small element of (calculated) risk as we climb the rocky accumulations back to the top of Crockmore (which we could skirt, but it's more fun this way) by walking through a small precarious ridge. Doing so actually leads us to sighting a few icicles along the way, which makes for an interesting picture, so I guess our shortcut was worth it.
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| Some icicles - Did I mention it was cold today? |
On our way, the only thing we disturb is the usual flock of sheep that roams these parts.
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| If I didn't know better, I'd say these guys are on the lookout to rob a bank... |
One last view of Rossguill and we're back at the car close to the field where turf has recently been stacked to dry.
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| A little too cold to cut turf today... |
Suggested Sound Track
Soooo, I wasn't really planning on hitting you with that one just yet... if ever, seeing that I'll always be about 50 years too early with this specific song.
But with these talks about waking up a sleeping dragon, granite surfaces, lingering snowy winters and a capricious sun, I'd be hard pressed to find a better reference. So there you have it.
However, you'll excuse me if I keep the real visuals behind this song to myself, as this is a story for another time...
Additional Pictures
