Day 8 - Hen Mountain to Tollymore

Length: 16km, 378m ascent

Time: 4hr 40min


10th April 2023

We met in Tollymore Forest and then drove to Hen Mountain car park to continue along the Mourne Way. We walked around Hen Mountain but unfortunately missed the signs and partly climbed Slievenamisken. The ground was boggy and wet. We returned to the path to cross Killyleagh Road and walked around the bottom of Spelga Mountain. There was clear signage including at the point were we had to climb Spaltha. Unfortunately there were no signs at the top but we followed a path and with a few wrong turns made our way to the top of Slievenamuck. From there we had scenic views of Spelga Dam. Then down to the Ott car park and along Slievenanan Road to the entrance of Fofanny. Around Fofanny Reservoir and followed the wall to Meelmore Lodge exit. We had the company of sheep and the terrain was uneven. Just after the Meelmore Lodge exit we took the gate along the Trassey Track and just before the Trassey car park, we followed the Mourne way into Tollymore. It took a surprizing long way to return to the car park at Tollymore. Eventhough it is only 16k from Hen to Tollymore, the terrain made it harder so in retrospec it would've been better to stop at Meelmore Lodge. It was a very long day.




Hen to Tollymore




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 11 - Tyrella Beach to Downpatrick And St Patricks Way Completion

Image
Length: 16.5km, flat Time: 4hrs 10min 3rd February 2024 Tyrella Beach to Downpatrick The last section of the walk was pretty straightforward. One car in the Irish Street car park in Downpatrick and the other in Tyrella Beach. The walk was all on roads with a few barking dogs and passing cars. We took a worthwhile short detour down to see Ballynoe Stone circles off Ballynoe road. The final passport stamp is outside of the St Patricks Centre in Downpatrick. See photos below.  The centre was still open when we finished so we went to reception and registered for our certificates, which came a week later. They were pleased to hear we had completed the walk. Then it was upstairs to the cafe for a well earned cup of tea. Summary of the overall walk  The best parts are along the Clare Glen, Scarva to Newry towpath and Kilbroney, through the Mournes and Tollymore, down to Newcastle and Dundrum. The road walk was hard going but I am glad to have done the overall trail. See certificate f...
Read more

Day 9 - Tollymore Forest Park to Dundrum

Image
Length: 15km, ascent 192m Time: 4hr 15min 7th May 2023 Tollymore Forest Park to Dundrum We met in Dundrum and then drove one car to Tollymore. It was a beautiful sunny warm day in Tollymore and we followed the trail to the wall with the Mourne Mountains. There were great views. We then exited Tollymore and walked to Newcastle via Tipperary Lane and Tipperary Woods. This was very scenic especially when following the river. We stopped at the Newcastle Tourist to pick up our penultimate stamp, see below. The sea was very high in Newcastle and there was a cold mist in the town, see photo below. Unfortunately this meant that we were not able to walk along the beach to Murlough Nature Reserve. Instead we walked along the main road and entered via the caravan park. It is unusual for the tide to be so high in Newcastle but I would recommend checking just in case. Murlough Nature Reserve was beautiful as always and we walked across the bridge into Dundrum town. Tollymore to Dundrum The stamp ou...
Read more

Day 3 - Gosford Forest Park

Image
Length: 7.9km, mainly flat Time: 2hrs We parked in Gosford Forest Park and finished off the trail by going back down Derryraine Road to where we left and back again. Here is the map  Around Gosford Forest Park . The route was on road with farm houses either side. There were a few hills but nothing too strenuous. We spotted some alpaca's below. We then had lunch and had a lovely afternoon walking around Gosford Forest Park. It has a lot of activities for children and most importantly a coffee van. Here are the deer at Gosford.    Here is the map.
Read more