We decided to tackle our second Irish Mountain Challenge, and The Mweelrea Mountains Challenge seemed a good fit. We needed to do a trial run of Mweelrea anyway for our 4 Peaks Challenge on the 18th of June. The challenge also seemed straightforward enough, an out an back route from Silver Strand
This was only our second time ascending Mweelrea. The last time I was there, I could barely see my own feet with fog and we were met with intermittent rain showers. The conditions could not be more different today. We set off around 10:25 with the sun beaming overhead and the higher we climbed the better views we saw, especially of Silver Strand. The climb was steep, but I found it a lot easier than the last time!
Next we tracked back to the col, but instead of heading back down to Silver Strand, we climbed up the other side to Ben Bury.
After Ben Bury, we had to head out along difficult ridge that can be a small bit dangerous & technical at points, logging Ben Lugmore West Top, Ben Lugmore, & Ben Lugmore East Top on our way.
We returned back the way that we came down to Silver Strand and hopped in the car with the satnav headed for Barnacranny Hill East & West. We met a few horses when we got there, and one of them really wanted to pose for Animal Picture Of The Day!
Today was all about the 50’s. We earned 50 points for completing the Mweelrea Mountain Challenge, and a bonus 50 for completing it in one day. All these points contribute towards the The All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships. We also completed the High Point Ireland 50 Challenge 2022.
