Since our favorite was Heavenly Gates, it only made sense to check out O’Shea’s Gully—Brother O’Shea’s Gully for the locals--which shared the bottom “approach” with the Gates, but climbed up a series of small valleys to a final grassy gully to the ridge between Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh.
The day didn’t seem much less cloudy than our previous visit to this mountain, but the air lacked the chill that we had had that day. The walk into Hag’s Glen was nice, and the climb up the “steps” was enjoyable—enough so for a few photo ops.
We soon reached the first small valley and started up the new (to us) path around the left of the waterfall.
JKW led the way and was concerned about being on the “right” path, but we were following use trails—there was no “right” or “official” trail. Almost all branches eventually converged, and in most cases there was no advantage to taking one instead of the other.
As we climbed, we approached the dark clouds not very high above us. We didn’t have the benefit of a “point” forecast for the mountains, so perhaps even on a dry, sunny day the mountains might be cloudy.
From the top of the waterfall we could see the steep, narrow routes up the Curved and Crooked gullies; we could also see the broad, grassy top of our route’s namesake gully.
After a short climb up a loose gully we emerged at the third small valley, which held a small lake.
From this lake the route to the ridge was obvious and straightforward. Oddly, around this remote lake were several old stone walls, perhaps intended to keep sheep in the past from wandering too far away.
On our way up we passed a local hiker heading down. We asked him about return routes and he suggested that we do not descend the (Devil’s) Ladder, which had been our original idea—mainly so we could get back to the house with sufficient time to pack for the next day’s flight home.
The hike up the “gully” itself was quite enjoyable, although as we approached the top we got a bit chilly, although not as chilly as our trip up the Heavenly Gates. Clouds were blowing over the notch that marked the top of the ridge.
Fortunately the clouds were not too thick and we had excellent views of Caher across the Coomloughra valley below us.
We soon found a mostly obvious route along the ridge to the unseen summit. The guidebook had warned that the final climb to the summit involved climbing over large boulders, but the route managed to thread its way between most of these; it was no worse than anything we had encountered already.
We could not see the prominent summit cross until we were almost at the top; there was a minor “false summit” with a flat grassy top, but it was only a short stroll from the true summit.
Once at the true summit we chose a wind-protected spot for lunch. Although the wind was a bit chilly at first, the clouds gradually thinned, and the sun ended up warming us a bit. Another local hiker reached the summit as we were eating—he had been below us, heading up the Curved (Crooked?) Gully route. We shared our fourth summiting of Carrauntoohil with his 72nd summit.
Unlike the previous local hiker he had no concerns with descending the Ladder route—as long as there were not too many people heading up it--and after enjoying a rare warm and sunny day on top of Ireland, he led us down the mountain, pointing out the various surrounding peaks and other sights.
Fortunately not too many people were heading up the Ladder so we descended it. Despite our best efforts, more than a few rocks were dislodged and tumbled below us. The Ladder seems to follow a fault line to the top of the ridge and it seems to consist mostly of loose rocks and mud that are being constantly exposed and eroded by countless hikers’ feet and frequent rains.
The Ladder wasn’t as bad as we had feared; it is the most direct—and popular--route up or down the mountain, but it is not the most scenic: the gully itself blocks views of the mountains in several places, and there is no way to avoid the pervasive erosion.
We eventually reached the bottom of the Ladder and were once again walking out of Hag’s Glen. We had been informed that a clear day like this was a “one in four” event for Carrauntoohil; we were fortunate to be batting 50-50 in terms of clear summit days.
We got to the car and back in town to finish our hike with a nice meal and a pint at a local pub. The cold rains and clouds that had been part of most of our hikes were a distant memory. We would be flying home the next day, but we were glad to have finished our Ireland trip on a high—and dry and sunny—note.
More Pictures
