Thanks to Caitriona and Tara from Scenic Irish Walks for offering this as a guest post. They are planning a hike every Sunday in 2019 and you can follow them at https://scenicirishwalks.home.blog/.
Enjoy the post below on Derrybawn mountain, Wicklow.
Difficulty – Moderate to Hard.
Time – 3 hr.
Equipment needed – Rain gear, hiking boots, hat, scarf, gloves, sunglasses, water, snacks.
Families: Not suitable for buggies or young children.
Rating – 5 stars.
This is our favourite walk of 2019 so far. There were beautiful views all along the way. We parked in the first Glendalough carpark to start this walk. We followed way markers for the initial part of the walk and then went off the trail to climb Derrybawn. Although it was very busy at the carpark, we were the only people on Derrybawn – awesome. This was a real adventure. We had to navigate using OSI maps and google maps. It was a challenging walk heading up to the summit, but doable at the same time. If we were to do this walk again, we’d do it in reverse – we did a fair bit of unnecessary meandering at the beginning.
Beyond Kilcormac, the Way enters Boora Bog, an area of peatland formerly harvested for turf. Now a wide variety of uses, including amenity use, are being encouraged. Nearby is Lough Boora, formerly a lake and now a fen and nature reserve. This area is of great historical interest since excavations have revealed Mesolithic remains. Close to the end of the present phase of the Way at the Grand Canal is Turraun Nature Reserve, formerly a cutaway bog and now an area where more than 80 species of birds and 150 species of plants have been recorded. The birds include a flock of 200 Whopper Swans.
