Hiking report

The weather forecast by TV3 tried to dissuade a group of eager post-grads from hiking the hills of Wicklow. But undeterred, 12 happy hikers met at 10.30am outside the main reception of areas. The hike leader, Deirdre, issued driving instructions and routes to the drivers of the 3 cars who graciously offered to drive the distance to Glendalough. Nearly 11am, all final pre parations were made and bums placed on seats in various cars and we finally set off for Wicklow.

The Irish weather behaved itself and we got to Glendalough in good time. After tea and ice-cream (:O) we finally set off on the red route up a pretty steep hill!! Those with cameras indulged in making us stop every few paces to take advantage of scenery, and probably to get a breather!!

We continued hiking along the red path for an hour or so, and decided to climb the stairway to heaven, or at least that's what it felt like!! Thousands of steps later we reached the top (kind-of) and decided this would be a great place to stop for lunch. Packs came off, Deirdre attempted a bivvie but lack of space and trees made this difficult so some people sat on it instead!! Having battled the dreaded midges all the way up the mountain, we got some respite from them as we sat nearer the cliff taking in the sights and scenery of the surrounding terrain.

We set off after lunch back down the stairway to heaven and took a detour on another route back to the car-park where our intention initially was to continue around the lake and up to the waterfall, but then nature struck and forced our hand to call a day to anymore hiking. It came at a very suitable time as we were near the cars and the pub wasn't that far away! Everyone in the group decided we were going to make it back one day with BBQs and boots to give it another go. So the next part of tour involved making our way to the pub, Glendalough Hotel. Sitting down at the point seemed a good idea, and waitress service to the table made it even better!! Some indulged in afternoon tea while a couple of hardcores sampled the Guinness. It brought closure to our first hiking experience but left us with an appetite to get out and about and sample the hills and treks of Ireland.