Newbie Questions

spaceylou

So this is probably the wrong time of year to think about this but anyway.....

I love being outdoors, I enjoy hiking/walking (what is the difference really?), I was in australia earlier this year and took a week with some collegues to go hiking in some of the national parks in Tasmania and really enjoyed it.

I am back in Ireland and i know we have so many walks, hills, etc on offer but I don't know how to access them. I don't want to feck off all gung ho on my own, because I know enough to know that even a simple route can go wrong, if you twist your ankle or similar and/or the weather turns, but at the same time my friends in Ireland are more indoor persuits kinda people and outside of colleges/universities I am not sure of any clubs etc or where to find them.....so if anyone has any suggestions, I would much appriciate them.

paulocon

spaceylou wrote: »

So this is probably the wrong time of year to think about this but anyway.....

I love being outdoors, I enjoy hiking/walking (what is the difference really?), I was in australia earlier this year and took a week with some collegues to go hiking in some of the national parks in Tasmania and really enjoyed it.

I am back in Ireland and i know we have so many walks, hills, etc on offer but I don't know how to access them. I don't want to feck off all gung ho on my own, because I know enough to know that even a simple route can go wrong, if you twist your ankle or similar and/or the weather turns, but at the same time my friends in Ireland are more indoor persuits kinda people and outside of colleges/universities I am not sure of any clubs etc or where to find them.....so if anyone has any suggestions, I would much appriciate them.
a n

Hi there,

I think there are several people on here who walk alone and it's something I do on occassion. I think it's just a question of being sensible and taking the usual precauctions (always carry a map, compass and mobile phone, choose an appropiate route, keep an eye on the weather etc). There are plenty of nice walks that are pretty straightforward (Errigal, Slievenamon, Slieve Foye are some that spring to mind).

You could also look at joining a club, have a look at the Mountaineering Council of Ireland's sites to find your local one...
http://www.mountaineering.ie/nearestclub/index.asp

There are also several useful websites out there, I can't recommend the excellent MountainViews.ie enough (www.mountainviews.ie).

Some other links that might be useful:

http://www.walkersassociation.ie/ (Walkers Association of Ireland)
www.walkingandhikingireland.com (Fledgling site with which I am involved, will carry routes and a forum)

I'd also suggest buying a decent book, I bought Mountaincraft and Leadership by Eric Langmuir and it's an excellent read for anyone staring our with hillwalking. There are also several companies/guides offering Mountaineering courses and I'm sure others on here could advise in relation to that.

Hope that info helps. Like you say, we are blessed with an amazing number and variety of mountains in such a small area geographically and they are an amazing resource that all can enjoy!

Mickeroo

It's the perfect time of year(bar the short days) walking in the summer can be a nightmare what with all the midges!! You cant beat a nice crisp frosty day for a hill walk.