Advice on Slieve Donard?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I searched through the forum for this mountain but most of the threads are a few years old.

Basically I'm just looking for a bit of advice. My mum and I are going to be around Newcastle in May and she's making noise about wanting to walk up Slieve Donard. I was just wondering what kind of level of experience you'd need for this one?

Fitness wouldn't be an issue, it's more the conditions I'd be worried about. We did Croagh Patrick last year and it was fine until the very last uphill bit. My mum's not scared of heights, as such, but she couldn't do the last bit of CP because of how steep the drop was to your left hand side on that last bit of a climb and also because it's so unstable underfoot. Is there any parts of Slieve Donard where you'd encounter the same thing?

I've been looking at that mountainviews website but I'm no expert on hill waking and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

CP is an easy one because there's really only one way up and one way down and it's a clearly worn path. Are you likely to get lost on SD, or is there a well defined track all the way up?

I'd quite like to attempt it but I'd be looking for the easiest way possible, and if it's something only well practiced hikers should be trying I'd rather find somewhere else in the area to get a walk in. Any help or advice anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.

Q&A

If you can handle most of CP then I wouldn't worry too much about SD. It's very similar in that there is a well warn path. Glendalough or other well visited walks are good comparisons.

Once you get out of the wood -a nice place for a stroll - you'll be at the bottom of a valley, in all honestly you'd have to deliberately go out of your way to a avoid the path. The path up the side of the valley is also well marked. After this you meet the Mourne wall - again hard to miss seeing as its spread out in front of you.

http://richardtulloch.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mourne-wall.jpg

From there just head left. Its a steepish walk to he top. there's no issues in terms of ledges, sheer drops or anything like that - that bits just walking up the side of a hill. If its wet or muddy you might want to move away from the wall slightly to get some firmer ground. It might just be a tiring walk after the length of time getting that far.

If you didn't get lost on CP you shouldn't get lost here. If you're fit enough for CP I cant see any issues for SD. To put it in context when I climbed it there were lots of families doing it. It felt like more of a walk in a park than a climbing expedition

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Thanks for that Q&A. Sounds like we'll give it a bash, weather permitting.

Alun

There are a couple of easy enough routes up, the one described above from Newcastle itself (Donard Park, where there is a big convenient car park) via the Glen River Path up to the Mourne Wall and turn left, which is probably the easiest, but there's another that starts at Bloody Bridge, about 4km south of Newcastle on the coast road, that follows the Bloody Bridge River up to the other branch of the wall coming from the summit, where you turn right to head for the summit instead. There's not much in it distance or difficulty wise, but the Glen River route goes through some forest first whereas the other route is all out in the open.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Thanks, Alun.

I found this website http://www.walkni.com/walks/344/slieve-donard-via-glen-river/ which lists the different ways of doing it with wee maps too, so no excuse for getting lost

There's wee kids on the pictures of the route from Bloody Bridge so I think either way would work for us. Everyone in the photos seems to be wearing walking boots, do you think these would be necessary or would runner do? Did Croagh Patrick in runners last summer.

duckysauce

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Thanks, Alun.

I found this website http://www.walkni.com/walks/344/slieve-donard-via-glen-river/ which lists the different ways of doing it with wee maps too, so no excuse for getting lost

There's wee kids on the pictures of the route from Bloody Bridge so I think either way would work for us. Everyone in the photos seems to be wearing walking boots, do you think these would be necessary or would runner do? Did Croagh Patrick in runners last summer.

great walk that route , final climb 15-20 mins is tough no exposure , just take it slow. Stoney path most of the way , I would not do it in runners esp if it is anyway wet .

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

duckysauce wrote: »

great walk that route , final climb 15-20 mins is tough no exposure , just take it slow. Stoney path most of the way , I would not do it in runners esp if it is anyway wet .

Okay, I've got boots, will have to get my mum something new and break them in before we do it. Walking shoes any good? Rather than full on boots or are they basically just runners?

Alun

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Okay, I've got boots, will have to get my mum something new and break them in before we do it. Walking shoes any good? Rather than full on boots or are they basically just runners?

Basically, you looking for something with good grippy soles, not only when walking on the rocks which can get a bit slippery when wet, but also on the descent from the summit. If she's looking to be doing more walks in the future then investing in a decent pair of boots won't be a waste.

By the way, there are stiles at both places where you meet the wall, so choose which side you want to be based on which direction the wind is blowing The wall is quite high and very thick, so affords great protection in that situation.

dj08

Born and bred in Newcastle myself and climbed it a few times, there is a nice little ice house made from stone that looks like an igloo when you come up through the trees. On a clear day from the top of Slieve Donard you can look all the way up and down the coast north and south. Be mindful though that the cloud can descend very quickly indeed from the top of the mountains. You will get some nice purple heather up there also. Newcastle is great in the summer so enjoy.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

dj08 wrote: »

Born and bred in Newcastle myself and climbed it a few times, there is a nice little ice house made from stone that looks like an igloo when you come up through the trees. On a clear day from the top of Slieve Donard you can look all the way up and down the coast north and south. Be mindful though that the cloud can descend very quickly indeed from the top of the mountains. You will get some nice purple heather up there also. Newcastle is great in the summer so enjoy.

It looks a lovely place. I see on that website I mentioned that there's a fair few other walks in the area so even if we can't do Slieve Donard on the day there'll be a few alternative choices anyway.


Thanks for all the help guys. I loved doing Croagh Patrick last year so hopefully this will be a similar experience and I'll be back in here looking for another challenge afterwards

Alun

It is indeed a great area for walking, and is reasonably easy navigation wise as there are plenty of well worn tracks (that are actually marked on the OS maps, unlike here) and of course, the two walls, the Mournes Wall and Batts Wall which in many cases go right to the summits.

As dj08 said the views, on a good day, are great, and you can sometimes even see right down to the Wicklow Mountains.

a148pro

I've done the bloody bridge route. Its a pain to descend that way. Your original post was about steepness, that route is, to my recollection, pretty steep. Not quite scary steep but almost, just bear that in mind. Its a pretty impressive mountain though and might be similarly steep from all sides. But it is steep!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

a148pro wrote: »

I've done the bloody bridge route. Its a pain to descend that way. Your original post was about steepness, that route is, to my recollection, pretty steep. Not quite scary steep but almost, just bear that in mind. Its a pretty impressive mountain though and might be similarly steep from all sides. But it is steep!

It's not so much steepness so much as there being a steep drop too close to the path, if you know what I mean. If it's just a really steep hill but the path is in the middle and you're not going to slip to your left and fall off a cliff face then it's fine.... hopefully. Although coming back down a steep hill is always more difficult than going up it. I'll be fine anyway, she can sit in the grass and wait for me if it is a problem

Alun

There's not much to choose between either one, in terms of steepness or distance. See the following height profiles ...

Firstly from bloody Bridge ...



... and secondly via the Glen River Walk ...

BriangC

Towards the summit its fairly steep but there are no steep drops or ridges on the route. I did Slieve Donard with my Mum and Dad last year and we just took a fair few rests on the last climb. We did this route to avoid retracing our steps, great day out http://www.activeme.ie/guides/walks/slieve-donard-one-way/

Just follow the well worn path until you see the Mourne wall (you can't miss it) and it will bring you straight to the top and down the other side. Going up from bloody Bridge, the path near the wall was a bit muddy the last time I did it but venture out a few metres to find dry ground. There are stone paths alongside the wall on the way down towards Donard park.

paulocon2

+1 for Bloody Bridge route. It's a far more enjoyable walk than the crowded path up from Newcastle. Can't beat that initial view when reaching the wall at the Bog of Donard!

http://www.walkingandhikingireland.com/the-county-tops-number-7-slieve-donard-mourne-mountains-county-down/