Reminiscing on the April 2015 Croagh Patrick climb

So, in the move back to the US, we appear to have lost our hard drive - and with it, a lot of my pictures from various trips in the late Spring and early Summer of 2015. RATS! I am going to forge ahead with what I managed to save from my cell phone, and what I apparently downloaded and saved in other spots on the computer - yay me!

So Kim, Morna, Kirstin and I took a week-long trip to the west coast in April. the goal was some hiking, some sight-seeing, and lots of fun. In my last post with pictures, I had the shots of Westport. We traveled there and stayed in Murrisk so we could climb Croagh Patrick.

Apparently, climbing Croagh Patrick is a spiritual journey - it is a pilgrimage for many who are devoutly Catholic.  Some people actually climb it barefoot. NOT I! Some of Steve's co-workers, when they heard I was doing this climb were like - why?! Apparently they doubt my Catholic roots, but, let's face it, I'm not devoutly anything...

We spent the night in our comfortable B&B and then, fortified with a fabulous Irish Breakfast, we headed for the hills! We could walk to the starting point from the B&B and we borrowed some walking sticks from our gracious host. Still, we needed one more so I went ahead and paid to rent a walking stick from a man who truly, must be, the surliest Irishman I have ever encountered! More on that later.

Here's the crew! Ready for a spectacular adventure!


So we started out. At first it is a rather gentle slope, then it gets steadily steeper, until it kind of levels off so you can get around to where you will do some serious climbing. We lucked out with a warm, sunny day. My advice if it starts out chilly, wear things you can peel off and carry a backpack. Hiking pants that zip into shorts were a real asset!

I am thinking it took us about 2-1/2 hours to climb to the top, and about 45 minutes  to get down.
When you get to where you can see that there's only a small part left to go to get to the top, it is all ROCKS. The walking stick, at this stage, seems essential, and it's best if it has a metal tip. So, climbing up the rocks was interesting. I have no idea how people can do it barefoot - but I saw a guy do it and I have the photo to prove it!

I asked and he allowed me to take a photo. (Later my daughter was like - mom what the?!)  In this shot he is already to the top and the rocks aren't as bad. I swear his feet must be like leather.

It was an amazing adventure! My next post will be of all the gorgeous shots of the mountain and the views along the way.