Ken Doyle - 187977

Glen of Aherlow 19 May
13km
Total Ascent: 1020
Max Elevation: 904
My Kilkenny group are proving productive. They have gone on a couple of easier hikes themselves and wanted something a bit more adventurous so we organised a Sunday hike to The Glen of Aherlow. 7 people in the group including myself. We arrived early on an overcast mild day. It looked a bit like rain but it stayed dry all day and cleared to bright sunshine in the afternoon with a light breeze. We left the little car park and prepared ourselves for what was to be the steepest ascent the group had yet done. It was slow, reasonably steady with a good few stops ’to admire the view’. It became steep quickly and a couple of people were out of puff. We took our time and everyone got to Slievecushnaoinnia, where we had a little break and regrouped. The steep ground provided great view and the sunshine began to breakthrough with a little bit of a breeze. We made it to Galtymore after another 150m approx of ascent and had our lunch just below the summit. The wind began to pick up a bit and although we had most of the hard work done we still had to get down which involved a bit of up and down. Tired legs made it over “Cush’ 639m which was our final high point. There is a lot of steep ground on the hike and at some points a few people were unsteady on the descent. The route is popular and the path is worn in places. I was happy to get everyone down to lower ground and finally to the cars. Its the hardest route this group has done yet. Its not long but demands attention to the route and in changeable weather could cause them problems.