A bonus walk with a local group - the "Tuesday Trekkers" from Clifden.
On holiday in Connemara, our friend Julie invited us to join her group's walk to Binn Doire Chlair. A damp drizzly morning, clearing to sunny intervals later, with a brisk, cool, NW breeze. We followed one of the standard routes, the south ridge from Glen Coaghan, led by the group's leader for the day, Pat O'Toole. Seven walkers in all. I helped out as sweeper at the rear of the group, where one of the older members occasionally needed some mild spotting on the steeper sections of rather greasy quartzite.
Fantastic views once the clouds began to clear, including south over the ice-scrubbed granite plateau with its myriad lakes, reminiscent of the cnoc and lochan terrain of Assynt. We returned the same way, arriving back at the cars after a leisurely lunch stop. Distance 5.74km, ascent 600m approx, elapsed time 4:53.
Area :
Twelve Bens
The Twelve Bens, or Twelve Pins, is a mountain range of sharp-peaked quartzite ranges located northeast of Roundstone in Connemara in the west of Ireland. The highest point is Benbaun at 729 metres (2392 ft). There are 12 major mountain peaks of the Twelve Bens, all with a topographic elevation of at least 516m (1693 ft).
