The Snowy Slope



       

Devilsmother 654m

A great trek and one filled with stunning scenery and majestic landscape. I left at 6 in the morning and again made my way towards Leenaun, taking the second right turn before entering the village I headed towards Lough Nafooey the road down towards the lake is stunning, it spirals downwards with sheer drops to one side at all times. The sun hadn't yet begun to rear its head but the sky was tainted with a pink hue indicating that sunrise was near. I then turned left along a road which flirted with the edges of the lake entrenched within this mighty valley I had descended into, another left turn soon followed and I was making my way along a very narrow road which ended at a farm hugging the side of the mountain. I parked up alongside the road and set off as the first rays of sun began to caress the surrounding landscape. Having made my way onto the farmers land I mad towards a fence I could see running the length of the spur, this part of the walk was extremely marshy and wet and my feet were truly soaked by the time I got to the spur.
                 I made directly for the fence leading up the mountain and began to follow the fence upwards towards the saddle between the spur and the ridge of devilsmother. Looking upwards I could see that above 550m height snow had settled, and on top the snow looked quiet dense. This I believe sped my pace up as I hurried to reach the snow, At times I opted to head towards faces and boulders in order to get some climbing in bar simply walking. The sun at this stage had fully risen and it lit up the side of the devilsmother giving it a golden glow. I continued on up the path towards were I could see the fence turning right towards the summit.                                                          

From this point onwards the ground began to gradually become more and more densely condensed with snow, the spur I had been climbing on swerved off to the right in the direction of the summit. I made directly for the summit the wind was at this stage picking up and gusting through the re entrants along the ridge. Eventually I stopped to have a small snack and survey the scene I was perched on a rock covered in snow and to my left I could see Killary Fjord and all the way up to the peak of Ben Gorm and Ben Creggan. In the distance I could make out Maol Reidh shrouded in cloud. And to my right I could see the path I had taken up and also Lough nafooey and the surrounding bowl shaped valley and mountains. I looked up and could see the peak of the mountain around 150m above me. I packed up and continued moving upwards. The snow was halfway up my calf at this stage and I was enjoying the walk. I could make out the cairn shrouded in white atop the mountain and made directly for it.
                   



The view from the top was beautiful I could see for miles in each direction. out into the lowlands of mayo from the valley I had risen out of and also the surrounding mountain peaks all the way up to the highest one in Connacht. I sat and finished off the remainder of my lunch contently taking in the surrounding area it. I then decided to leave my mark on top of the mountain and began making a snowman, rolling the snow for many meters back and forth until I had created a large snowman, I then sat again and took in my design.. a masterpiece. When I finished eating I packed up and made for home along the path I had ascended. Giving one last glance at frosty perched alongside the cairn.

                    I reached the farm at the bottom of the mountain at around 12 o clock and as I was clearing the final gate I gave a final glance upwards the snow had receded in the time it had took me to descend and now only the peak remained snow covered with the outline of the snowman still visible a memory preserved for now.

 

Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top.
Then you will see how low it was.
- Dag Hammarskjold