#38: Sea to summit on Slieve Donard

This was our second hike on our Northern Ireland holiday.

We had made a first attempt to summit Slieve Donard (the tallest peak in Ulster) the day before, but 50 mi/hr winds convinced us to turn around: we were not prepared for wind chill with a baby!

This day, on the other hand was perfect: Blue skies and almost no wind! We started early, at dawn, by walking from our airbnb to the beach to see the sunrise and arrived just in time. We then started our long hike up the river Glen. Pemi was again enchanted by the waterfalls and the woods.

We reached the source of the Glen at the saddle, and that's where we found the Mourne wall. It was amazing! We could see much of the 20 mile circular wall running over the ridges of the Mournes.

We pushed on to the top of Slieve Donard. From there you can see the sea, Newcastle, County Down to the North and most of the Mournes to the South. We started the arduous descent: the terrain was hard and our ankles were suffering.

We arrived at Bloody Bridge car park and had a fun picnic there, Pemi finally getting his own walking in by climbing all the picnic benches and running up and down the sidewalk. It was a spectacular adventure and we really saw it all: the sea, the mountains, the pine forest, the waterfalls, the quarries.