Reeks Traverse

Peaks: Beenkeragh (1010m), The Bones (959m), Carrauntoohil (1039m), Cnoc an Toinne (845m), Cnoc an Chuillinn (958m), Maolan Bui (973m), Cnoc na Peiste/Cummeenepeasta (988m)
Area: Macgillycuddy's Reeks, County Kerry, Ireland
Although I've been up a few Irish hills over the years, in disparate parts of the country from the Mournes to Donegal, Dartry to Achill Island, lots of gaps remain. The most obvious being down in the south-west, where all the highest and most interesting peaks are. So this winter mini-break was a great way to kick off what I intend to be a fruitful mountaineering year, alongside Huw and Steve. After flying into Cork last night and driving to Killarney, we set off from Cronin's Yard into a strong headwind thundering down Hag's Glen. Intermittent rain added to the mix, although the cloudbase wasn't too low - around 800m - so we could get an idea of our surroundings. The plan was to head alongside the Gaddagh River to Lough Gouragh at the end of Hag's Glen. Here, the surroundings are dramatic, with mist swirling down into the impressive cwms below Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh. We contoured the hillside above the lake and headed for the cwm on the right, before traversing left towards what was obviously an interesting ridge, marked Stumpa an tStaimh on the map. I believe this is known as the Hag's Tooth ridge, and we joined it at the top of the eponymous feature, a rock pinnacle. This was all wonderful, just picking our way through unfamiliar terrain: my favourite thing of all. The ridge was wet, of course, but good rough sandstone which gave nice (although generally avoidable) scrambling, with the odd steeper rise in places. After it eased, a misty trudge to a deserted Beenkeragh summit. I took a bearing to get established on the Beenkeragh ridge, which leads to Ireland's highest mountain: Carrauntoohil, and is a delightful route somewhat reminiscent of Striding Edge although the scrambling is extremely mild. We had it entirely to ourselves, and the strong winds eased a little - blocked by the ridge ahead. Occasionally the mist shifted to reveal the rock features and views down to Coomloughra. The ridge narrows at various points, and can be taken direct with good rock - over 'The Bones' for example, akin to an Alpine gendarme but counted as a subsidiary peak. A final slog leads to the top of Carrauntoohil - and the full force of the wind (as well as the weekend crowds, although still no more than 15 people). The gusts were ferocious, and the nav fairly tricky from the summit with lots of routes in all directions (similar to Yr Wyddfa in that respect). All good fun though - and we popped out of the clag at the broad col above Devil's Ladder (the normal route, a scree slog). The wind blasted over this col, but we had views on both sides with glimmers of light lower down. The ridge then becomes grassy although still well defined, and a tailwind blew us over Cnoc an Toinn to the higher peak of Cnoc an Chuillin (we finally managed a bite to eat nestled in a sheltered couloir on the lee slopes). There are few easy escape routes down to Hag's Glen from this ridge, and the weather closed in again: heavy rain, gale-force gusts, thick clag. We crossed over some subsidiary summits, then located 'The Bone', one the descents, before deciding to continue to the final major peak: Cnoc na Peiste (also known by numerous other names). From here, there were two more peaks along the final short section, but Huw wanted to finish so we plotted a route down the steep NW ridge - this took a careful bearing to avoid the crags, and we emerged above Lough Cummenepeasta then continued down steeply to a wild cwm above Hag's Glen opposite The Bone. A bog trot led down to the circular loop along the valley base and eventually the main path back to Cronin's Yard.