I parked our hire car in Donard Park and we set off following the Glen River upstream through the Donard Forest.At first to the right of the river and after crossing Donard Bridge the path crosses over to the left .
We gained height quickly as it is a steep path and passed many waterfalls with deep pools with looked very inviting,as we were sweating a lot i said "im going in one of these pools on the way down".After 1 mile we crossed to the right side of the river and eventually reached the top of the forest.
The path passes the ice house on the opposite bank.
It got a little cloudy which was a relief as it was boiling hot and we stopped for a break here and to get into our shorts.Carrying on we now headed for the col between Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedagh.
Every couple of hundred feet we both straddled the river and washed our faces with the cold water,i was now having second thoughts about having a dip in the rock pool on the way down.We eventually topped out at the col where we got our first glimpse of the famous Mourne Wall.
Turning left we only had a half mile walk to the summit but we had to gain 1,000 feet to reach it.Climbing steadily the mist decended and covered the summit.
At the summit is 1 of the 3 watch towers in the wall.We took another break at the summit hoping the cloud would lift,but it never,dam.Notice the trig point on top of the tower.
We dropped back down to the col and the plan was to walk up the second highest mountain,Slieve Commedagh,but Julie's Plantar Fasciitus was hurting so we retraced our steps back down following the Glen River with a great view down to Newcastle.
Wouldn't you know it,soon after leaving the summit the cloud lifted and the sun came out again.
It was now roasting hot so as soon as we found a nice pool i had a dip in the freezing cold water.
This cracking walk was 6 miles long with 3,000 feet of height.
MILES WALKED 259
ASCENT 66,400
TOPS 63.
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