Mourne 500 report by Colin Butters. A solo round on Sunday 05 June 2022
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The Basics
- Date: Sunday 5 June 2022
- Start: 03:33
- Finish: 20:55
- Time 17Hrs 22 Mins
- Route: ‘UTMB’ route starting & finishing at Ott car park.
- Weather: Calm and mild, sometimes warm but mainly overcast, cloud and mist on higher ground until well through the round. (after Commedagh)
The Details
I had originally hoped to attempt this in May, but
something seemed to crop up each weekend, and I was unable to commit, however
with the long bank holiday weekend in June, I thought I should be able to get
out and give it a go, and have some recovery time.
So, spent Saturday preparing food and equipment for the
attempt, and then had an early night and set the alarm for 2am. Coffee and
toast at home, and then a quick drive down to Ott Carpark at that time of day.
After a little more breakfast, last gear check, and making sure head torches
were operational, I set off up Slievenamuck just after 3:30am to the cacophony
of early birdsong sounding a bit like demented R2D2 droids!
The early tops pass quickly enough, over the two tops of
Cock Mountain, and on to Pigeon, the light brightening, but just dim enough for
me not to pick out the path up to Pigeon, and doing a bit more in the bog than
was needed.
Looking west while traveling between the two tops of
Pigeon, I realized that all of the next tops were still in heavy cloud and
mist, and was apprehensive of finding the route between Shanlieve and Finlieve
in those conditions. By the time I was at Pigeon South, the cloud had lifted
off of Slievemoughanmore, and I was rewarded with a great view of a lenticular
cloud formation about the mountain, illuminated in the pink glow of the early
morning light.
I continued on over Eagle to Shanlieve, and was relieved
that the summit was clear, and I had a view to pick my way through the peak
hags towards Finlieve. Sadly it was not to last - half way across I found
myself in heavy mist, and visibility and pace was greatly reduced! Was glad to
find the familiar gravelly section before the rise to Finlieve, and the gulley
that the path follows to reassure me I was on the right spot.
The compass had to be used to descend off Finlieve, with
very limited visibility, heading towards the red Moss river, and then below
Slievebug until I was out of the cloud. Two pairs of Stonechats escorted me
from there down to Sandy Brae, each ensuring I was off their territory. I then
tramped along the tarmac before heading up Slieve Binnian from the South. I was
back in cloud well below the East Summit, but not really a problem here, as the
route is clear. I continued over then
other Binnian tops, and ticked off the following summits, refilling the water
bottles between Cove and Beg.
I missed the start of the path down the Annalong Buttress
towards Rocky, so continued on the brandy Pad, and down the East side of the
wall to Rocky. I seemed to get a decent line through the long heather up to
Spences Mountain, but then the mist slowed me down picking the route up to
Chimney rock. I then lost the path completely on my descent, and ended up quite
deep in the bog of Donard at times before crossing the Bloody Bridge River, and
contouring round to one of the old Quarries on the south slope of Donard, where
I stopped for some food in one of the stone huts.
From there it was on to Crossone, again just below the
cloud level, which made picking the route through the rocky sections up to
Donard challenging, but I think I got lucky, and avoided any really bad sections,
and popped out at the wall just below the summit, to a surprisingly deserted
Donard Summit for quarter to two on a Sunday afternoon.
Down to the saddle, and then up to Commedagh, staying
close to the wall in the cloud before heading out to the summit, and then down
the ridge to Shan Slieve. On the return I contoured round a little too low in
the mist, and found myself on the steeper slopes at the top of the Pot of
Legawherry, but decided to continue along the available sheep tracks, and was
rewarded with a close encounter with a hare, that eyed me curiously for a
moment, before descending far more nimbly than I could ever hope to.
I continued along the ridge - I had a first twinge of
cramp while crossing the wall to head to the North Slievenaglogh top, so I just
sat on the wall for a while enjoying the views while it passed.
In my mind Bearnagh was the last real climb of the day,
so I took it nice and slowly, and it seemed to pass quickly enough. I detoured
up to the Tor of the East top, and then to the wall corner at the summit,
before descending down the heathery slope and then contouring to the style. I
chose to cross the style, and ascend Meelmore on the outside of the wall, and
realized this was a good choice as I was able to take on some much needed water
at the spring there. From Meelmore, it
was over Meelbeg and on to Loughshannagh.
While I had convinced myself that completing Bearnagh was
the last major challenge, from the summit of Loughshannagh Ben Crom looked a
dauntingly long way, and I knew the ground was not easy. I decided on a direct
descent towards the start of the Ben Crom river, with the intention of
following the river and then striking back up towards Crom, but once near the
river found some relatively decent ground that I could maintain my height on,
and so headed directly towards the summit until I found a real path to the
summit. I descended to the river on the way to Doan, keeping as much height as
I could. I stopped to refill the water bottles in the stream, and on crouching
down, the legs seized with cramp! I straightened both legs out, and lay back on
a flattish boulder in the flow, and leant over to fill the bottles - I lay like
this for a short while, and could easily have drifted to sleep in the evening
sun.
I roused myself, and headed on to Doan, the summit
seeming more of a scramble than usual - perhaps the route selection, or more
likely the tiring legs and mind.
From Doan, it was back to the wall between Loughshannagh
and Carn, which I then followed along to Muck without incident, the legs still
moving well enough. Muck South looked further away than I remembered too, but
the nice soft grassy descent made it easy enough. I returned over the summit of
Muck (extra 500m peak!), and followed the wall until the sharp bend, from where
I started to descend and contour to Ott mountain. I took the descent directly
towards the carpark, taking it easy, as the last time I had come down this way
I had fallen in a stinking bog just short of the car, and did not want to
repeat that! I made it back to the carpark at 8:55pm, 17hrs and 22 mins after
leaving, and feeling better than I expected to.
After a change of clothes, and devouring a flask of
coffee and about a pound of mini sausages I started the drive back to
Newtownards - A truly unsupported round!
On reflection I enjoyed the day - there were times when
it seemed daunting, especially when you are on your own, but there were no
times when I felt totally exhausted or defeated. My primary target was to
complete in less than the 20hrs for the UTMB challenge, but I had estimated
18:30hrs from my recces of parts of the round, and other visits to the Mournes.
I was therefore very happy to beat this by over an hour.
The misty conditions certainly slowed me down on some of
the earlier sections, but I think this also helped me maintain pace later in
the day. The cloud also kept the heat at bay for most of the day, which was
also a benefit.
I think the next time I will plan my own route, with the
priority to avoid any sections on tarmac, as it was the least inspiring bit,
and also the worst on the joints!
Thanks to Rick for the maintaining the website, and for
the initial encouragement when I indicated I might give it a go!
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Lenticular Clouds over Moughanmore - with
the clouds still heavy on Eagle! |
