I WAS LURED into re-visiting Donegal with the intention of re-climbing Errigal – reputedly Ireland’s loveliest hill – by the happy chance of having co-tutored a writing course in Wales with Cathal O’Searcaigh, a very fine Irish-language poet. Cathal’s home in the Donegal Gaeltacht happened to be in the townland of Gort a’ Choirce, between the foot of the mountain and Horn Head to its north. He’d sung the praises of this remote place and its landscape pride of Errigal all week, and invited me to call on him if ever I found myself in that remote corner of Ireland. I’d been up Errigal once with the Irish mountaineer Dermot Somers, climbing it from the south, and on account of the mist had seen nothing all day. So with Cathal’s invitation in mind, and a few days to spare, with my first Jack Russell Terrier, The Flea – a feisty little presence and an excellent mountain dog – I took the ferry and threaded north and west through what was then, and soon may no longer be, an invisible border.
Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av The Great Outdoors.
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Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av The Great Outdoors.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Practice Makes Perfect
Preparation is key if you want to enjoy, and not simply endure, the TGO Challenge. Organisers Ali Ogden and Sue Oxley look at how to be ready for the demands of a long-distance walk
More Ways than one
Roger Smith calls for more clarity around the increasing proliferation of named trails
THE LONG PATHWAY
Kat Young and Liv Bolton both walked New Zealand’s South Island from north to south via the country-spanning Te Araroa Trail. Here they each describe a section of this spectacular and life-changing route
THE CRUX
Last summer, self-confessed ‘average adventurer’ James Forrest completed all 282 of Scotland’s Munros in an intensive six-month push. Here he describes the most knee-trembling part of the journey – Skye’s famous Inaccessible Pinnacle
A HAPPY RETURN
For more than 30 years, Chris Townsend dreamed about doing a long walk through the high reaches of the Colorado Was it everything he hoped for?
Happy When It Rains
With an unpredictable winter approaching, here are TGO’s tips for enduring – even enjoying? – our ever-changing climate...
Mind Boggling
Rising rivers, quaking bogs, ferocious winds, possible thunderstorms and annoying theme tunes – will Paul Beasley be able to take all this in his stride and successfully cross Dartmoor?
Errigal
Donegal’s highest mountain is a sight to behold – unless, as Jim Perrin discovered, the weather has other ideas…
Commuting: Lochaber Style
For Many Of Us, The Daily Commute Can Be A Chore. But, For Neil Adams, Living And Working In One Of Scotland’s Finest Mountain Landscapes Gave Him The Opportunity To Turn It Into An Adventure...
The Depths Of Time
James Roddie goes under the surface of Assynt to discover a whole new dimension to an extraordinary, ancient landscape.