Ramble Around Glendalough

View of the Wicklow Mountains from the North

The second trip I made with the hiking club was up in the Wicklow Mountains just South of Dublin. Glendalough, is a glacial valley and literally means "glen of 2 lakes".

It is most famous for its medieval monastic settlement, the Round Tower being the best known, and most photographed, of all the buildings in the area. So, on a cloudy Sunday, Judith and I got our warm-up in for the hike by walking the 5 km to school in order to meet up with the rest of the students. After waiting around at the Helix for a while, during which time we discovered that Ireland hosts its version of The Voice on our campus (random I know), we were finally on our way.

Myself with Mary and Judith

The sun came out just as we got there, which was certainly a welcome warmth on this slightly chilly day. After a quick glimpse of the Round Tower of Glendaloch, which I took a picture of of course, we began our ascent, which was to take us all the way around one of the lakes. 

We climbed along the side of a small waterfall at first, before heading into the dense woods, walking along large beams of timber all the way up.

We emerged from the forest to find ourselves quite high up and right on the edge of the mountain, gazing down on the lake. It was quite an exhilarating sight. Of course, as is tradition with Irish weather, the sun disappeared just then to give rise to a soft rain, followed by a light bout of hail, causing us to shiver as we got wet. But the sun soon came back and the wind at this high altitude dried us off quite rapidly. We walked back down into the other end of the valley, where we stopped for a brief lunch by a little stream, enjoying the view and a little more rain. Luckily members of the hiking committee had some nice biscuits for us to munch on, which kept everyone’s spirits bright.

View from the lunch 'camp'

Mary and Judith in the ruins

A stone and gravel path brought us back most of the way along the Eastern side of the lake, where we also encountered the ruins of old stone houses. During the last leg of the hike, Judith, Fabian and I found a little path leading down to the riverside and chose to sneak away from the boisterous group we were with to enjoy some of the peace and quiet that is characteristic of nature walks.

We sauntered along the bank, surrounded by trees and the sound of the light raindrops pattering on the water; what an invigorating few moments!

After rejoining the group (who had to patiently wait for us at the end of the trail as we sort of took our time), we stopped off at the little restaurant by the entrance to the park and had a nice refreshing pint of Guiness to end the day!

For a more lively version of my account, check out this cool video montage my friend Fabian made!