Carrauntoohil

I feel I've needed to get some real training in, not just going for a run and swimming. So I messaged my buddy, Cormac, who lives in Killarney and has been up and down more mountains in Ireland than I can count. We planned it for Sunday 22nd July, with three other friends of his. I drove down to Farranfore in Kerry and headed to Cormac's house and we drove together in his car with his lovely Kerry Blue dog, Kez. Two guys dropped out on us because they had a terminal dose of Man Flu, it's very serious.
We met the lovely Seamus, and headed to Lisleibane, it's the starting car park. Cronin's Yard is a more popular starting point as it has toilets, showers and a shop to get some nice warming tea afterwards. There is a very obvious track up through the Hag's Glen and along the way we crossed a really cool river with huge boulder stepping stones. The path is slowly rising all the time and we are keeping a nice brisk pace but it's misting rain down on top of us. We make our way towards the Devils Ladder. An infamous path up to Carrauntoohil. It's a nice steep gully filled with huge boulders, smaller rocks and lots of scree. I was pretty nervous heading up this, but the guy went ahead of me and I pretty much followed their path. We were nicely sheltered by the wind in this section but occasionally a huge gust would come down onto us and we'd be holding on to the nearest rock. Nothing was going to prepare us for the tornado ahead of us once we left the Devils Ladder. We reached a flat open plain and stopped for a minute to catch a breather.
With the fog, wind and rain, there was no views to enjoy, but the lads told me on a clear day, it's just breath-taking. I'll have to wait for a sunny day and try it again.
We headed onwards and upwards along what's called, The Zig-Zags, as the name suggests, it's a zig-zag path winding up the final ascent to Carrauntoohil. It was along here I started to feel a bit tired. But we kept going till we finally reached THE CROSS. It's a 5 meter high cross at the very summit. I'm not fully sure of the history, but it's here where people pose for the obligatory photo. We were definitely getting a photo as I'm sure many people would not believe us that we made it to the top in that weather. Next to the cross, there is a small stone shelter called the Canteen, it's keeps the wind off while you try to have a sip of some hot tea before you freeze up completely!

So here we are, frozen to the bone and drenched! But it was well worth it. To avoid be blown off the top, we started to make our way back down the same way we went up, down the zig zags and the Devils Ladder, it was much much scarier on the way down. But the lads were great and didn't rush ahead of me and we took our time on the wet, steep slope. Every so often the fog would clear and we could catch a glimpse of the mirage of the bottom, it always seemed to be getting further away!
Much to our surprise we met a two guys on the way up, who was, very obviously stoned off his head. What a silly silly man! Clearly no respect for the mountain! I only hope nothing bad happened him! We kept walking down and eventually we were on flatter ground and we picked up the pace a little as poor Kez, Cormac's dog, was getting very cold, as was I!! Once we made it to the car park I took off some of the wet layers and my very wet boots and into a nice dry fleece that was in my dry bag!
It was a great day, weather conditions aside and I can't wait to do it again!

Here is the cross at the top. The mountain itself is the highest point in Ireland, at 1,038 meters or 3,406ft. It's part of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks in Killarney National Park. As I said we went the Devil's Ladder route, which, sadly, has become really dangerous over the years due to much of the scree becoming loose through human interaction, so great care must be taken not to disturb the rocks that are there.

Lastly here is a picture of the Devils Ladder. I got the photo of the cross and the Devils Ladder from the Kerry Mountain Rescue website. Make sure to check it out, lots of great information on it.

Getting nervous...

With under 6 weeks to go... the nerves are very much kicking it.

But I have all my lovely gear to console me. I freaking love buying new stuff. I already have a 60L+10 Vango Backpack, (which I adore) and will be perfect for the climb. I modified my 20L day pack last night, it had a thingy for your earphones, but I ripped that out and made the hole a tad bigger so I can fit a platypus hydration tube through. It encourages you to sip water all day, rather than big gulps every now and then.
Then I have my amazing boots, all I need for those are some extra socks.

I was looking up all those snazzy North Face and other branded summit jackets and pants, and I nearly fell over looking at the prices of them, like if I was to kit myself out in the branded gear, it honestly would not stop at 700euro... and that's just a jacket and pants... nothing else :-/

My wonderful Aussie bootcamp buddy, Kimmy, had sent me photos of her and her husbands Kili climb and I quizzed her on it, and then it occurred to me... I have a full set of Ski gear. So I asked her about it, and she told me she did the whole climb in her ski gear! I was so happy when I heard that, cause I was genuinely worried I would have to shell out some serious dosh for the summit gear! So I'll be wearing my ski pants and jacket on the summit, and some thermals and under layers and I'm sorted!

Im trying to get in a few long walks to help break-in my boots, it'll help avoid the life threatening... blister!! dun dun dun!

I have a list in my diary of all the gear that I do need, and I get such satisfaction when I get to check each one off... my purse, however, is not enjoying that part! But they print new money everyday, can't print memories like these :)

I'll stick up another post with pictures of some of my gear and my tricked out day pack when I pick up my platypus!

Vintage Day at Rigney's Farm

To help raise funds for my Kilimanjaro charity climb, we planned and ran a Vintage Tractor and Car run at our farm on June 10. My Dad is a huge vintage tractor fan, and both Himself and Myself are members of the West Limerick Vintage Club and I drive a 1986 Austin Mini. It was a perfect and very unique idea. The Vintage Club has done numerous Charity Events helping local charities since they were established in 2008.

So much background work from my Dad made this day happen. He spent hours planning routes for the tractors, checking them, and driving them, and not to mention all the work that he did on the day!! So without My Dad this could never have happened!

It was a very early start on Sunday June 10. Sun was up all day, which made a huge difference. We were all up very late the previous night, mowing the lawns, getting the yard tidy and organising places for the tractors and cars to park.
I had my registration table set up, for the drivers to sign in and pay their registration fee. Once they paid, they got a special commemorative badge which was magnetic to stick to their vehicle and headed over for a hot cup of tea, fresh handmade scones and apple tart, made by my hard working mother and Anne Drew.

The tractors drove out the driveway around noon and headed off on their scenic route totaling 13kms! That's a long drive if you are a tractor! The cars headed off on a longer route along the Coast Road and returned at almost the same time as the tractors

When the drivers all arrived back, they parked up their Mean Machiens and headed over the to the BBQ to get their reward, a delicious Rigney's Farm hot dog, made with a free range rare breed pork sausage, onions, organic salad and a choice of relish, mustard or ketchup on a fresh hot dog bun. 

Rizwan and Rachel were manning the BBQ and an amazing job they did too. 

We had great reports from the day, people said they really enjoyed themselves. Imen McDonnell from the Irish Farmers Journal paid us an unexpected visit and wrote a wonderful article about her visit on the day and her delight at seeing all the animals on the farm. Read her article here.

In total we raised €1,560!!! It was a huge total and only through the help and hard work of so many wonderful people did it happen. 

So thank you all!! 

Planning the Vintage Run

So it's very busy here at Rigney's Farm getting the Fundraiser Day off the ground.
With my hard working Mother and tractor loving Father, we've planned a Vintage Car and Tractor Run to help raise funds. The run will leave from our farm and the cars will take a long leisurely route along the Coast Road and the tractors will take a shorter scenic route with tractors and cars returning to Rigney's Farm at the same time.
After a "tough" afternoon driving through beautiful West Limerick, all our drivers will get some delicious refreshments from Rigney's Farm produce and a nice cup of tea.

Spread the word to all your friends and family. It'll be a great day out in aid of very worthy causes!

If you need anymore info, email me or contact Joe on 0872599168

Camaderry Training Day

So we had the final official (and my first) Kilimanjaro training day. It all took place on a section of Camaderry Mountain in Glendalough Co. Wicklow. 

For now I have no motor, so I was stressing about how I would get to Camaderry, but I managed to get a life with two people in my group, so I was delighted! 

We got there and met the others doing the training session and Ian McKeever. The challenge was so climb the section of Camaderry 8 times in the 4 hours. Not as easy as it sounds. I managed to get in 4 climbs. I was tough going up, but the down section was not easy, lots of steep and slippy sections. But my awesome new boots paid off! I fell once, which is a serious achievement for me! No injuries, only a few cuts and scrapes. I have a great marker on the training scale, so it's onwards and upwards from here. Hopefully soon, I'll be planning a day on Carrantoohill in Co. Kerry

This photo is at the top of the section, amazing views. The weather was due to be really bad with lots of rain, but fortunately for us it held out, clear skies and some nice spells of sun. 

Once 6.30 came around we got changed into clean clothes and headed to Lynhams Hotel for dinner and talks for the trip.

Ian presented a talk on health and safety on the mountain and then Maura gave us a personality assessment, turns out I'm a Golden Retriever.

It was a long road home, and bed was the best medicine. 

New Boots!

After trying three different shops in Limerick, (and almost fainting at some of the prices) I finally found an amazing pair of boots. Salomon Comet 3D GTX.


Got great help and advice from the crew at Radar Stores in Foxes Bow in Limerick City today
I love my new boots, so comfortable. Going for a few regular walks in them to break them in. We have a training weekend on Sunday climbing Camaderry Mountain in Wicklow. I'll have lots of photos and a new blog post on Monday :)

Vaccinations

Had three of my jabs done in TMB in Limerick! So quick, and genuinely pain free. I actually couldn't believe it. Going back at the end of the month to get a few more! Visit Tropical Medical Bureau for more info.

Wednesday evening my arm got pretty sore around where the needle went in, but on Thursday, I was really dizzy and weak after it, so I was taking lots of little breaks. But it was all pretty much gone on Friday :)

Driving up the fundraising train now! And I'm sticking to the training, despite a weekend away at a Festival :D