Ascent to Mount Errigal

The beginning of the journey leads from the parking lot at the south-eastern foot of the mountain from a height of 220 m above sea level. It remains to climb almost exactly 500 meters. You can see the mountain well from the parking lot, because it rises directly above your head.

The beginning of the path leads at first along the river slightly upwards. However, the path changes a lot and with each major eruption it can shift, depending on where the main stream of precipitation is flowing. I definitely recommend taking goretex shoes ideally above the ankle, then you can find your way anywhere. The lower part of the ascent consists of wetland or most of the season waterlogged grass.

We visited Errigal from the beginning of June and we had the opportunity to see him under a blanket of plants, which at the time of inflorescence have a top formed by fluff, which is, however, sufficiently resistant to strong Irish winds.

After a short time, the path changes from a waterlogged meadow straight to a rubble and from there it also begins to climb sharply. About halfway up the climb, you're high enough to enjoy. The road has beautiful views of Lough Altan and the surrounding 500-meter hills. It is good to plan the trip on a drier day, because during torrential rain, the movement around the rubble is very slippery.

The weather in Ireland is very changeable, so it happened to us in June that we planned a hike for a day when it was nice, but every hour an cloud came with a small and intense rain. In our case, we caught such a cloud exactly at the moment when we stood on the top of the mountain after about an hour of climbing. We didn't want to waste an hour's work without the views, so we took out our umbrellas (essential equipment wherever you go in Ireland) and waited at the top in the lee until the cloud left after 20 minutes. Ideal for a small snack, you are not all wet, and even though we had outdoor waterproof clothing, this way of surviving a short rain has paid off several times.

We did well to wait upstairs, because it would be a shame to lose such a view. For a descent in the rain, it would still be due to slippery stones about breaking a leg. The top end of the road leads along the very ridge of the mountain and there is a beautiful view of the underlying lakes Dunleway lough and Nacung lough as well as the village Dunlewy lying between them.

In the village of Dunlewy, located under a mountain between lakes, there is, as in almost every Irish village, a Catholic church with a cemetery. This Church of the Sacred Heart thus provides fulfillment not only for the faithful inside the church, but also for passers-by, whose view of the picturesque church with the backdrop of Mount Errigal in the background will undoubtedly be remembered.

Since we had a tent with us and we could find such a great deserted place, behind the dike between the lakes overlooking the majestic Errigal, to camp and enjoy the genius loci of the place in solitude and to the full. The place could be reached by car, and although free camping in Ireland is quite on the edge, whether and where it is vacationing, there was only a sign with a ban on fishing, which we were not going to do.