Northern Ireland - Day 11

We walked up Slieve Donard today, starting from the site.

First into Newcastle and all the way down the main street.

The path up the hill starts at the south end of town. First following the river through forest, then it becomes more open. It's a very popular route and a well made path.

We passed a few wild ponies.

We eventually reach the Mourne Wall, a 22 mile long wall built in the early 20th century which encloses the water catchment area of the Silent Valley reservoir.

The last stretch of the path to the top parallel to the wall was very steep, but eventually we made it to the summit of Slieve Donard (850 metres). It was clear so we had good views.

We walked back down to the coll and up the other side, to the summit of Slieve Commedagh (765 metres).

We walked off this hill to the east, and found the path wasn't as good as our upward one, being a steep grassy slope. We made it back to town though, and went for a welcome drink in the Tap Room. The walk was a total of 16 km with 1100 metres of ascent.

Back at the van we made burgers with fried potatoes and beans for dinner.