The first walk in the area of Connemara with a part circumnavigation of the south eastern range of the Maumurk Mountains. This area has many lakes as well as a complex coast line.
We are starting our walk by going along the Western Way, part of a long distance footpath. Rather late setting off as two of the group have an apartment in Galway which necessitates picking them up before we set off on a drive of at least an hour. Also as this is new territory a few stops for photo opportunities.
Our track starts by going downward to a river but then before long is slowly working it’s way up onto a shoulder as we are dominated on both sides by mountain ranges. At the top of the shoulder we are able to look across at the seemingly impenetrable face of the mountain we will be ascending the next day. We are urged to spot the route we will attempt, anticipating it seems even worse!
A great distraction on the right as we saw a small chapel set into the rock on our right. There are several crosses and we later we discover these are the twelve stations of the cross. There’s an altar with Connemara marble.
The path continues down hill to a small remote car park, along a short section of road and then into a wood. Our definite path deteriorated and we had to really look out for boggy areas. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised as we are in an area of many lakes! On the next stretch we also see some peat being cut.
We’re on a small metalled road for a while and through a hamlet. The views continue to be very different. We’ve all agreed to carry on on the full planned walk , one of the things I’m enjoying are the wild flowers. We have noticed a particular yellow iris on the road up to our campsite and it’s here as well. We are more aware of the whole of the mountain range that we will be walking on tomorrow.
The end of our walk is along a dismantled railway, this should be straightforward but is rather flooded and muddy in places, some of the group are rather unimpressed! This is the biggest group I’ve walked in for a while- six of us plus Steve the leader of SPR. We are heading for Maam Cross and our walk has been longer than some had expected – about 14 miles! We don’t reach our destination until gone 7pm – quite late as we have an hours drive back to the campsite and then another 30 minutes for those in Galway. 
Marion's 50 Walk Challenge 