A place between heaven and purgatory but worth the effort

Country Living with Francis Farragher

I’m not a fan of walking, mainly on the basis of boredom – and I’m no mountain climber either – but here and there, the challenge of a modest outdoor adventure does have its own lure.  You kind of know, halfway through it, that you’re suffering but then the stubbornness kicks in and it becomes something like a personal to get to the summit of the hill.

When that happen, for a few fleeting moments of ecstasy, you imagine yourself as an Edmund Hillary (not as easy to remember his climbing partner, Tibetan Tenzing Norgay), taking those final steps to the summit of Mount Everest, at just over 29,000 feet.

Well, the limit of my climbing achievement has been 2,500 feet summing of Croagh Patrick, more affectionately known as ‘The Reek’, and even when I enjoyed a more youthful gait, I never found it a simple trek.

I’ve probably climbed it about 20 times on Reek Sunday – July 31 this year – and have learned to respect every stop along the way, following on from a particularly ‘crackpot’ first climb, which was fuelled by a boozy night in one of the local hostelries many years back . . . nay, even decades.

There was a wonderful romance and sense of daring – most if brought on by a few extra measures of ‘The Demon’ – but off we went in the middle of the night . . . a gang of us full of bravado and false courage.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.