Misty Mountain Hop

On a misty Sunday afternoon, August 13th 2000, 16 hardy souls congregated in Bofeenaun, at the base of Nephin, and steeled themselves for the ascent ahead. It was all in the name of Crossmolina AFC so with food in our bags and a song in our hearts we set off over the rushy fields which must be traversed to reach the actual mountain. There were rumours circulating within the group that Paddy Syron had done this trek in 35 minutes, but we dismissed that as local legend, nothing more than a modern day fairytale. Gerard O'Boyle was an early casualty after a few fields when a bad back and the lure of a nice warm car persuaded him to stop and turn. John Duggan was the first to do a Dr. Foster impression as he stepped in a drain right up to his knees. As tough as the climb was for most of us it was ten times worse for John Heffernan who had, in best boy scout tradition, packed what seemed like all his worldly possessions into a backpack many an explorer would shudder at. But, to his credit, he never complained and many of us were happy to avail of his sweets and bars near the top. Eoin Syron was our guide of sorts as he informed us of our progress in altitude as ascertained from a map he had brought along. Well it was a lot more useful than the balloon (don't ask!). At varying intervals when spirits would sag Olivia McGuinness would burst into song and after a chorus of "When you're smiling" everybody was ready to continue onwards and upwards. Her brother, John, was nearly responsible for losing one of the footballs when an errant kick set the ball rolling back down the mountain but he made a typically dogged recovery to retrieve the stray sphere. Derek Greham stopped to survey "his land" and for all it's vastness he couldn't help but feel that there would be a lot of hard work involved in it. A sharp wind became very evident around 2/3 of the way up and despite wearing just a polo shirt Paul McGuinness assured us that he wasn't cold. Doubtless, thoughts of a county final were warming the cockles of his heart! His sisters, Olivia and Una, blazed a trail ahead of the pack as they sprightly led the troops to the summit, interrupted only by the shrill sound of John Heffernan's whistle (don't ask!). We encountered a foggy mist near the top which made visibility very hard but thankfully the ground was much flatter so we didn't mind. Finally, after a few false dawns we saw the monument (actually a triangulation station) which adorns the summit through the mist, a sight which reinvigorated weary legs, as we made one final push for the finish line. At 4.30 we finally reached the promised land at the top and took a deserved rest at the "monument". Bert was kind enough to have brought a bottle of drink for everyone, which was much appreciated by some very thirsty people. Our mini picnic was interrupted by some rain which was gradually worsening so we decided to begin our descent immediately in a bid to avoid a soaking. We arrived back at the cars at 6 o'clock to see Gerard sitting smugly in Bert's car listening to the radio. We all gathered for one final photo call before retiring to a local watering hole to compare aches and pains. There is already talk of repeating the expedition again next year and I am sure we can all think of many worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Eoin Syron points the way for Derek Greham

John Davis takes a badly needed drink

Johnny, Bert, Paul Flaherty and Olivia

At the summit

From left:Eoin, Lillian, Olivia, Ann, Una, Derek, Paul McG, 

Paul F, J Duggan, Gerry, Bert

(J Davis hidden)

Bert, John McG, Paul F, J Davis(hidden again), Derek, Olivia, 

J Duggan, Johnny, Paul McG, Gerry

Olivia descends steadily

J Heff, Lillian, Una, Derek, Olivia, Johnny, J Duggan, J Davis, Paul F, Eoin