The mirror image of a snow capped Djouce on the calm waters of Vartry reservoir as we approached Roundwood on the trip to Wicklow on Sunday morning whetted the appetite for the trek ahead.
The route began from the Deerpark forest area, North of Roundwood, then dropped down to the Paddock Ponds, which incidentally provided the water source for the fountains at Powerscourt House ‘back in the day’. Forest trails led to the open mountain and the Wicklow Way which we followed North briefly crossing the Dargle river. An easy trail led to the top of Maulin. Some boggy ground followed over .593 and onto Tonduff 642m. The bog was somewhat easier to travel across with low temperatures keeping the surface a little crisper than usual. The clear views in all directions provided constant entertainment. Plans were being made for future club outings.
The next target was the snow topped War Hill 686m which turned out to be the biggest challenge of the day. From the summit the view towards the snowy white Djouce 725m against a clear blue sky was very beautiful. A short stop at the coffin stone was enough to recharge the group to take in the last peak in their stride. Descent was via the Wicklow Way back to the Deerpark forest area and a more direct track back down towards the cars. Total : 17.75 kms and over 800m height gain. Great outing with a terrific team.
(Just to confirm, we did remove the offending orange peel at the coffin stone……which did not belong to any of our group.)
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