Coiliochbhar Hill
I'd given serious consideration to tackling this hill from the NW, examining aerial photos at some length until I was pretty sure the route would work. Then I decided that it wasn't really a detour to drive to the south side and use the same route as most people with logs on hill-bagging.
It was raining as I was getting ready to go, so I made the questionable decision of donning full Paramo. I knew I would likely be too warm (it was 14 degrees and forecast to get warmer), but I figured waterproof overtrousers would also be too warm, and at least Paramo is comfortable and easily vented. I regretted the choice on my way up, with no expectation as to how much I would be grateful for it on the way down.
If you look at the map snippet above, you may see that there's a little out-and-back spur north of Upper Minmore. Had I looked at my notes on this hill, I wouldn't have made that error, but instead I relied on my memory that told me that there was a new track, but I forgot the bit that told me that I needed to turn off it, over a green drain, to head up a forest break. The issue was compounded by the fact that the map shows the route through the forest break to be a track (which it no doubt once was), and the brand new track, which isn't on the map, slowly diverges from it. It was only when I realised that my track was determinedly heading downhill that I thought something was amiss. That's a lot of words for a 3-minutes-each-way detour!
Backtracking, the green drain and fire break I was supposed to be looking for were plain to see, and up through the forest I went. Out of the top of the trees, the views were superb and I was thinking that Mick would have enjoyed this hill (and maybe, if he'd been with me, I would have paid a bit more attention to not going awry ... or maybe not).
There was just one more section of trees between there and the summit, which in one of the winter storms of recent years (late 2023, most likely) had suffered a lot of blow-downs. Fortunately, someone has since been through with a chainsaw, so even where the trodden line wasn't immediately obvious on the ground, I just needed to look for the gaps through fallen trunks. I soon popped out the other side of the trees and picked up a path then an ATV track to the summit.
To my surprise, I heard voices as I was loitering up there, and four people appeared from the west. They were doing a linear route with a car at each end, which was an excellent plan - in fact, I'd already thought before I met them that I should have asked Mick to meet me on the N side of the hill, so I could descend via the alternative route I'd identified from Brux. As it was, a retracing of steps was on the cards for me.
From the summit I'd seen a big lump of rain off to the west, but by the time I was back at the trees I was 50/50 as to whether it was heading for me or was going to skirt. The answer was the former, and as I made my way down the forest break, it started coming down. It didn't become remarkable until I was back on the forest track, when it became comedy rain, so hard that I thought for a moment that it was hailing. That it was coming straight down wasn't good either, as with the lack of wind, it wasn't going to blow through, and it continued coming down with seldom-seen ferocity the whole of the rest of the way. The forest track was soon two gushing streams separated by a central strip, and I received a message from Mick saying "That's a bit heavy..." in case I'd not noticed!
At least I didn't have dreadfully far to go before I could get into a dry place and into some dry clothes, but in the meantime I was glad indeed that I had opted for the full Paramo outfit.
Below: the old track up the firebreak is just a trod now
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