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Beginners hikesA huge thank you to the wonderful group that went out on the first beginners hike of 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣!We were...
10/01/2025

Beginners hikes

A huge thank you to the wonderful group that went out on the first beginners hike of 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣!

We were blessed with the best conditions to truly enjoy all that is great and good about winter hiking in Ireland ❄️❄️
I couldn’t love it more 💕


E V E R Y D A Y I S T H E B E S T D A Y O F T H E Y E A R“Write it on your heartthat every day is the best dayin...
07/01/2025

E V E R Y D A Y I S T H E B E S T D A Y O F T H E Y E A R

“Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day
in the year.
He is rich who owns the day,
and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded
with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day
and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities,
no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can,
tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely,
with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your
old nonsense.
This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”
☀️ Ralph Waldo Emerson

👉 Slieve Gullion, Ballard

Can we talk about in the hills for a second?I love it 🥰 I remember my first snow hike to 15 years ago, the snow up t...
06/01/2025

Can we talk about in the hills for a second?

I love it 🥰
I remember my first snow hike to 15 years ago, the snow up to my knee in parts, and feeling like I’d been transported to ! People would comment “where was that picture taken” with a snow covered in the background! It was like nothing I’d ever seen!

I’ve hiked in snow ever since…..

But I’ve learned, that part of being a great hiker is making good choices! Not being blinded and mesmerised by the draw of snow.

I tell my groups about heading for a solo hike in snow on a part of 11 years back
I did everything advised to do
👉 Tell someone the route
👉 ensuring they could see me with binoculars from the back window
👉 keep in regular contact
👉 have my winter rucksack, plenty of layers, food, water, hot drinks
👉 boffie tent, first aid
👉 poles
👉 heading off early enough to have enough daylight to get back

as safe as I could be.
The snow was to the height of ditches in parts from drift…. and walking on what I thought was the ditch, I dropped to my waist in snow! I couldn’t reach my phone, my poles were useless when snow is already waist deep and compact. I had to dig the snow around me to get out my gear, and use the heather to pull myself out.

I tell you this, because stories like these are my scary but necessary lesson to

Yesterday started as a hike to but with some roads on our way home already becoming unpassable, we decided to turn to a safer area a bit lower down. We parked at taking a hike up to a smaller peak ….. and still managed to hike in the most incredible I’ve seen in years!!

Never one to lecture, always to encourage….
hike in the snow…but come home safe, ok? ❤️‍🩹

Engage your common sense before you go, and keep a healthy bit of fear in your pocket to make some wise decisions when u need to 💕 even if that means turn and go home! (Or head to a peak lower down)

👉 if you have any more winter advice, please comment below. We’re all hear to learn and look after each other x



👉 peak: Tievedockarragh
👉 waterfall hike from yellow water car park

Clogherhead Clifftop WalkThis walk has to be one of loveliest surprise walks I’ve been on. Now we all know of the to...
05/01/2025

Clogherhead Clifftop Walk

This walk has to be one of loveliest surprise walks I’ve been on. Now we all know of the to cliff walk, or the cliffwalk, but did you know there was a clifftop walk in Co. Louth?

C L O G H E R H E A D. C l I F F T O P. W A L K
👉 easy
👉 4.3km
👉 approx 1 hour
👉 elevation of 123m

Positives about this trail?
Has to be the views!
Seriously, the views of the Mournes yesterday, in the winter mist, was out of this world.
Some great bird watching too, especially the seagulls, and there’s just something special about walking near the sea isn’t there?
This would be a greater starter route for kids, beginner level… lots to look at, and the route takes you past a jetty with toilets, a chip van and a fish shop, which was a perfect half way point!
A mixture of beach walk, trail and road,, but after a spell of wet weather, the trail does get mucky, so boots, and shoes with grip recommended.

This trail was a surprise…. You start on the beach and It isn’t well signposted, so I’ve included a map in the photos, so take the picture on your phone as an outline.

(True story; i did end up going off trail, exploring the top of the cliff and some derelict buildings, as im known to do, and quickly realised I was sharing it with 2 bulls! Which isn’t signposted and there are walkers gateways in and out of the field….so caution please… stick to the trail)

Don’t let that put you off though….
It was a great walk and definitely one to add to the bucketlist!

I’m going to beg forgiveness from the people of Gowna before writing further.🙏In Armagh, I recall a running joke being t...
04/01/2025

I’m going to beg forgiveness from the people of Gowna before writing further.🙏

In Armagh, I recall a running joke being told, that went along the lines of “winning a raffle prize where the 1st prize would be a wet weekend in Gowna and 2nd prize would be 2 wet weekends in Gowna.” The pun, created the illusion that not much happened in Gowna….(don’t shoot the messenger!!)

So, you can imagine my surprise when I came across the most beautiful sunset on my way back from hiking in Longford this week. The view was breathtaking! I couldn’t leave!

I had no idea where I was!

After looking around, past rows of fishermen and old bridges, I saw an information board…to find I’d ended up in Gowna!! Well Lough Gowna to be exact!

And immediately I thought “I’d be very happy to spend a weekend and definitely two weekends here!!”

lough Gowna is a beautiful fresh water lake which is the uppermost lake on the River Erne. located on the border between County Longford and County Cavan

I stayed a long while here….watching the sun set in the wintery stillness of a new evening in 2025.

I’ll need to check it out again when it rains!!
And if a wet weekend is just as pretty!

It felt great to finish the Leinster county’s highest peaks deck yesterday!👉 Corn hill (Cairn hill) in Co. Longford 👉 27...
04/01/2025

It felt great to finish the Leinster county’s highest peaks deck yesterday!

👉 Corn hill (Cairn hill) in Co. Longford
👉 278m
👉 grading: easy

It is one of the easiest of the highest peaks in Leinster, with a lovely 3km walking trail around it.

what Ive loved most about visiting the highest peaks in Ireland, is seeing all the different sides of the country… different perspectives, trails, views… and although Corn Hill is a teeniebopper in comparison to the big cousins surrounding it…on a good day (like a frosty winters day we got yesterday!) it punches way above its weight with views!

An easy one, to get everyone involved with, and get you started with a highest peaks challenge in 2025!!

Sitting in today, looking out over the from , our bodies still tingling from an ice cold dip in the lough….It was th...
31/12/2024

Sitting in today, looking out over the from , our bodies still tingling from an ice cold dip in the lough….It was the perfect place to take time out and reflect on 2024!

***A wonderful year, full of so much to be grateful for 💕***

But this is not a post to be overly positive that everything is great and good…..
us Irish do a love a good tragic episode in the middle to keep us all on our toes and remind us we’re alive, makes the story, and us as humans, more believable!

I promise you, this is not a ” we are great post….”
But a post that acknowledges that our years are full….of ups and downs!

Maybe you were blessed with a great one and sailed from one end to the other 💕 and if this is you, … sign me up for one of those in 2025 😜

But Maybe yours had hardships that you are still getting your head around…
Maybe you experienced loss, grief… of loved ones, or a life you once had…
Maybe you healed…
Maybe you started fresh with some things…
Maybe you left some things behind….
Maybe this was the year you focused on you…
Or the year you realised what was important to you.
Or maybe this is what 2025 has ahead for you!!

2024 was the year we figured that out…that we needed the good and the bad….

Losing my voice in September and a revisit to an old illness I had overcome, was my biggest set back of 2024. Throw in perimenopause, and it was quite a blast!

But the journey to finding my voice again, is one that brought uncovering new skills and talents, renewed friendship, greater resilience, and a refocus on what is important!

It made the time spent in the hills even more appreciated.
Cherishing friendships, time together, adventures, time away from it all….views and scenery that could bring a tear to your eye, laughter…and renewed urgency to be back.

After a busy 4 years, this year was a year of rest….restoration…& peace & despite it all, still ends with so much to be grateful for 💕

I don’t do “planned gushy” at these times of year…but whatever your year, I wish you only the best 2025!

for all of your support….joining me on hikes, following here…your engagement helps and I am deeply grateful 🙏

Octobers Northern Lights early show at the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down 💙💖💚The perfect spot for evening walks and after di...
11/10/2024

Octobers Northern Lights early show at the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down 💙💖💚
The perfect spot for evening walks and after dinner catchups!

Movement doesn’t have to be boring And walks don’t have to be monotonous.Why walk around the block a few times When ther...
11/10/2024

Movement doesn’t have to be boring
And walks don’t have to be monotonous.
Why walk around the block a few times
When there is a whole other world down the road!

That was my biggest lesson today!

And with 83 days remaining in 2024, it’s left me wondering…how many more new and uplifting views can I manage to squeeze in before Happy New Year!

Worth a thought?
Start today….82 to go!

The best memories are made in the hills 💕 And the best friendships too!📸 Mourne Mountains, Co DownSlievenagloch, Carn, C...
09/10/2024

The best memories are made in the hills 💕 And the best friendships too!

📸 Mourne Mountains, Co Down
Slievenagloch, Carn, Commedagh, Brandy pad

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