Today's adventure brought us to Connemara National Park and a climb up the Mweelin Horseshoe taking in 3 peaks on route. We started up the steep slopes of Benbaun, although smaller that the its bigger relative close by, it nevertheless presented a good challenge and the steep slopes had us well warmed up. At the summit cairn we encountered strong winds measuring over 80kph which continued throughout the hike. The fog descended also making for challenging navigation. Making our way out along the ridge and up to the high point of the day to Benbrack at 577m we got a good taste of the type of terrain the 12 Bens are known for. Lots of large slabs of quartzite. Visibility was zero. Passing by the small summit lake, the hike continued along the ridge to the final summit of Knockbrack. Descending down over some very steep sections of rock we arrived in the Mweelin Valley. Exiting the valley through the now disused Kylemore Farm we made a short walk back along the road to our cars parked along the roadside after being being disallowed the usual parking in Kylemore Abbey car park. Appears this is a new ruling even in spite of the fact that quite a few of the group had already used the coffee shop. It went without saying that there was not much of an appetite to return back for coffee after the lack of welcome earlier in the day. Thanks to all who came and participated in the adventure.
On the summit of Benbrack.