We got to the base of Croagh Patrick outside Westport in County Mayo.
We could not see the top of the mountain because of cloud cover. The shop was not open so we could not rent walking poles so we set off, I was carrying our bag which contained a few bottles of water, some food and my camera.
We went up the laneway to the statue of St. Patrick and we set off.
The first section (Stage One) is a long winding trail of rock, shale and mud.
There are clear instructions signed in several places to stay on the path and not to stray off of it as it is dangerous to stray as the rest of the mountain is boggy and steep.
To get up to the gate you have to tackle the first of the rocky paths.
Once you opened the gate this is what lay ahead of you for... Stage 1 alone!
If you can see it through the cloud, that black line which forms a dip in the picture is the completion of Stage 1, to reach the Ridge, which is Stage 2 a flat trek to the base of "the mountain" Croagh Patrick. Stage 3 is a steep incline of Shale to reach the top of Croagh Patrick where a little church rests.
This picture may not do the trek justice, it is a tough climb and for novices like us.
As my husband is on a life long challenge to lose weight we were sensible enough to take plenty of breaks and people passed us many times on our ascent. All were very friendly, one group of young men flew past us and one said hello, the second said,"taking a break already?" without considering the man sitting beside me was just under 29stone and to get as far as we did even at that stage was some achievement!
It did not phase my husband, I dont know if he even heard him.
Considering this time last year he weighed 42stone 3lbs I am so so proud of him and this was just the first step in 2012's challenge.
We persisted on further up our climb, at one stage we watched the clound sweep down the mountain like a plume of smoke, wave over us and get sucked back up towards the ridge, you almost expected to smell smoke! You just got a wave of mist.
To give you some idea of Half way of stage 1... on the middle left section of this picture there is a little grey square between a ridge of the montain and the waters edge, this is the car park!
The closer to the ridge we got the less you could see around you and the more uncomfortable you felt about where the edge of the path was.
This picture was as the clouds came down again with a very strong wind and the rain was heavier (naturally it was heavy cloud so larger water droplets).
Once we reached the top of Stage 1 we felt as novices we should turn back and tackle all 3 stages again later in the year on perhaps a clearer day.
So we commenced our descent.
I would definately recommend for any novices to dress well, ok I had no walking boots, hubby did.
Wear a few layers of clothes and luminous or Hi-Vis clothing, a simple vest like this is good enough for day time climbing. For anyone like me who suffers from earache from breezes dont attempt without a head hugging hat, wool or fleece. I found the gloves very handy as you will spend some stages of your climb hugging or holding rock for balance, especially on your descent.
The descent certainly worked the other muscles you did not use on your ascent. This is where the walking poles I am sure would have aided us, I ended up on my rear twice, not as bad as I thought it could be but for someone with hubby's weight I guess gravity pulled on his body a bit more than mine and altough he did not slip or fall at any stage he really had to take it slow and gingerly.
We were never so happy to see the statue of St. Patrick and know how close we were to the car!
We got fresh clothes out of the car and straight into the public toilets to change.
I drove home as hubby drove up.
It was only on Monday I felt any aches and pains, poor hubby had some blisters but after walking the Dublin City Marathon in 2011 these blisters were nothing.
I thoroughly I enjoyed it and cannot wait to do it again.
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