Dani had just returned from a job interview in London last Friday and as we sat down and spoke about her little trip, we casually reminded her she was climbing Croaghpatrick in Westport with me the next morning at 10:00am. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she remembered what she had promised to do a few weeks before. Fair play to her though, she was as keen as beans and we started off under showery skies the next morning. We were climbing as part of a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society, there was a group of around 100 taking part. The mountain is an extremely popular place, with many pilgrims coming to climb the mountain to attend mass in the church at the top. It is however no mean feat, but after many rest breaks, the momentum of people, young, old, large and small drew us up the rocky slopes. We reached the top after 1hr 45mins, with the last 20 minutes extremely steep and rocky. It is hard to believe that there are people who do this barefoot! What a panoramic view from up there, looking out over the islands of Clew Bay and all the way across Connemara in the other direction. It was a great day out, we managed to stay dry the whole time and really enjoyed the pint at the bottom.
