Sligo

Sligo is know for its literary heritage and rugged countryside. Steeped in history and mythology. From clear lakes to rivers to dramatic mountains. Sligo has it all.

We decided to head away to Sligo for a few nights. Mountain climbing, cycling and walking was on our agenda. The weather was perfect. The company was great and the air from the Wild Atlantic. Sure where would ya want to be. Nothing beats the west of Ireland.

Our first stop was a cycle from Sligo town over to the Devils Chimney. A lovely cycle.

The Devils Chimney is just over 1km hike. We didn’t expect to see any water flowing from the waterfall as this only happens when it’s raining. But we wanted to do the hike and see the views. It was a lovely hike through wooded area. When you reached the top the views were pretty impressive. We could see Glencar Lake and the valley stretching below between the hills. There was a lovely picnic area at the top and we took a short break to enjoy a snack.

You have to have some sort of level of fitness to this do.

A quick trip down the road after to the Glencar waterfalls. Very pretty but nothing else to do there.

After this it was time to cycle back to the car and head over to the Beach Bar and B&B in Aughris head where we were staying.

What a location. We arrived and the place was buzzing. Seeing so many people enjoying the sun and happy. What a great feeling. Quick shower and change and up to the bar for dinner. I’m not a fan of bar food, probably because of several bad experiences and cheap pre cooked food shoved out to customers. I didn’t have really high expectations. I was proven wrong. The food was exceptional. Simple food cooked perfect. I’m gutted I didn’t take any pictures. I was starving. I had fish and chips. The batter was so fresh and soft. And not all batter and no fish. A few pints to help wash it down and a lovely walk to watch the sun set.

Next morning we decided to walk the forest walk around Benbulbin, but missing the turn lead us to Luke’s bridge where we decided to climb Benbulbin instead. Not the best decisions Iv ever made. Not following any track, we just decided that we would climb some of it. We started to climb and it was easy enough, in so far as I was able to still stand and walk up it. It gets steeper and eventually you have no choice but to start climbing (like Spider-Man, but without the web) so close to the top I looked around and went into a state of panic. (Iv never claimed or walked up a mountain before) I froze. I just wanted to get off this mountain. Petrified. Convinced myself I was going to fall, (if I fell there would be some serious injury’s) tears rolling down my eyes. Literally holding onto the side of a mountain, legs like jelly. The only way off this mountain was to keep going up. We really should have just followed a track. Stubborn and angry at myself I reached the top. Every single emotion going through me. I couldn’t wait to get down.

Once we got down I needed to feel grounded so I decided to cycle Lough Gill Cycle Loop. Amazing views and a lovely cycle. Pushing all my frustrations out on my quads as I pushed up hills. Best therapy ever.