I started by walking about a kilometre East back along the N59 to the minor road going up Glencoaghan. The minor road is followed North East for approximately two kilometres until after any grazing land and houses.
From here one takes to the hillside ascending in a North Easterly direction to Bennadereen Rock at 225m. From there
a ridge is followed all the way to the top of Derryclare 673m
. The ridge is heather and grass in its lower reaches but as I progressed up the hill it became obvious that there is actually very little grass on these hills and they are nearly all bare rock. As long as the weather is good the views of the circuit you are about to do are spectacular, and it was excellent this day .- Benlettery, Bengower and Benbreen from Derryclare
- Bengower and Benbreen from Derryclare
- Benbreen and Bencollaghduff from Derryclare
Next on the list is Bencorr just over a kilometre away to the North.
- Looking along ridge towards Bencorr
- Looking from Derryclare to Bencorr with Bencorrbeg on right
I descended Northwards to a col at 551m before ascending a rocky slope to the summit of Bencorr 711m.
To descend from Bencorr to the next col, Mam na bhFonsai 494m requires caution. I walked a short distance North along the ridge then branched off left to descend a rather steep rocky slope. From here I took a gravel like path down to a gap.The gap is an area of peaty grass with a rock wall on either side. It is not a major obstacle but I did use my hands.
From the col it is about a kilometre up a rocky slope to the summit of Bencollaghduff 696m.
- Bencollaghduff from Benbreen
- Bencollaghduff
The descent East from the summit of Bencollaghduff is down a steep rocky ridge but you can see where people have gone before so its not really a problem. There is a small rock band near the bottom which I outflanked on its left hand side to reach the col at 457m.
- North ridge of Benbreen I
- North ridge of Benbreen II
From the col I headed South West up the rocky Northern ridge of Benbreen. The summit ridge of Benbreen is well over a kilometre in length and never drops below 650m. The initial top reached is 674m, the middle one is 686m and the final one and summit is 691m.
The descent South from Benbreen to the col at 470m is a purgatorial steep scree covered slope. It can be 'run' if you're into that kind of thing - let me say it certainly gets you down quicker.
The North face of Bengower looks pretty difficult from low down and you probably will have to use your hands - I did. But, by using a series of gullies and terraces it's not as difficult as it appeared from the bottom. once up it's only a short walk to the summit at 664m.
- Descent of South slope of Benbreen seen from Bengower
- Looking from Bengower to Benbreen
The descent from Bengower heads South West for just over half a kilometre to about 560m and then turns South to descend to a col at 510m.
From there comes the easiest part of the day the ascent of the North ridge of Benlettery to its summit at 577m.
The views from here are tremendous.
- Looking South from Benlettery near end of walk
The descent South from this summit takes you to the Benlettery Youth Hostel and from there it is a short walk East along the N59 back to the car park.
- Benlettery from the South
- Benlettery from the car park - Youth Hostel on far left
I honestly can't remember how long it took me to do this walk. The hills may not be high but you are still talking about approximately 1,500m of ascent. Once again as on Mweelrea I never met a single person all day. The pity is I didn't have enough time left to tackle the Maumturks which were only 6km away to the East - the problem with them however is that they are basically a linear walk.
Anyway I hope I can inspire some walkers to head over there and try these magnificent hills.
