Masatiompan
Watch the video on YouTube
A fantastic hike along the end of the Brandon Range
This was a long time coming. I had done this loop once before and was really looking forward to doing it again. It’s a long, quiet route at the far tip of the Peninsula taking in a number of peaks along the way.
There is a fine car park at Baile na hAbha (Ballynahow) with plenty of room for a good few cars. Having said that the most i’ve ever seen there is 3. It’s the same car park as for the Binn na mBan walk I did last year. The view from here is great where you can look back to Beenmore, Ballydavid Head and onto the Three Sisters before starting the trip up to Masatiompan and Brandon.
Anyway, straight up the Old Military Road we go, no diversion to Binn na mBan.
As you can see in the video, and as I mentioned previously, Cnoc na mBristi is just after one of the gates and worth the look. It’s still amazes the work that must have gone into the walls up there. I wonder was it just for farming or was there an actual settlement up there at some stage. It seems a bit more developed than just sheep pens. If anyone ever comes across this blog they might pop in the comments if they know anything of the history of that place.
From the north end of Cnoc ns mBristi you can see down into Fothair na Manach under Masatiompan down by the sea. It’s a drop of 500-600m to get down there and would be a fairly full day out on its own as you need to get up high to be able to then drop down there. I hope to do it during the year, but it’s definitely a fine, dry day trip. I don’t fancy going down that slope when its wet to be honest.
We follow the path up. It’s fairly well defined, can be wet in places but overall it’s grand. Eventually we arrive at the col between Más and the rest of the range. I believe it’s the highest point on the Dingle Way at around 660m. Keep in mind we’re starting from close enough to sea level and now at 660 ish meters you have already done a good hike to get to this stage. There’s an interesting Ogham Stone here. Before that there is another slab of stone erected but I don’t know anything about it and haven’t seen anything about it online. In the video, I read some text from https://www.cflt.ie . A great site for the area around here.
Headed up to Más an Tiompán - which translates to rump of the drum/hump/hollow. I have no idea what that means.
Más it is. The view from here up and down the peninsula is fantastic; all the way down to the Blaskets and all the way back up towards Tralee. It was great to get it considering the rest of the mountiains were cloud bound.
View from Más an Tiompain
View from Beenmore looking towards Masatiompan and Mount Brandon.
Spent a good bit of time up here. It was cold but I was prepared for it this time. Had quick bite to eat while the Timelapse was running. I did a bit about the Irish Peaks book, i’ve a page already in the site about it here : Irish Peaks
Was time to head down and continue with the rest of the trip. As you can see in the video , once we passed Piaras Mór we were in cloud for quiet some time. Brandon Far Noth, Brandon North and Brandon were all enveloped in cloud. It wasn’t terribly wet or anything and the wind, overall was alright, seemed to be somewhat sheltered in most places.
Met two nice couples during my time at the top. It was nice to talk to them, altho I think I went on a bit too much, having been the first people I'd met, honestly since the day before, I felt like I kinda went on a bit. It’s the usual for me, say nothing, or won’t shut up. Yikes.
The path down from the top is pretty rocky for the first half, nothing hard or anything but required concentration. The wind here was immense. It didn’t come across in the video but it was pretty strong. It was great.
Further down I met another walker who turned out to be a local. I was going asking him about an alternative route down, but when he mentioned he watched my videos he totally threw me. I completely forgot what I was going to ask. The mortification was real. Similar to the people from earlier we had a great chat for a while.
From Ballybrack then back to the start point was plain sailing. A mix of a boreen and quiet country road walking. Like I said, two cars would have been nice to knock off the 5km section, but I didn’t mind, its a nice walk , altho towards to the end of this section I was done for.
Back to the carpark, I was in no rush and took my time cooling down.
Sat into the car and watched my Sunday ritual on YouTube tuning into Darren J Spoonley and his weekly adventures. He is, as far as I am aware, the only Photography based Irish YouTuber who puts out weekly videos.
That was it then, took a few pics of the sunset which while very nice are not exactly what i’d want. You’re missing the very bottom of the first sister, Binn Diarmuda. If you went back up the old Military Road you’d get a clear shot, but that wasn’t happening, not at this time of the day. Altho looking at the pic now, the haze and sea spray do give that degree of separation. Happier now than I was originally. I love this photography craic :D
Sunset from the carpark at Baile na hAbha
Full loop of 18km, the next time, which will be during the summer i’ll do it the other direction, just for a change.
On a side technical note, this was the first time using the new Røde mics. Considering how actually windy the day was, and how well they managed it, I am delighted with them. It will take a bit of getting used to and editing them into the video afterwards is another learning experience, but so far i’m terribly well impressed. I’d been waiting for them to drop in price since Novmeber but they just were not coming down. It was something that was doing my head in in older videos, but it is what it is. Must remember to turn the blue light around the next time. I know it can be turned off, but I need to be able to see them turned on to be sure i’m recording as i’m using them standalone and syncing up afterwards... Anyway enough of that..
Thanks for tuning in again, and we’ll see ye in the next one
Ed