Hiking through Middle Earth is probably easier with Hobbit feet

The next day after our trip to Jamesonland, a few of us decided to go on a hike. A group of us had gone to the meeting for the mountaineering club at UCC and it seemed pretty cool. They run hikes every Sunday to different places around the country. This one was to Mahon Falls in the east of Ireland. We had been told repeatedly that we needed hiking boots and were not allowed to wear jeans. This posed quite the poblem for the girl (me) who had not done laundry since arriving and thus the only non-jean pair of pants was dirty. Also the whole thing about leaving my hiking boots at home...in a different country...across an ocean. Luckily, the club realizes that some people don't travel with stuff like this and give suggestions on where to buy stuff for cheap with student discounts (gotta love 'em). So bright and early Sunday morning with my brand new boots and rain pants, we gathered near the mob of people in front of 3 mini busses.

Turns out, there were so many people that wanted to come they had to turn away about 15 people cuz they didn't fit on the busses. That being, said, there were 3 busses that carried 33 people each...that's over a hundred people that turned up. Popular club I guess.

I actually was able to sleep most of the way there except for when I was nearly thrown out of my seat by our driver's stupendous(ly horrible) driving skills. After 2 hours we finally arrived here:



No joke, we had driven into either Middle Earth or New Zealand and considering the ride wasn't that long, I'm going with Middle Earth. I was blatantly disregarding the fact that it was called Mahon Falls. Don't care. It was beautiful and green(ish) and there were sheep EVERYWHERE. You'd look up at the mountains and see a nearly vertical part and a sheep would just be chilling there. Probably pooping since there was SO MUCH sheep poop when we were hiking. But it was gorgeous weather when we arrived too.

See? I was even wearing my sunglasses. Apparently my hair is so fantastic that it shines like the sun and even I need sunglasses to be in its presence.

Also, when I say "we" that includes these two, Trevor and Maggie:

I was a bit more prepared with mah rain pants than he was with his one sweatshirt.

There was a dirt path running from the parking lot to the bottom of the waterfall that we started out on. We were in the intermediate group since we broke into 3. Afterwards, I shudder to think what the advanced group did. Anyways, we get a great view of the waterfall as we head towards it:

And at this point I was a bit confused. The path was an easy stroll that required neither the hiking boots nor the rain pants I had bought. I also couldn't see a path anywhere once it stopped at the water falls. Surprise surprise, you can probably see where this is going. We hiked up along the side of the waterfall. And THAT truly did require both the boots and the pants. For reference, In the picture above try and find the little blue dot. It's about a 1/3 of the up from the bottom in the center. Yeah that's a person. Not only that, but it was quite intimidating being that high up on that steep of a mountainside. It was literally a case of, take one wrong step or slip on a loose rock and see ya! We'll be picking up the pieces of you on our way down.

The ground was not what most would think as hike-able. Either that or I truly have never gone hiking. I think it's a combo of both but may I just say, nothing I have ever done at Hoover or elsewhere was anywhere near close to what this grueling trek was. That being said, it was a blast and really fun.

The rain pants and boots became my saviors throughout. The ground was mostly squishy mud with lots of tufts of tough grass and bramble growing out of it. You're lucky if it's solid enough for you to step on with out sinking a few inches or slipping on the wet grass. I had better luck than Maggie but there were definitely a few times where we were both up to our ankles or mid-calf in mud. If I had worn my running shoes, not only would they be ruined, but I probably wouldn't even have returned with them because they would've been sucked right off my foot and stayed under the mud. The rain pants also kept me super dry and much less muddy than my companions.

When we finally got to the top the view was indeed incredible:

and you see the little white patch on the right-ish side of the picture? Well it's actually this:

our starting point.

Now this didn't take all that long, maybe an hour and a half. So I was curious as to why they told us it would take 4-5 hours for the hike. Well, lo and behold, we were not done. We continued up the mountain that was behind the waterfalls. The hope was to hike up to the top of some cliffs that overlook a lake. Unfortunately, the weather decided to choose that moment to take a dump on our parade. It not only started to rain, but we were now so high up on the mountain, that it turned to snow. There also was no mountain to block the wind since, oh hey, we're on top of it right now which made the snow come at us sideways. Yes, I was definitely better dressed than Trevor was.

Upon arriving at the cliffs, which doubled as our lunching spot, we were greeted with this breathtaking view:

lovely right? Well, this is what the rest of our trip was like. I couldn't see more than a few people infront of me at times and itt was also freeze-your-ass-off cold so that made for a happy time. I was definitely riding the struggle bus as I was trying to get my gloves back on after lunch:

After that, we finally started our decent, which, mysteriously had many uphill parts to it. This was another part where I was grateful for the hiking boots I bought because it's likely both of my ankles would've been broken. Walking downhill on uneven ground does not make for happy feet.  The view coming back was quite different than the one earlier in the morning:

but it was actually kind of good because it acted as a blinder. We never knew how close we were to getting back so we just kept going. I also was able to snap a picture of some of the sheep:

you can see that these are a special breed of Irish sheep and patches of their wool actually come in neon pink and blind-your-eyes-out green. The most common native to the mountain we were hiking were the blue assed sheep. Truthfully, it's how farmers can tell their sheep apart. They just act like the wool is a nice clean wall and graffiti all over 'em. Although, how they even find their sheep on the mountain in the first place I guess I'll never know.

The very last bit to get back to the busses was to cross the river once last time as we had already crossed it a few times. I was quicker thinking this time and was able to capture the grace that is Maggie McCool:

Finally, finally, finally, we got back to the busses. We were cold, wet, cold, probably smelled like a combination of mud and sheep poop, cold, tired, and cold. We did bring an extra pair of clothes, except Trevor of course, and did a quick awkward change out in the open. I was still so cold though that I kept all my under armour on even though it was dampish.

After that we sat around and waited for the other groups to get back since we were actually the first ones back. We left about an hour after we got back and yet again I conked out on the bus. I had a valid excuse this time. We all stopped at some quai seaside town for some grub even though I think most of us just wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

The whole thing was definitely not what I was expecting but I'll also definitely be doing it again. It was an awesome workout considering I was huffing and puffing my up the mountain but it was also fun in a "let's see how far my foot will sink into the mud THIS time!" kind of way. It's also a good filler since I know they go every Sunday regardless of weather (obviously). So if I ever find myself with nothing to do, I'll be slogging my way up  mountains in Middle Earth.