Climbing Carrauntoohil

Here is the wonderful story of how we climbed the highest mountain in Ireland:

Four of us decided last Sunday that we were going to climb Carrauntoohil, a mountain that is part of the Macgillycuddy Reeks mountain range as well as tallest mountain in Ireland. Well, three of us were interested and strangely this other girl who irritates all of us wanted to go as well. We questioned this because she hates walking anywhere, and we didn't think she understood that we were climbing a MOUNTAIN, not a small hill. She insisted that she wanted to go so we dragged her along anyways. We started at the tourist office in town to get any trail maps that we might need, and when we asked the lady in the office, she gave us a strange look and asked us if we were experienced climbers. We said no, and she continued to give us questioning looks, but got out a map of the Carrountoohil trail and another trail that was simply a loop around the base of the mountain that required no climbing skills. She also informed us that the summit of the mountain was -12 degrees. I started to doubt our adventure, but the other 2 girls with me insisted that we go anyway. We took a taxi with a super nice old British man who pointed out major landmarks during the 20 minute ride, and he dropped us off at a small yard surrounded by bleating sheep and wished us luck. We set off from Cronin's Yard and marched along the beginning of the simple loop for beginners and found lovely scenery surrounded still by sheep in lambing season so we got to see lots of babies! We took lots of pictures as the trail led us to creeks and streams bubbling happily along, and saw that many bridges were named after climbers who died in the national park. Comforting, right? We reached the halfway point of the loop which is situated between 2 lakes and had lunch there, deciding if we were to continue straight toward the mountain or turn to follow the path back. My friends still wanted to continue so we did and it was easy going for a while. As we got closer, we saw a long, steep path leading near the mountain and knew that was where we had to go, we just didn't know how we were going to get there.
Fortunately, we ran into 2 experienced hikers who told us all about how to climb the mountain, and they would be going the same way so they told us to follow them. We started climbing at the base of the gulley we were to ascend, and it was simple at first, making sure to mind our steps and not to slip on rocks, but as we got further we needed to use our hands to secure our footholds. Halfway up the gulley, the annoying girl simply could not go on so she stayed on a large cliff as the three of us followed the hikers (Rob and Owen) up the gulley. The funniest part was that when we took breaks, the hikers got out cigarettes and smoked and we found out Rob had a hangover and was still climbing the mountain. Only in Ireland.
The 2nd half of the climb was rough: we had to be careful not to slip, and it was getting steeper and icier as we closed in on the top so we had to take more time. But we made it to the top of the gulley, and were rewarded with a beautiful view! The mountain range went on for miles and miles and a valley lay on the other side of the gulley. The top of the gulley itself was covered in frosty grass that we ran around singing The Sound of Music to. The hikers took us a ways up the actually mountain itself, but we didn't go all the way because it would take us another hour to get there and 45 min to get down, and we couldn't leave the other girl in the cold. We almost made it to the top, but had to turn back, though I did capture a picture of the black cross at the top of the mountain.
Going down was the scariest thing in my life. We had to go EXTRA slow otherwise fall to our deaths. I literally butt-slided down at the speed of smell since my legs were already exhausted from climbing up. We took our time and eventually made it back down where we had to trek through marshy areas to make it to the path where we separated from the hikers and headed back to Cronin's Yard. We called a cab back and ate dinner like homeless people and slept like rocks. After that experience, it feels like there is nothing I can't do.
Plus, we wanted to go back to the tourist office and shove it all in that lady's face!