Gleana / Torc 08/10/06

Four of us met at Lisleibane - Andy, Margaret, Patricia and myself to try Pipets Ridge again. We sat in the car as it lashed rain and blew a gale, and decided that there would, once again, be no Pipets today. We decided to abandon the climb and to head for Kate's for a cuppa. On arrival we found Kate's closed. Andy decided to return home, while Margaret, Patricia and myself decided to do a short walk to Gleana. We took the upper path to where it doubles back and headed for the rhododendron on the shoulder, and entered the path through them to Gleana.

The path was rough but the growth was fairly well cut back. On arrival at Gleana the level of the lake was high but we decided to wade through it, and got the boots full.

We spent some time at Gleana looking at the ruins of old hunting lodges before proceeding towards Dinis. Here the ground was boggy with plenty of holes full of water. On arrival at Dinis we enjoyed a cup of tea and some cake. I took off my boots to empty out the water and wring out the socks. We looked at our options and headed for the face of Torc.

I had for some time been looking at a narrow path through the rhododendron up the face of Torc. We decided to try it. It was very steep and pretty well closed in in places, and were having to be careful where to place our feet.
Eventually we reached the path that crossed the face of Torc. We turned left and enjoyed wonderful views of the lakes and Muckross before starting the descent via Torc waterfall to the car park. Now our cars were near Tomies wood so we hired a taxi to take us back. Five hours of good walking even though it was very wet underfoot at times.