Great Sugar Loaf Mountain

An early flight from Leeds saw me walking the streets of Dublin in bright sunshine at 8.30 am this morning and then walking along the promenade at Dún Laoghaire just an hour later. I had a little time to kill before a rendezvous with TJ, driving up from West Cork, which was spent with a large coffee and a read of my current novel (Fingersmith, which I'm loving), plus a bit of good old sunbathing. I honestly think it's the first time this summer that I've been able to completely chill out, close my eyes, and feel the warmth of the sun on my face.

Experienced a little bit of worry when a text arrived from TJ to say that the car had overheated and was issuing smoke, but a little rest seemed to fix that and it wasn't long before she arrived. We explored a bit more of Dún Laoghaire together and I was rather taken with the place. After a very sunny and breezy walk out to the very end of the harbour wall, and another pit-stop at the wonderful Promenade Cafe, we headed into the Wicklow Mountains.

By this time, though, as is so typical of this capricious summer, the clouds had rolled in and squally showers were hitting the hills. From both Dublin and Dún Laoghaire I could see a very prominent and elegantly shaped hill, which seemed to call out to me. As an outlier it wasn't yet engulfed by mist like all the other tops, so we made the Great Sugar Loaf our target for the day. Quite a few other people had the same idea, but that was ok. It was a short and quite steep climb with a bit of a scramble at the very top. Just as we reached the summit it started to drizzle with rain, which steadily got worse on the descent. By the time we got back to the car, it was properly raining. For the rest of the afernoon and evening the rain just got heavier and heavier. It's rather fortunate that we are actually staying at a pub! Nice not to have to go out again for a drink and a bite to eat.