Directions

Past the crashed helicopter, turn left at the pile of frozen faeces and if you come to the body, then you've gone too far.

When one thinks about the top of Mount Everest, one usually imagines thin air, frostbite and sherpas. What one does not think of is discarded tents, oxygen cannisters and a couple of abandoned bodies. Amazingly, of the 300 people who have died on Mount Everest, only 150 bodies have been retrieved. Eeeck!

There has been a lot of media coverage during the week about the Eco Everest Mission to clean the top of Chomolungma. A team of 20 climbers have been dispatched to bring town over 2 tonnes of rubbish and a body. Tidy towns anyone?

Gay sheep

I spotted this pair on the Comeraghs. Now you know where candy floss comes from.

Climb every mountain

Well folks it's been a fantastic hiking weekend in the south east. I've knocked 10 of the top 100 off my list:

Mount Leinster 795m

Knockmealdown 794m

Fauscoum 792m

Knockmoylan 786m

Carrignagower 767m

Knockanaffrin 755m

Coumfea 744m

Blackstairs Mountain 730m

Coumfea North Top 73om

Seefin 726

This took in three fantastic ranges, the Blackstairs (yellow), the Comeraghs (purple) and the Knockmealdowns (green). In order to reacquaint you with your primary school geography, I've put a little coloured dot on all of the peaks.

N.B. This is a topographical map of Ireland with black denoting lowland areas. Looks cool, doesn't it! Click on the image and you'll zoom into it.

It's gonna be quiet around here for the next few days

I'm off down to Waterford early in the morning to start climbing 11 of the 100 highest mountains in Ireland. It's a weekend-long crusade which will be taken on by a small but brave legion of marys. Expect blister photographs early next week. It's now Good Friday and I'll be off. Due to reappear again on Sunday - now who does that remind you of?

And on that blasphemous note, I shall leave you with this.

Happy Easter, even if you did say Jehovah!

Putting the Jo in Djouce

With the hour going forward this morning - ha! a rare example of something actually "going forward" I woke up at 8.57, old time. I then rang Dermot and asked him what time was it really: 7.57 and I was fine, 9.57 and there would be no hiking for me. Alas, it proved to the latter. Fortunately I managed to bring Jo out to Djouce yesterday afternoon. And here are the pics to prove it.

Notice how Jo goes from smiling at the start of the walk, to exhausted at the summit and then smiling beneath the mutiny on the way back. Great fun.

Colour. Like no other.

Ireland is beautiful. This is the view from the side of Maulin. Just look at that colour.