After a long lie in and a stereotypical Irish morning of sitting around talking and drinking copious amounts of tea we finally headed out into the grey skies.
We’d been talking and drinking tea for so long that it only left us the afternoon for a walk, so we drove up to Newport and headed into the Nephin Mountains for a walk around the Letterkeen Loop.
As it was, the weather turned into a howling gale and sideways rain so a walk over the peaks wouldn’t have been a good idea anyway.
The Letterkeen loop is 12km and starts at the car park near the Altaconey River. Its not a long walk but a great loop to do in an afternoon or for a day out with children. Its also perfect for getting out into the wild areas of the Nephins without having to walk too far.
We headed anticlockwise starting on the well made track of the Western Way, which winds through the woodland next to the river.
After about 3km there is a path junction to the left which heads up round the side of the fell and heads northeast towards the Bangor Way.
It was at this point the wind and rain became heavy so we were grateful for the nearby shelter on the hill, where we quickly headed for a lunch stop.
Heading back along the Bangor trail the track is less defined and in the rain it had become a bog trot. It reminded me of walking in the Pennines back home!
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