03/09/2015
At the end of last week I made a trip up Slieve Muck for sunset, hoping to get some nice shots of the sunset with Spelga in the foreground. As I was making the steep climb up the Western slope it was looking more and more like the weather wasn't going to work in my favour, and so it turned out, with clouds rolling in from the west when I reached the summit. But my dismay turned to delight when I saw the scene on the other side!
This 240 degree view taken near the summit of Slieve Muck shows the stunning views of the High Mournes and beyond to the coast and the mouth of Carlingford Lough which greeted me there.
In the foreground to the left, the Mourne Wall can be seen winding along over Carn Mountain, Slieve Loughshannagh and curving up to the summit of Slieve Meelbeg, where it disappears from view.
To the right of this sits the glimmering Lough Shannagh, flanked by a covering of purple heather and the heather-topped Doan, with the jagged peak of Slieve Bearnagh above it in the background.
Above and beyond the cap of Doan lies the peak of Slieve Commedagh, lightly veiled by the intermingling cloud, which slopes on towards the mighty peak of Slieve Donard, whose summit is completely obscured by cloud.
Cove mountain can be seen just below this, nestling between Commedagh and Slievelamagan, which continues the skyline rightwards, with its rugged slopes falling steeply down into Ben Crom Reservoir, which is mostly obscured by the shadowy heather-topped slope of Ben Crom in the foreground, with its mouth and dam just visible nestling between the mountains where the Mill River flows onwards to Silent Valley Reservoir.
In the far background beyond the dam, the far away peak of Chimney Rock Mountain can be glimpsed, with the colossal bulk of Slieve Binnian then dominating the skyline, its jagged southern Tor being dramatically brushed by a cloud, and the thin sliver of Silent Valley Reservoir running along in front of it.
The cloud-topped summit of Binnian then falls away toward Wee Binnian and Moolieve, before the Mourne Wall returns to the scene as it comes up and over Slievenaglogh.
As the Mourne Wall runs down into the valley, Bann's Road can be seen crossing it as it heads down the valley along the shoulders of Slievenaglogh and Slievenagore, and onward towards the wood-topped Knockchree, which drops down towards the mouth of Carlingford Lough beyond it.
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