This was followed by "are we nearly there yet?". Having only made it 1 mile up the track to the beginning of the off-road section, the answer was a resounding no.The girls veered off to begin the climb up the Mourne Wall towards the summit of Slieve Binnian (3rd highest peak in the Mournes at 747 metres), with conditions deteriorating. About a third of the way into the ascent, two men passing on their descent advised the group to turn back and head for home because of howling gales and 10 metre visibility.
A few momentarily considered the option of return but at the threat of a splinter group, one of the girls rigged herself up in balaclava and peaked cap to assume the guise of a paramilitary and coerce them into continuing. It was later pointed out that the guise faltered given the balaclava was pink and flowery, and that the girls kept going in the name of being "iron". As the British politican Ironlady famously said, "U-turn if you want to, this lady's not for turning".
So the whole group stayed together and followed the leader up into the mist, making the summit after 1 hour 50 minutes. Given the girls' inexperience (clearly shown when, on seeing somebody on the slope with walking poles the comment was made "my, he's brave coming up on crutches"), everybody made the top with impressive ease and so begged the question again, "What mountain?". (?!)
After a 30 minute break for packed lunch, it was decision time. Call it quits and head back the way we came, or continue on across the top to descend North Tor and loop back to the car park. It was a case of follow the leader (1 of the leaders is an Ironwoman!).
Across the top to North Tor the visibility was atrocious, the mountain mist turned to proper rain and hail, and the wind was howling. The adverse elements did not deter the girls however, with the chat and laughter reverberating around the mountainside and spirits remaining extremely high. They finally emerged from the clouds around North Tor for a comedy descent in the mucky, rocky terrain to the path homeward bound - a gently, descending track of 3 miles to the car park.
The weather started to lift before the descent to the track, allowing everybody to take in the beauty of the Kingdom of Mourne and to end the day with the sun on their faces and the wind at their backs. The 3-mile amble back to the car park also boosted the group's feeling of self satisfaction because with the mountains now clear, the summit route that had just been achieved above could be clearly seen from the track below. "Oh, that mountain" were the concluding remarks.
Group: Alison, Dianne, Fiona, Gillian, Gillian, Grace, Joanne, Karen, Linda, Wendy.
Many thanks to the group for helping us raise funds for a small local maternity unit to buy an underwater sonicaid, and also start providing basic items for underprivileged mums and their newborns.
