Great Sugarloaf, Wicklow Mountains

I honestly don't remember how long I've wanted to climb the Sugarloaf, but it could be as much as 8-9 years. Anyway, last Sunday I was able to tick that off my To Do list. Yay!

And a glorious Sunday it was too! We went there around 1, and had a bit of a time finding a way to get close to the mountain. I had found some tips on the web, which none of us could remember. All we knew was that there probably wasn't a car park. And there wasn't. There was just a looooong line of cars parked along the wee road running along the southern foot of the mountain.

Great Sugarloaf looks very tall and majestic when you come from the north, because there is a bit of a valley in front of it that you drive through. But once you drive around to the southern side, you're already going up a good bit, so the actual distance is not bad at all. There were a great many families with kids of all ages there, enjoying the day, and the views from the top, so that gives you a good idea about the ease of the climb. It's really only the last little bit before the top that requires a bit of effort.

It took us less than an hour to get up, which includes little breaks on the way to enjoy the view. We got quite warm as well, and were removing gloves and hats before long. It was a pretty hazy day, so some of the surrounding mountains were vanishing in the mists in a most lovely fashion. I love picking out landmarks, and so was very happy when I found Powerscourt House in nearby Enniskerry. Powerscourt House has the most amazing gardens which are laid out with a perfect view of Great Sugarloaf.

Of course, you could also see the neighbouring Little Sugarloaf, which stood between us and Bray Head, and beyond that the Irish Sea.

The line of cars we left behind us on the road looked like a row of pearls, with the sun gleaming off them, quite pretty I must say. On our way down we took a bit of a ramble around the knee of Great Sugarloaf, which extends to the west, and were back down after roughly 2 hours. Not bad at all! And our timing was good as well - as we were coming down the mountain, the 'after dinner' crowd were ascending in droves...