6 things I learned when I climbed “The Devils Ladder” Carraontouhill
Carraontouhill is a Mountain range in County Kerry, Ireland. The official Irish name is Corrán Tuathail, which is interpreted as Tuathals Sickle. The actual mountain of Carrauntoohil, including most of the Hag's Glen, is in private ownership. The freehold is owned by four families; their great-grandfathers bought the land from the Irish Land Commission, "paying the sum of eleven shillings and two pence (70 €cents in today's money), twice a year for many decades". The ownership situation has raised concerns in light of a rise in the volume of visitors, erosion and lack of infrastructure.
No special climbing equipment is needed to climb the Devils Ladder, but caution is advised as it has become unstable with overuse; alternatives to the ladder include the Bothar na Gige Zig Zag track (the north-east spur of Cnoc na Toinne
On a somewhat changeable day in August myself and my husband climbed the Devils Ladder; this is what we learned.
Wear proper Hiking Boots…. Not runners
I found a pair of soaking wet runners abandoned on the trail. The terrain can be quite boggy and quite rocky and trainers would not be great. I was grateful for my sturdy boots, My partner wore old Boots that he pulled out of the cupboard and dusted off but after getting wet we quickly realized that they were in fact just pretending to be Proper Boots. I had new sturdy Walking Boots and my ankles definitely thanked me.
2. The ways are marked… but there is no clear path.
We took the Cronins Yard loop and the way is marked quite well; they aren’t regularly marked but you can see them in the distance and.. In our case… gravitate towards them… just a word of caution… there is no clear path and some of the way markers are in the middle of boggy ground. Sometimes up to your knees… there had been rain on the day that we went so maybe it was particularly bad that day but just be aware if you are just walking toward the markers in a straight line there is no safe path.
3 Bring a Rain Jacket and wear Light Clothing.
When we left Cork in the middle of August to drive to Carrantuohil in Kerry the Sun was splitting the stones ; I wore a vest top and some work out pants (The tight type of ones) with a light cardigan. My husband was wearing cotton shorts and a cotton top with a heavy hoody; after an hours drive it was lashing by the time we arrived.. Then it dried up and the warm Sun came out… then it rained… then it dried again… true Irish weather style. My husband wasn’t happy with his choice of clothes which held the rain in it for a long time and took ages to dry.. I was quite happy with my choice, my clothes dried quite quickly in the sun as they were quite light and I found it easy to go rock scrambling as I could move easily in them; I was glad I didn’t opt for jeans! I was quite cold by the end of the day though so next time I will bring a light rain jacket that I can take on and off easily and put in my bag.
4. The Ladder becomes a Waterfall in the rain.
When we got to the foot of the devils ladder there was small bit of water flowing down the stones but it was easy enough to find our way onto the dry rocks as we wanted to keep the bottom of our boots dry to save us slipping; as we were climbing it rained again which sent more water down and eventually we seemed to be climbing a waterfall, it was hard to keep the bottom of our boots dry and as we reached the top the stones moved from being large rocks to being small loose stone and it was hard to get a grip with my boots as the stones moved beneath my feet. Interestingly enough we were chatting to someone who was coming down and he said when he went up the stones were bone dry
5. There is no path.
You just walk towards the mountain; sometimes you are walking through a river, sometimes what looks like grass is knee deep bog. Climbing the Devil’s Ladder was a tough workout with some very interesting yoga poses being achieved; Squats, Lunges and some Downward Facing Dog… as we scrambled from one rock to the next, a moderate level of fitness and mobility and a tough mind is needed; It is a very steep incline with no path; just rocks piled on top of other rocks, you need to pick out your own safe path as you go along.
6. Don’t be afraid to set your own boundaries and not get to the top.
We didn’t get to the top. Next time we will. My husband decided to turn back as it had started raining again and we were basically climbing a waterfall; he was also coping with mild vertigo. He wasn’t happy about it and was kicking himself but I was glad that we did. The higher that we got the looser the stone was, there was more water coming down the Mountain, our Boots were quite wet and we knew we would have to somehow make our way down at some stage. A few people were continuing to climb and it was hard for us to ignore them and turn back but I am glad that we did.
Next time we will know what to expect and be better prepared.
