Slieveanorra Forest and Altnahinch Reservoir

I was out for another short walk with Les on Tuesday, this time we decided on a walk in Slieveanorra forest starting near Altnahinch reservoir. The River Bush has its source just above the reservoir and flows into and out of the dam on its way to the sea at Port Ballintrae. The Bush is famous as a Salmon River and also as the water source for the world famous Bushmills Whiskey distillery which is situated in the North Antrim village of Bushmills.



The weather wasn’t promising with rain forecast for most of the day and when we started off on the forest track it was raining heavily although there was no wind. We both had some new gear which was getting a 1st outing, in my case a pair of Keen Gorge neoprene canoeing/water sports boots while Les had picked up a Berghaus waterproof jacket and a Lowe Alpine day sack.



The rain was relentless and visibility poor as we made our way through the forest so when we reached the point where we had to decide on going to the summit of Slieveanorra or doubling back towards the reservoir we decided on the reservoir. All the small streams running through the forest were in full flow and in a few other places where they’d exceeded the capacity of their normal route they’d taken the path of least resistance on their way down towards the reservoir.





Not having taken a map I discovered one of the limitations of relying on a hand held GPS even though it has maps installed. Although the Lowrance Safari is waterproof the screen is barely readable when wet so when we reached a junction that led off in the direction we wanted to go we took it. Unfortunately it led to a dead end and while we may have been able to bushwhack our way through, the trees were quite young and consequently close and we couldn’t discern sufficient detail on the GPS to be sure exactly what direction to take or how far we’d have to go to break out of the densely wooded area, as it was still raining heavily the prospect of forcing a way through thick wet undergrowth wasn’t particularly appealing. The correct choice was obviously to back track and take the other path which we did.



We continued along the track before taking to the forest for a bit and when we emerged the cloud had lifted sufficiently to be able to see the Wind Turbines on Slievenahanagan on the other side of the glen. As the cloud lifted the rain eased off and by the time we’d left the forest and reached the road it had stopped completely.



We only has to walk the road for about 1.5km to reach the entrance to the reservoir but there was enough to see in the way of wild flowers, another unexpected find was an old railway carriage. I’ve seen old railway carriages before in places were there aren’t any railways, disused or otherwise so I assume that they were sold off and bought for use as sheds, this one looked like it might have been used as a potting shed but who knows.









As soon as we reached the reservoir, one of the last to be built in Northern Ireland and completed sometime in the late 1960’s we took to the path and walked down to the foot of the headwall, it’s a small reservoir but interesting nonetheless. In spite of living close to the reservoir I can’t remember being down at the outflow before so it was an unexpected bonus and one that I wouldn’t have had if the weather had been better. From the foot of the headwall there’s a steep grassy slope up to the reservoir itself, about halfway up a wall runs to the top, on one side the wall is only about a metre high but on the other side there’s an ever increasing drop, it was along the top of the wall that I decided to test the grip of the Keen Gorge boots but as the drop to my left increased I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and jumped off (to my right), in any case they felt secure enough.





Once up at the reservoir we discovered a few guys fishing, the reservoir holds native Brown Trout but is also stocked with Rainbow Trout from the Movanagher Fish farm situated on the River Bann, in fact we passed the fish farm while at the lock gates at Movanagher on our Easter canoe trip. From there it was only a short walk along the road again to the car.



Again another interesting walk, something different and as I’d just picked up a copy of Irelands Wild Flowers I was happy to get some photographs for identification later.

A Short Walk in the Nick of Time

Although I'd planned to do a 2 day walk and over night camp using the hammock the weather put me off, stormy with heavy rain wasn't really what I was looking for considering the area I'd intended going too and certainly not what I wanted for a 1st attempt at hammock camping.

In the end I kept myself busy with other stuff, not least trying to sort an Under Quilt for my hammock. Having made one from a kids sleeping bag I was keen to tackle a made from scratch quilt and had found a guide on the hammock forum for a synthetic quilt. Obviously using proper outdoors type fabrics and insulation would result in the best performance or at least the best warmth/weight ratio but specialist fabrics are expensive so I decided to lower my sights a little and try to get the best I could locally. I managed to get some fabric and insulation that should work and should result in something a bit better than the converted sleeping bag, if i can put it together.

In the end it looked like I wasn't going to get near the hills at all but a last minute call from my mate Les provided an opportunity. Les had a GPS handheld with mapping software that he wanted to try out so he arranged to call at my house this morning and take it from there. It was a bit last minute for me so when he arrived I gathered a few bits and pieces, threw them in a day sack and we set off.

Most of the route Les had planned was in the forest with a fair amount on forest roads but there were a few stretches off road through the forest and a bit of open hill. The weather was pretty much as it has been for the past week with low cloud, light rain and scattered heavier showers and quite breezy.

I'd pulled on my Paramo VAL over a L/S baselayer, my Peter Storm Active trousers and against Les's advice decided on the Terrex trainers but no Gore-Tex socks or gaiters.

It wasn't actually raining when the 3 of us, Les, myself and Fly, Les's dog set off but the cloud base was very low and at times it was difficult to tell whether it was raining or not although it was reasonably mild. After following a forest road for a bit we emerged onto the open hill only to discover that the area had been on fire recently. The result was that while it was easier to see what you were stepping on, normally it's covered in heather and walking through it is less than pleasant, what remained of the heather was charred stumps which didn't do much for the appearance of my trousers which are a light grey/stone colour. Although it's only been a little over a week since the area was on fire the new shoots are already well established and fortunately the fire didn't spread to the forest nearby.





Once on the open hill the wind picked up and the rain increased in intensity and although I had a pair of waterproof trousers in my daysack i didn't bother to stop to put them on as I knew that once the rain stopped or we re-entered the forest my trousers would dry out quickly.



Visibility was poor to begin with but as we neared the final slopes of the only small hill on our route the cloud lifted a little but detail visibility was still less than 500m. Normally we'd have stopped on the top but with no shelter and nothing to see we continued over the summit and down the other side aiming to enter the forest again.

Most of the ground on the Antrim hills is peaty and as such holds a lot of water, that results in everything in the forest being a vibrant greens which I always find amazing, the downside is that the ground is often wet at best and muddy if it's a route that gets walked frequently.







Fly was in his element of course and must have covered 10x times the distance that Les and myself had. It didn't take long before we were back on a forest road but we continued for a bit looking for a decent spot to stop for lunch. Ideally it would provide some shelter in case we were hit with a heavy shower but not too sheltered as already the midges are making their presence felt.







Eventually we stopped at a spot that while it wasn't much better than some we'd passed wasn't any worse so I set up the stove, a GoSystem Fly to boil water for a brew while Les provided filled rolls. True to form the midges did make at half hearted attempt at disruptiing proceedings but they were just about bearable and we managed to have lunch and set off before they got too much of an aggravation, form now on I'll be taking a head net and some insect repellent.





After following the forest road for a bit we re-entered the forest where the ground was reasonably firm but it didn't last and we were soon making our way down a fire break between the trees where the heather and long grass had me soaked to the knees again.





Les had been checking that the route we were taking corresponded to the one he'd loaded into the GPS while I was generally just tagging along but we eventually reached the forest road that would lead us back to the car. Again the rain had virtually stopped and I started to dry out again and by the time we'd reached the car only the bottoms of my trousers were still wet and although my feet were saturated they weren't cold, the benefit I guess of socks with at least some wool content.

It was a short walk but one I hadn't done before so that was a bonus and I also made a mental note of a few potential hammock camping spots although I dread to think what the midge situation would be like amongst the trees having experienced them while camping on the open hill. Having failed to make the most of my days off and leaving getting out until the last moment I finally did get out thanks to Les but now it's back on shift again fo a few days but hopefully the weather will pick up again in time for the end of my shift.