Cush car park was very busy tonight!!
Shortly after 6pm an air of excitement started to fill the area, as 22 enthusiastic hikers, led by Martina Lonergan, headed for Lough Curra in the Galtee Mountains for the last full moon of 2022, aptly known as “the Cold Full Moon”.
The moon wasn’t the only Celestial body on display. Mars and Jupiter were also clearly visible to the naked eye, shining brighter than the numerous glistening stars.

The ground beneath us was glistening too, white with frost, as were the eyes of sheep along the route.
From Cush car park we initially walked through the forest, before climbing the style onto the open mountain. The path up to what is known as “the grassy knoll” was white with frost but the fairly steep ascent meant we didn’t really feel the cold. We paused at the top to view the night sky, before wandering along the Ice Road. This path used to be used to extract blocks of ice from Lough Curra for use in large local estates.  At Lough Curra, the largest of the 5 Galtee lakes, we switched off our head torches to allow our eyes to adjust and admire the steep terrain and gullies. The Lough Curra corrie lake is bounded by Lough Curra Mountain, Slievecushnabinnia and Galtymore.

6 eager walkers, led by John Lonergan, continued around the lake,  up Lough Curra gully and descended by “The Stoney Man”.

A special thanks to Martina and John for suggesting and leading this wonderful hike and to everyone who came along, especially those who have not hiked with the Galtee Walking Club before. Thanks also to everyone who took the photos. We will have more night hikes coming up soon and hope to see you again.

By Emily Gleeson, PRO Galtee Walking Club