Lockdown Loops – 2

Cottage under trees - watercolour sketch
Cottage under trees - watercolour sketch

Ahakista – Tullig – Glanlough Loop

We walked this loop on a day that went from bright and breezy to blustery, wet and cold and back again. Rain and sunshine, often at the same time – typical Irish weather.

The grass in the centre of the farm track across Tullig widened as the wheel marks either side of it narrowed until it was a only a muddy path well used by sheep who were sheltering around the corner past a small lough. The spot where we had planned to stop for our biscuits and cheese was being lashed by rain as we arrived so, hoods up, we pressed on after sheltering for a few minutes.

The path finally met the road. The main Sheep’s Head Way turns to the east towards Durrus but we took the opposite direction to head back after taking another left at the junction with two yappy dogs and a line of ducks watching us from a bungalow above the road.

We often drive this ‘back road’ from Bantry. Steep enough for the car to need a low gear, walking up was a knee-killer! At the bottom of the hill we turned off onto the Sheep’s Head Way again, finally finding a sheltered spot for a late lunch near the cottage in the trees shown in my sketch.

About the route

This is part of the Glanlough Loop, joining the main Sheep’s Head Way from a track in Tullig before turning back down the hill by road above Glanlough. The main route crosses the road at the bottom of the hill and can be followed back to Ahakista but we took a shorter route joining another small road to complete a ‘pan-handle’ circuit.

View route in Google Maps
Distance: 10km

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