HIKING SEASON HAS STARTED
Sligo’s 2018 Hiking season kicked off to a glorious start with a sold-out County wide Walking Festival.
Northwest Adventure Tours attracted large numbers of hikers to experience Sligo’s expansive landscape with hikers arriving into Sligo town from Galway, Dublin, Cork and as far afield as the UK, Germany and France.
Many confessed to rearranging their travel plans to link in with the festival and with a great turn out of locals the many people visiting Sligo for the first time were treated not only to Sligo scenery but also pure Sligo wit and charm.
On Friday evening eager participants were bundled onto the festival bus at the Riverside hotel in Sligo town and were taken off into the wilderness on their mystery adventure.
It began in Slish wood where the torch lit hike crossed over Ox Mountains to finish at Union Wood. It was a magical evening under the stars with the twinkle of the local village lights far below in the distance.
The walks on Saturday and Sunday were graded as either A, B or C. The most experienced hikers were brought out on walks graded as A such as the Royal Peaks and the Sleeping Giant of the Dartry Mountains. These were for experienced hikers and involved greater distances and more elevation.
B walks were for experienced hill walkers or those with a standard of fitness and ability usually gained through regular exercise.
These included the iconic tabletop Benbulben Mountain and the Classic Sligo Way. C-Walkers were brought out to the Gleniff horseshoe on Saturday and to Knocknarea on Sunday.
Both were nice 3 hours walk interspersed with snack stops and fascinating facts from Sligo archaeology enthusiast Auriel.
The C walks or C-Trails were hosted by Auriel from Seatrails bringing participants on a journey through the hills and history of County Sligo.