2023 Walking Ireland - Day 5

Saturday 22^nd April 

Lough Navar Loop – 8.7 miles

“It'll be fine tomorrow Marg. Sure we're in for a bit of rain about 1’ish but it won't be much.”

George's words rang in my ears as I drove past Belleek towards Garrison and the rain started! It got heavier and heavier as I neared my starting point. If ever you visit Ireland a visit to the Navar Forest Scenic Drive is a must. I used it in order to access my start point near Meenameen Lough. This time I was going clockwise round the route. I was well wrapped against the rain & carried my umbrella. 

Plus Point Number 1 – far less wind today.

I tried a few times to take some photos but couldn’t get the hang of juggling umbrella & phone at the start!! The first couple of miles was the same old forest trails but with added water in the form of puddles & rivulets where wheel tracks had cut grooves. 

I decided to give Lough Anlaban a miss and headed for Lough Achork instead (it appeared to have a better pathway round it.) I’d hardly seen a soul or a car up till then. Blow me down but there was a car parked (not mine!!) right by the opening onto the pathway!!

It was a delightful little lake with a comfortable, well maintained pathway all the way round. (The “car-driver” was at the far end looking just as damp as me!!) I thought what a magical place it would have been for young (accompanied) kids.

Ever the primary school teacher I thought of all the magical stories to be made up from the tiny rock cars, magical woodland, tree & rock formations! 

Plus Point Number 2 – magical places.

After the Lough it was back onto the metalled trackway which I now had to share with the (supposed) one way traffic. Needless to say you always get at least one awkward customer going the wrong way & hell for leather coz they’re going uphill. 

Compared to my other forest walks this was positively overcrowded!! Although my route only followed the road for about a third of the way it was fairly busy; there again, it is a Saturday. 

Plus Point 3 – coz it’s raining there are fewer people at this popular tourist spot!

There was water everywhere: 

the calm loughs, 

the streams & rivers rushing down beside me, 

tumbling over rocky outcrops & crashing over waterfalls.

I also realised how clean the air must be as I saw great swathes of silvery-green lichen festooning the trees beside the rushing river.

I came off the road and back onto the forest track where my route crossed the Sillees River and onto the Ulster Way.

I’ll be walking more of the Ulster Way on my last two days. George now says that Fermanagh is the wettest place on earth!! 

Now he tells me?!

Back to the tranquillity of the forest with their majestic spruce and the sombre open spaces of upland bog and the remains of felled trees. 

All I could hear, apart from the incessant chirping of small birds hidden in the dark forest, was the constant spattering of rain on my umbrella.

Even in the gloomy dampness there were sudden bursts of colour: the golden glow of gorse, the pale yellow of large clumps of primroses and an amazing cushion of burnished moss blushing at the forest edge. 

Plus Point 4 – as my Aunt used to say – we need a bit of colour!

I was by now about three-quarters of the way round my route when I spied Lough Navar. 

It was a much larger body of water than Lough Achork. 

There was no pathway round it but I was able to get pretty close to the water’s edge.

By this time I was feeling decidedly  soggy and just a tad fed-up!! Just as well it wasn’t too far to go. 

I almost gave up taking photos until I saw Plus Point 6 – at least I wasn’t walking in the kind of weather than uproots, knock’s down and snaps large spruce trees!!

Hot cuppa and feet-up albeit in the comfort of the ‘sun-room’