After a short break we resume our hill walking exercises.
When you look at the picture, you see a sharp-peaked feature on the silhouette of the slope of the mountains in background. Remember it, I will tell you what it is in the end of this post. The mountains you see in the picture belong to the Knockanaffrin Ridge, and we are walking across the Comeragh Plateau.
I feel sorry for the little lamb – the gusts of wind are throwing the hail at the car window, but he is standing there and staring at me.
Another season, another storm. Heavy rain passed over Clonmel and the hills we visited in my previous post from the Comeraghs.
In my first Comeragh blog post you saw the other side of these distant Laghtnafrankee mountains – Glenary Valley. To get a closer look at the mountains, we will turn to the other road. There are two roads, both of them finally coming together and taking you across the Comeragh Plateau from Clonmel to Ballymacarbry. Right now we are walking along the Harney’s Cross Road, the upper one.
This is a closer view of Laghtnafrankee from the lower road. The real summit is right behind it. There is also Laghtnafrankee SW Top on the left side. On the other side of Laghtnafrankee there is a natural amphitheater – so called Punchbowl. If you enlarge the image by clicking on it, you will see a tiny lone hiker on the slope, right where the shadow of the cloud begins. He gives you sense of the scale. The Comeragh Plateau is nestled between the Lachtnafrankee and Knockanaffrin Ridge.
This is the view from the lower road with the Knockmealdown Mountains in background.
I took many photographs of these stunning crepuscular rays that winter afternoon.
Another season, and the mountains look different again. Shauneenabrega Mountain is wrapped in thick fog.
The horse ignores me. She hates snow. I think that this horse ‘works’ at the nearby turf cutting. I remember the bad experience I had visiting the Woodstock Oyster farm and abandon the idea of walking across the bog to the turf cutting site. May be another day.
The same road in Spring with the Three Graces refusing to pose for me.
More of the Knockanaffrin Ridge in this picture. The summits of these mountains offer beautiful vistas with Lough Mohra Coum nestled beneath the steep slopes. You can walk from one mountain to another along the crest. Most of the summits have cairns.
I like the minimalist look of this picture 🙂
The top of the Long Hill ahead. We are returning to the main road between Clonmel and Rathgormack .
Early June is my favorite season in the Comeraghs when Rhododendrons bloom.
Do you remember the first picture and mysterious sharp-peaked thing on the slope? It was the summit of the beautiful Knockanaffrin.
You can walk from Knockanaffrin to Knocksheegowna along the crest. There is a trig pillar near the highest point on the top of Knocksheegowna. If you hike over The Gap ( the trail starts just a few meters from here), there is a beautiful Nire Valley on the other side – it is where we are going to walk in my next blog.
Down the hill to new adventures! 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
Making memories 
That’s a wonderful long and energising walk you’ve just taken me on, Inese. I love all the variety of weather and shifting through the seasons, but am not sure if I would like to be on the mountain in driving rain!. That horse looks a bit fed up and lonesome. All the photos are fabulous, but I agree with Andrea — I particularly loving the picture of the 3 sheep disappearing off down the road!
Thank you Sarah! I will share a secret about sheep – for some reason they often hang around in threes. They would stand in the middle of the road for a few seconds, and it is when I grab my camera and shoot. This time I missed my chance.
How interesting. I must look out for some sheep threesomes, as there are quite a few grazing the hillsides near to where I live. If I get a picture, I will post it and link it to your three sheep!
I think these sheep stay together since they are very young. Childhood friends 🙂
So sweet 🙂
This post makes me feel homesick for Wales and my hill walking days and little angel lambs in the fields surrounding Crickhowell. The photographs here are absolutely beautiful….I particularly love the very atmospheric ones….Wow. Wishing you a beautiful day filled with peace and creativity…janet:)xx
Thank you so much, Janet! Our scenery looks pretty much the same, and I too love the lambs and their innocent faces 🙂 Wishing you a beautiful weekend, and a happy hummingbird sighting 😉
Gorgeous! I love the pics, as always! 🙂
Thank you so much, Anne!
Always my pleasure, Inese. Love and hugs to you xxx
Hugs right back! xxxx
lovely pics
Thank you!
It’s nice to meet you as well. Enjoy!
Lovely image and a lovely blog. Just post what you love and it will all work out!!
Absolutely gorgeous. You should organise photographic trips (rumblers welcome). I’d come along for sure! Thanks, Inese!
Have to think about that 🙂 xxxx
Breathtaking photos of the mountains and the weather Inese, love those three little sheep wandering away down the road 🙂
Thank you Andrea! I love these changes of weather – the mountains never look the same.
thanks for such a beautiful walk! it’s raining here today, so I feel that I have done a little exercise at least 🙂
Very good! I feel like a personal trainer 😉
Love the sheep (or the “ships” as I and the late Terry Practchet’s Nac Mac Feagle’s call them. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast sheep farm around Armagh during our trip to Ireland. They were convinced they were dogs and would wait around the doorway in the morning.
Thank you for stopping by! Last night I was looking for a photograph in my old folders, and came across a picture of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Armagh. Isn’t it a beautiful city.
Sheep are funny, and they remind me of chickens rather than dogs 🙂 Sometimes they just start running without any obvious reason, like seeing a ghost. But wait – may be they see the wee men you are talking about ? 🙂
Fabulous photos, and the Three Graces really made me laugh. The photos of the storm clouds and the crepuscular rays are just stunning, Inese. Another wonderful walk with a great commentary. It’s a beautiful and majestic landscape and I can understand your joy in photographing it. 🙂
Thank you so much, Millie! The mountains are beautiful, but one has to know the trails, because of the bogland. I rather drive around 🙂
Beautiful photos and a wonderful travel review!! And ooooh, all those sheep, just too perfect! Xo Johanna
Thank you Johanna! I too love sheep, especially the baby lambs. xx
Your photos are so enchanting that I have a lump in my throat because I wish I could just go for that walk in person.
Thank you so much, Bernadette! I am planning to go there in March – these are 2013-2014 photographs 😦 I will drive this road and visit a place I have never visited before, and then I will share more photographs 🙂
Beautiful photos!
Thank you! 🙂
Very windswept and dramatic, lovely photos!
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Lovely to travel with you Inese!
Thank you for joining the hike 🙂
😊❤
Awesome!
Thank you!
A feast for the eyes!
Thank you!
Lovely post with such beautiful, atmospheric images. Thanks for sharing this journey with us.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
What majestic country! TY, Inese! Oh, how I love the sheep! It does my heart good to see them in nature, and not in the factory farms that are so prevalent in North America.
I love to see them in wild, but sometimes I come across their bones and corpses 😦 It is a tough life up there, especially when they give birth and something goes wrong. Poor critters.
Gorgeous shots of my old stomping ground, Inese. It’s such beautiful country around there.
Thank you! I think the Comeraghs are the most beautiful mountains in Ireland because of their diversity.
Couldn’t agree more. They’re heavenly.
Beautiful! That sharp peak looks quite intimidating.
Thank you for stopping by! Yes, that peak looks out of place – like something artificially made :). Its second name is Mass Hill. I wonder if it wasn’t ‘improved’ by people on some stage. It doesn’t look this way from all the angles though. A beautiful mountain with a rocky summit.