Colmcille Climbers

"Optimistically", would describe the way we set off from Derry to Lough Barra, with high hopes of climbing Tarquin's Groove in sunshine as the showers receded into the East and the warmth of the air dried the rock quickly for our ascent. Talk about the triumph of hope over experience - the closer we got to the crag, the more conditions resembled those of last year when Bill, Columba and I arrived there and peered through the rain for half an hour before going home again.

Well, two members of last year's cast were there - Bill and I had a notion to do Tarquin's together; Bill having not been on the route since 1966 (the year, coincidentally, of my birth). Alan Tees and Andy McInroy probably also fancied Tarquin's, they just didn't realise that they were going to have to give way to me and Bill! Arriving at the parking spot, we met Frankie McCloskey with two companions, all of whom thought they might have a crack at Tarquin's Groove. Well well well.

The rain settled things. It came down in sheets for 10 or 15 minutes and only Mad Dog McCloskey was able to contemplate a five pitcher in these conditions, so he took his two disciples and set off for Diversion (taking till midnight to finish it). The rest of us went for a walk and then a beer. The walk was not without excitement: we were able to confirm that the native oak, Quercus sp., is the one without the petioles (Bill can give you the details). We also saw a sundew, Drosera rotundifolia, which is a rare sight (so I'm told).

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