OPINION (AN COLUN): Rain, hail and sunshine in the Leitrim uplands

Iron Mountain near Mohill in Leitrim doesn't receive much foot traffic compared to its more illustrious neighbours such as Ben Bulbin or Knocknarea.
I visited the mountain a couple of weekends ago and tramped over three hills on a trek that lasted seven hours.
The beginning was inauspicious. Clouds rolled in from the Atlantic and dumped their hail and rain upon me. As I tramped across an endless stretch of blanket bog in a vast wilderness landscape, a number of negative thoughts were knocking around in my head.
One of them was what a local said to me recently when I was chatting to him in the street, namely you shouldn't go walking on your own in the mountains because it's quite dangerous. I reassured him to the contrary but now, as I plodded laboriously across the heather, sphagnum moss and deer grass, with the hail and bitter wind driving into my face, and a negative mood in my brain, I reflected to myself that he could well be right. Wouldn't it be better, I thought ruefully, to be home in a nice warm bed with my cat on one side and my wife on the other? Wouldn't it be better to be seated in front of the dining room fire while reading The Irish Times and eating a Full Irish Breakfast?
I felt a strong urge to turn around and retreat to the car (with its lovely heating system).
I ignored the impulse and trudged on. The hail was replaced by heavy rain. The wind became stronger. My wet clothing clung damply to my body.
After a couple of hours I reached the mountain lake of Nabellbeg positioned beneath the lofty cliffs of Iron Mountain.
One of my childhood memories is a group of us swimming in a high mountain lake during a Geography outing. Another memory is skinny dipping many years ago when in my early 20s in one of the lakes beneath the cliffs of Mount Brandon. In both instances the water was ferociously cold. I haven't been tempted to plunge into mountain tarns in three decades but I know some hillwalkers who regularly do it.
When I left the lake behind me the sky brightened and the clouds parted. As the sun struck my face my mood abruptly changed and I felt grateful to be in this lovely spot.
As our moods change with the changing weather conditions, mountain walking can be quite an emotional rollercoaster! The sun remained out for the remainder of the day. The climb up the first Ard Erin of the day (Ard Erins are 405 summits in Ireland which are over 500 metres) was an energy-sapping ascent in very uneven and difficult underfoot conditions. When I reached the top I met another climber coming up the other side of the mountain. He was a friendly sort and while admiring the magnificent views we discussed our differing routes.
I plodded on and soon after came across a local in a bright orange jacket and his sheepdog. He had a weatherbeaten face and a very strong Leitrim accent. We exchanged the usual pleasantries about the state of the weather.
On I went. The underfoot conditions remained unrelentingly unforgiving. After six hours of this demanding exercise my poor leg muscles began spasming. This was worrying because it felt like the type of pain which could lead to complete muscular breakdown. I started doing stretching exercises. After a few minutes of these the pain subsided (thank God). My footsteps were now as gentle as possible in the hope of not putting too much pressure on my legs. The spasming occurred a few more times. More stretching was done.
I reached the top of Iron Mountain as the sunset bathed the vast landscape all around me in a gorgeous, mellow light.
Now came the final descent, a section that I was a little concerned about. I climbed down a very steep slope, gratefully holding onto a wire fence to prevent a slip. The slope was grassy and rocky. While descending, a familiar thump-thumping sound resonated in the sky above. A red and white Sikorsky rescue helicopter was flying south over the Dartry Mountains. My thoughts returned to a bad fall I suffered in the Galtees twelve years ago, which badly broke my lower right leg. I was rescued by SEMRA and a Sikorsky. They were all decent and kind people.
Finally, the ground levelled out and I was safe.
While trekking out I turned and opened my arms in prayer. I thanked God for the beauty of His world, and for the fact I had got through the trek safely.