Scout Hike & Backwoods

We had planned to do a night hike along stage 1 of the Wicklow Way from Marlay Park to Enniskerry, but unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, that we won’t get into here, we had to postpone. Have no fear though, we will be doing it later in the year. Instead, we planned a hike to take us through Masseys Woods in Killakee to Cruagh, Pine Forest (Tibradden) and back to Rockbrook.

There were only 11 scouts so the leaders decided to drive rather than hire a bus. This obviously kept the cost down. Thanks Leaders. (Leader) Ciaran couldn’t come on the hike because he was training on a stage 4 training course with some Cub and Beaver leaders from #89thBremore. However Thomas could join us for a bit.Due to an injury to his foot, he could not complete a hike, but did join us in Masseys for the Backwoods skills.He nearly didn’t make it at all. He had never been to the area before and didn’t know the way. He saw a red car and followed it thinking it was Brendan. When he ended up in Finglas Village, he know he had gone wrong. (So much for German efficiency). Over the phone Brendan eventually guided him to Rockbrook.

Luke and Ciaran had been working on their Hill Walking badges and so were given the task of leading different legs of the hike. We started straight up the road and headed into Masseys Woods. The ground was very muddy underfoot and so Thomas could not get by with his “boot”. He and Brendan took a higher (dryer) path to get to the area where we had planned to do the backwoods in the old gardens.

As soon as we got in, we set to work on getting a fire going. The scouts gathered plenty of fire wood and Alan got the fire going. Fiona F and Fiona L (who joined us for the day) got their own fire going as well. The backwoods team took out their Trangias and started to cook their sausages, pudding, and rashers.

Brendan had brought a tarp just in case it was raining, and his hammock and he set them up nearby. Looks like he had a comfortable lunch swinging away. Brendan also made Charcloth in the fire.

After we had finished eating and tidied up, it was time to formally invest Thomas into the #89thBremore. It had been a while since he had made his scout promise + it was in German, so everyone helped him by reciting the promise with him. It is always great to invest new people into the group, but it is even better to do it outdoors on an activity.

At that point we continued our hike through the woods, but Thomas left us and headed back to his car. We and he are looking forward to the day he can hike with us fully. The track continued on up through the woods with Ciaran leading the way. There were fabulous waterfalls and scenes as we made our way up towards Cruagh.

When we reached the top of Masseys Woods, Luke took over as Hike Leader and brought us along the Dublin Mountain Way across Cruagh Mountain and as far as Pine Forest and Tibradden. We waved to the guys and girls in Zipit and promised them that we’d be up for a visit at some stage.

Our hike finished by coming back down Tibradden Lane at the back of Larch Hill and back towards Rockbrook where teh leaders had parked their cars. According to our route card, we had expected to be there for 5pm. We rolled in @ 4:55pm. Not bad going all the same. Muddy boots and leggings were removed and placed in the boots of the cars before the leaders would let the scouts in their cars and we headed home.

The hike was a great success. We were hoping that there would be some snow, but we were a day to early. It arrived on Saturday night and covered the hills of Dublin and Wicklow. We’ll review the hike on Thursday at our meeting and look forward to planning the next one.