On our last Saturday in Ireland, Ben and I got work off and went with Adrian to climb Croagh Patrick, something we've wanted to do for some time now. It was Adrian's 13th time up and he was a great guide, telling us pretty much everything you'll find on that website and more.
It was a fairly cloudy and rainy day, but as we went up the rain slackened a good bit and by the time we had wound our way behind the ridge it was just cloud. The last quarter mile is a brutally steep climb and I thought I wasn't going to make it, but just like always, as soon as I got to the top, I felt fine. We saw the chapel, and a funny little gnome guy and started back down. I told Adrian that I thought it would be classic Irish humor if there was a sign about 20 yards from the summit saying "Halfway Point". He thought it was brilliant and told most people on the way back down that they had about an hour to go... kinda killed most people's spirit's but he loved it. We met a Free Tibet March and an Irishman who was also a Buddhist monk- interesting combination. And of course, after we left the top, the clouds cleared and I'm sure everyone up there had a stunning view, but we were content with what we could see from our 1500 foot ridge instead of the 2100 foot peak. Very exhausting, but it was great.
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