Those of you familiar with the name of Audie Murphy will know that he was the most decorated American soldier of the Second World War. After his military career, he embarked on a career in Hollywood and in 1949 portrayed himself in an autobiographical movie of his life. The name of the movie was, "To Hell and Back", which just about sums up the final installment of our week long journey that was completed at Carrauntoohil on Saturday. However, unlike the brave soldier that was Audie Murphy, we didn't die on the mountain. Audie met his end when, at the ripe young age of 45, the aircraft that he was a passenger in, (yes, you guessed it) flew into a mountain.
That's not to say that there were moments on Saturday when we would have taken a helicopter ride off the mountain, but Kerry Mountain Rescue would not have been able to get to us in the fog. The climb is normally a grade 4 (out of 5) but given the state of the Devil's ladder on Saturday, it was probably closer to a grade 5. At the top of the ladder, there were still 7 adventurers but, on the advice of Mountain Rescue, 4 turned back. The final section was completed in tortuous conditions and changing terrain. Visibility was a few metres and it was thus most welcome to see the cross at the top of the mountain loom up in the gloom. A quick photo and the trek back down the mountain was begun.
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| Bless this Mountain |
The champagne celebration took place in Cronin's Yard as opposed to the top of the mountain and the celebration continued at the hotel late into the night.
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| Scaling the Devil's Ladder |
It has been a great adventure and not without incident but fortunately without mishap. With 100 years between us, it was a fantastic way to test our mettle and endurance.
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| We're not dead yet! |
And as Gilly said when he toasted the mountain, "Here's to the next 50 years".
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