Native Treks

22/12/2023

What a privilege it was yesterday to have access into Dowth's southern chamber and witness it's alignment with the winter solstice sunset. Although the phenomenon was mostly obscured by cloud it was an honour be there and to witness the 5000+ year old stone-carved artwork within the chamber. It was the first opening to the public by the since 2019 so it felt quite special indeed, many thanks to them for that. Many thanks also to and for providing illumination.
Brighter days ahead folks 😎👉
(Pic 6 is of view from atop the monument, with hill of Tara and river Boyne to the left, Newgrange to the right)

02/12/2023

What a fantastic day on the hill! Well done to all the participants for a Trojan performance one and all! Big thank you to the crew for a superbly organised event, and to my fellow team of guides, pleasure working with you all and a privilege to be on board.
Shout out to the weather gods too for playing ball.
Team Blue, you did me proud 👉

Today was all about raising vital funds for to support the incredible services they provide for the families of sick children. To donate, follow the link on the page 🙏

25/04/2023

Join us this Bank Holiday Monday 1st May for a Guided Hike of Djouce, Warhill, the Tonduffs and Maulin!

Details in our events.

25/04/2023

Join us this Saturday the 29th April for a spectacular climb of Leinster's highest!

See for details on our events.

15/03/2023

13/12/2022

Took a wee detour on descent to check out the cave on Cove Mountains lower southern end, from which the mountains name is derived. View of Binnian from inside.

13/12/2022

Incredible scenes over the Mourne Mountains yesterday on a hike of Slieve Binnian(747m) and Slievelamagan(704m).
Not the winter conditions I was hoping for but the atmospheric theatrics sure made up plenty, with Brocken Spectres and Temperature Inversion providing a mystical drama.
It was lovely hiking weather up above the freezing fog but any surface water encountered was frozen solid, sometimes several inches thick, so care was needed. Although the roads were probably the most dangerous part of the day. Take care if venturing out folks 👉

25/09/2022

A big thank you and well done to all who turned out for our hike on National Walking Day in the Cooley's today, great craic with these lovely people! This fantastic group were so eager and enthusiastic that we had to go off script and bag the summit of Slievenaglogh as an extra add-on. Good work folks, hope to see you on the hills again soon 👉

13/09/2022

An unbelievably beautiful solo camp on Sliabh Foye (588m) on Saturday just gone. The harvest full moon with Saturn in tow made for great company, it really shone like the sun. Top class sunset and sunrise complete with cloud inversion too, couldn't ask for much more 😎👌

07/09/2022

Join us for a stunning sunset and glorious moonlit hike in the land of legends!

22/05/2022

Big Congratulations to this young lady for achieving her goal of climbing three iconic Wicklow peaks in a single day. Jeannie is on a fundraising campaign for the people afflicted by conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia. To learn more about her mission follow the link below (you may have to copy and paste or follow link in stories) https://www.marysmeals.ie/fundraising/project/jeannie-higgins/climbing-mountains-for-tigray
Jeannie also works for the reputable charity providing meals for school children around the world.
I was honoured to play my small part in her noble journey this day. Hats off to you.
(Well done also to Aidan, aka The Bodyguard 😎😅)

03/05/2022

Many thanks to the hardy gang of women 💪 who joined us on yesterday's not so moderate hike of Luggala and Knocknaclohogue! A tough 13km (actually closer to 16km 😉) over steep mountain terrain and including a tricky river crossing. A mighty performance put in all round so well done everyone 👏. A very enjoyable day spent in great company and fine weather.
Thanks again folks 😎👉

19/04/2022

What a fantastic hike we had on Easter Monday of Luggala and Knocknaclohogue. Blessed with the weather including the strangest rainbow I've ever seen, see pic 4. Many thanks to Dave and Co. for the great company!

26/02/2022

Here's a culinary experiment from a while back. First we set a large fire to heat some rocks. Then we dug a pit, removed the sod carefully so as to replace it when finished and excavated enough soil for the space we needed.
 When enough charcoal had collected and the rocks had turned white with heat (previously black), we lined the bottom of the pit with charcoal and added the rocks using a pair of deer antlers, which seemed ideal but a spade and a careful hand would work just fine.
Some aromatics then, bay, rosemary, spruce and some sphagnum moss. Then we placed our meat, which was a leg of venison and a rabbit, and some vegetables, potatoes, onions etc. More spruce and moss on top of the meat before finally covering the whole thing in soil to create a seal for our oven. 
We dossed about camp for about 3 hours (2.45 to be exact) before our curiosity got to us and we checked for results.
Overwhelming success to our own surprise! The meat and veg were all cooked beautifully, tender and juicy but well cooked, and clean too!
 A few things I would do differently next time. The moss we used was quite damp, which helped with the steaming process but also flavoured the food a bit too strongly (the first few bites seemed like a nice seasoning but admittedly it got a bit swampy after that). We aimed to use natural materials but you could use dampened hessian or something like that or other natural materials like seaweed could work very well too.
Why cook food in this way? One advantage is that once it's setup a large piece of meat can be left unattended for quite a lengthy period of time freeing you up for other activities, which is probably why variations of this style have been used worldwide for millennia and still to this day. Also everyone gets to feast at the same time, no batch cooking over an open fire.We thought it would be a nice thing to do on a camp/hiking trip. Set it up in the morning and return from a day's hike to break open the earth oven for a feast! (obviously with a back up meal planned just in case).
Would you eat food cooked in this way? Suggestions, recipes most welcome.

31/12/2021

Here are a few highlights working for earlier in the year. If you haven't done one of their Night hikes of Glendalough, stick it down for 2022! 😎👉 Always a Beautiful experience

30/12/2021

A few shots to highlight guiding for during 2021. Epic, and always a pleasure! If you haven't been on a Mountain Trails hike, be sure to add it to your list for 2022 😎👉

28/11/2021

Another fantastic weekend on the hills! This time observing a Mountain Skills 2 course run by .
Relentless icy winds made for a challenging day's navigating, even more so during the night nav, but the group did exceptionally well and it was a thoroughly enjoyable time on the mountains!
Many thanks to Adrian and Co. for having me along, hope to bump in to you all on the hill again soon!
It's another step closer for me on the path to becoming an official Mountain Skills course provider so very much appreciated.
If you want to increase your navigational confidence do check out Adrian's courses, he'll sort you out 😎👉

10/10/2021

I had a fantastic weekend on the hills observing a Mountain Skills 1 course run by . I was very impressed with Adrian's way of imparting knowledge to both his students and myself, he has a really nice teaching style. I was even more impressed by the exceptionally high standard of navigation exhibited by his students, each who seemed to take to it like ducks to water, keep up the good work lads! Many thanks to Adrian and the guys for having me along. If you're looking to gain confidence on the hills and up your navigational game I'd highly recommend you book on one of Adrian's courses. It's another step closer for me to become an official Mountain Skills course provider so 'twas much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyable! Thanks again Adrian and the guys for a great couple of days learning on the mountains, take care guys.