So it was 2015, I’d been cycling for over a year, and I wanted a new adventure. I found something that peaked my interest on Google maps. About twenty miles north of where I lived, on the left hand side of the road was Glenagear wood, and on the right hand side was Corran mountain, the mountain on the Western most side of the Nagles Range, which is the only mountain that is “cut off” from the rest of the range by a road. This would be my only visit to Corran mountain, I usually visit the other mountains in the Nagles range, and I’ve written a post about that here:
But funnily enough, as I looked at Glenagear wood on google maps, I all of a sudden heard really ominous music. I thought nothing of it, I assumed I’d just left a tab with you tube playing somewhere.
So I packed a banana, a bag of popcorn, and not nearly as much water as I would typically bring now. Remember this sentence, it will become relevant beyond all belief later. And I set off.
The road leading to Glenagear wood was nice and quiet, very peaceful. The kind of cycle where all of your senses feel like they are being massaged at the same time. Then I arrived at Glenagear wood. And weirdly enough, I could hear the omnious music again. It can’t have been from my phone, I owned a complete brick at the time, it can’t have been that I’d accidentally put on some you tube video on my phone. But I decided to ignore the ominous music. Ominous music can’t hurt me. Nothing has ever gone wrong on my cycling adventures before, and therefore it never, ever can!
I sat down at a picnic table outside the wood and ate the popcorn I had with me. The banana would now have to provide energy for the rest of this adventure, or should I say misadventure amirite!
A lovely stream. Maybe this is how I was lured in
Stream!
I’ve always loved trees
Now that I’m writing this, I actually feel a bit bad about talking about Glenagear wood in this way. It really is a nice place. All of the problems I’m about to talk about came from poor planning on my part, visit there with a bit of common sense and you’ll have a nice time, and I was really enjoying the place before I got a bit over confident in my ability to explore forests.
One of my favourite forest pictures
Green!
As I walked higher and higher up the hill, I could see very far away into the distance. The Galtee mountains came into view.
The Galtees in the Distance
And I wanted to get to the highest point of the forest so that I could see as far as possible, it didn’t occur to me that when I left the wood I would be going up a mountain, so I could just well, see very far and stuff from the top of the mountain. But anyway, my problem in life has always been overthinking and underthinking with nothing between those two extremes.
So as I got higher up the hills, there was a realization creeping up on me, so slowly that I didn’t realize it. And finally it hit me. I was completely lost. This maze forest had ensnared me, and I had no idea how to get out. I was low on food, and I would have to be very careful with the water. I just felt glad that I was doing this trip in June, otherwise losing the light would be a big concern. But I wasn’t so lost that I didn’t know how to get back “as the crow flies” or in a straight line. So that seemed to be the only way, just travel straight, going around obstacles as best I could.
Where Am I?
Still Lost
I remember having to hold onto a tree trunk for support, and the tree just fell over. Nothing about this whole expedition was safe. Even the trees were against me!
Traitor Trees!
There is unrest in the forest, there is trouble with the trees, for I just want to go home, and the oaks ignore my pleas
Finally know where I am, such relief!
So after risking a sprain and who knows how many other injuries by simply traveling in a straight line, not knowing what else to do, I finally emerged onto the path that I remembered from the start of this misadventure! I knew where I was. I looked over at Corran mountain. I could quit while I’m ahead. I have a banana, and still enough water if I’m careful. If I just….. Too late I was off.
View from Corran mountain. The mountain called to me. I wish mountains wouldn’t do that it’s quite inconsiderate.
I started up the mountain, not difficult terrain at all, there’s a simple path that takes you up to the top, which is a relief after what I’d just been through.
Nice View
Distant Hills
If only I’d had a better camera back then!
I’m nearing the chair of mystery
There it is!
So as you can see, near the top of Corran mountain is a chair of mystery. How did it get here! When I started to wonder how, I realized that this is something mankind is not meant to know, so let’s just quickly move on.
MAST!!!!!!
So there’s a giant mast on top of Corran mountain, so I’m not sure if it’s technically possible to reach the top of Corran, not without scaling the fence which I wasn’t willing to do for reasons of safety and other concerns. So this was as near the top as I would get.
Beginning the walk back down
Long way down!
When I reached the base of the mountain I would still have to cycle home. Great!
I was actually quite stressed as I walked down. Tired and water deprived. This was 2015, a good six years before I would stop being in denial about the fact that I’m autistic, so still at this point I was repressing the vocal sounds that can be calming to autistic people in stressful situations, but, I was so stressed, I didn’t care. I just started talking to myself, loudly, a behavior I would normally try to repress even when nobody was around, but I knew that I was so stressed out that this was the only way I could get down the mountain without cracking up. If only I had had the wisdom to keep doing this in times of stress instead of repressing activity that is completely natural and harmless, sadly that would have to wait another six years.
So I started the cycle home, carefully rationing the twindly water supply. That’s a mispelling of “dwindling”, but I decided to leave it as it is, because I thought “twindly” looks and sounds adorable. So yeah, that’s how that happened. It was mostly flat roads, given my predicament I couldn’t have been luckier with the roads I was on. I stopped off at Bottlehill forest and I thought, only eleven miles left, give in to temptation! So I drank a load of the water in one go.
I got home at nine pm. I had a small dinner, and, it all came back up! This is something that can happens occasionally after a cycle, usually one where it was very difficult and you barely got home, I’m not sure if it’s caused by dehydration, or by reacting to dehydration by drinking too much water, but either way, it showed my body had been put through a lot, so proper rest for the next few days! In fact, this was the first clear night after buying my first telescope where I wouldn’t be going out to do some astronomy.
By more careful planning and preparation, this could have been a much more enjoyable trip. Sure I enjoyed the views of the forest and the mountain, but it could have been more on the fun side and less on the stress side instead of a fifty fifty split between the two. But it wasn’t an unsuccessful trip, and by that I mean I got home successfully without needing to get a lift home. So, has that ever happened to me. That I’ve ever had to abort a trip? Weirdly enough, in my almost eight years of regular cycling, only once. And that’s what my next cycling story is going to be about.
Ponderings Of An Autist 