Red Trout Lake
May 2025. I hiked to Red Trout Lake (or Lough Nambracdearg), via Triangle Lake, and Knockrower, before looping back to the foot of Mangerton via the Old Kenmare Road. My day began with an early morning walk up Mangerton, the air crisp and quiet, with a promise of a day in the hills waking slowly around me. From the summit, the views stretched east and long to the Paps and far into Cork, west to the rugged purple hue of the Reeks, and north into a rare clear Kerry sky.
I stopped for lunch on Dromderalough, sitting with my back to the sun-warmed rocks of the carin, with the wind brushing my face. I ate slowly, savoring the simple satisfaction of earning the rest, and just sat there, taking in the open views and the quietness of my thoughts.
Later, I perched on top of Knockrower with its interesting cairn, letting the views of Kenmare Bay and Red Trout Lake sink in. From there I could look northward through a narrow gap, catching glimpses of Fossa and Aghadoe, behind a flat-calm lower lake.
White wet quartz rocks showed up here and there on my decent from Knockrower and after the decent I followed the Galway River as it winds its way towards the upper lake. The river was low, but tracking it was a bit awakward and tricky in places so I eventually broke off and headed for the old Kenmare road using the old rusty shed as my landmark.
The long walk back under the evening sun carrying me home was welcome and looking up to the plateau of Dromderalough the south, I thought a lot about Paddy Mac fellwalking with his friends up there, and the long forgotten others who near here in Cores and Ferta, scraping a hard living from the land before the famine. What became of them? We get some answers from a chapter in Killarney National Park - a Place to Treasure titled 'The People of the Glens' written by Bill Quirke - I will come back to that another day.
Paddy MacMonagle’s old Fell Walking Guide to Killarney had inspired this route, and I wanted to get up here for years. The dry May weather and vegetation not yet grown made life easy for me to navigate and try avoid ticks, but the terrain still demanded attention, espcially navigating along the broken ridges and lakes between Dromderalough and Knockrower. It was a day of simple pleasures, with the kind of solitude that reminds me what it is to spend time wandering easily in the Kerry hills.