Patrol Leader Aileen Waldock enjoying the snow on Mangerton Mountain
Ballinora scouts took a trip to Aghado for some fun from the 18th to 20th November. With much patrol bonding, fun, games and cooking, the scouts and scouters climbed Mangerton Mountain on Saturday. For some, reaching the top of a mountain was a first and a great result. 15 youth members and 6 s
couters navigated in wintery conditions and had lunch at the Devil’s Punchbowl lake. According to Irish Mythology and local legend, when local chieftain O’Donoghue Ross dined with the Devil one evening he punched him in the face. As O’Donoghue Ross was leaving the devil bit off the top of Mangerton Mountain creating the beautiful corrie lake known as the Devil’s Punchbowl. We put into use our survival shelters to allow us re-energise ourselves to enable us to continue the climb. We invested a new member into our Scout Group – our very own Ballinora snowman! We continued up the
Ballinora 109th Cork Scouts enjoying Snowy Mangerton Mountain
ridge to reach the summit as the snow got deeper, softer and more attractive for snow ball throwing. The spectacular smiles on the youth members faces and sense of achievement was a sight to behold. After a couple of photo opportunities and snow angels we began our descent before the cloud cover impaired our visibility. A great day was enjoyed by youth members and scouters alike and the day just exemplified the educational values of our most loved scouting classroom – The Mountains!
