The Uncertainty of a Mountain
As I walk up towards the southern summit of Slieve Gullion, I encounter many other people taking advantage of the cold but sunny February Sunday. There are hikers in outdoor attire, runners in lycra hastening up the slope, families with children of all ages, and an elderly couple dragging a sad-looking, overweight Jack Russell terrier behind them on a leash. You can drive up the small one-way road leading around the western flank of the mountain to a car park from where the trail to the summit, and the large cairn on top, is easily accessible. But the trail is not easy — it is quite steep, and in parts only consists of boulders set into the muddy slope. I see a young mother wearing Ugg boots slipping on her way down, but thankfully hurting nothing except her pride as she plops into the mud to the delight of her two children.
Even though Slieve Gullion and its two summits are easily accessible, it still remains a mountain, and the highest peak in County Armagh. When I reach the cairn the wind is strong and cold, and clouds are blowing in from the north. I would not want to be stuck up here should it start to rain or to snow.
Hidden in a hollow to the east of the summit cairn is a small memorial, a polished grey stone with the picture of Charlotte Sant and Eamon Morgan, a young couple from Newry. They died together in a dune buggy accident in Qatar in 2015, and the stone bears their name, their years of birth and death, and the inscription ‘Love Has Only a Beginning, It Has No End.’ I wonder if this spot was their favourite place on the mountain — the views towards Newry, the Mourne Mountains and the Cooley Peninsula are truly exquisite. Whatever the reason for the memorial on the summit, it seems it has found a fitting place.
For me however, it does not remain the only reminder of insecurity on this day. As I walk down the mountain road to my car parked at the lower car park, I am suddenly overtaken by an ambulance, two police cars and a jeep of the Mourne Mountain Rescue Team, all with lights flashing. Slieve Gullion remains a place that has to be taken seriously, it seems. A mountain.
