Stairway to Heaven

It’s commonly referred to as the stairway to heaven and it is on the border of County Cavan and County Fermanagh. It is about an hours drive from where I live in South Leitrim, and the day we went, at the end of February was a day of four seasons… We had it all, sun, rain and snow.

We packed our back pack, had water, a snack and some waterproof trousers, ‘just in case’ it rained. As we left Mohill, the sun was shining, but alot can happen in an hour. Alot can happen in a few minutes!

After we parked the car at the entrance to the walk, we were greeted by a man collecting the parking fee either 5 pound sterling or 6 euro. The sun was shining and there were a good few cars in the car park. We had only been walking about 5 minutes when the heavens opened, so on went the waterproofs, to keep us dry.

It is quite a bit of a walk before you even get to the board walk, with lovely craggy trees and a number of sheep to keep you amused along the way. The scenery was great.

We passed a little river to the right and some frogs to the left. They were protecting and moving about their spawn.

The path was gravel and easy under foot, the incline was gradual. The space was open and dramatic and along the way, we would stop, so many times to take in the magesticness of it. Of course, it was great to catch our breath from walking, only for our breath to be taken away by the sheer beauty of the landscape rolling out before us and behind us. It really is quite awesome!

We met people as they were on their way back down, and all said the same thing ‘keep going, it is worth it’.

After about an hour of walking, I began to wonder if indeed, it was would be worth it or indeed, if we would be able to keep going.

We did keep going and over and over again, we would say WOW, look at that, pointing in each direction. No matter where you looked, it was stunning.

The board walk itself, when you finally get to it, is good and sturdy and as it rolls out in front of you, leading you the way to the actual stairs, it highlights all the beauty it is creeping through.

I am not going to lie, climbing up the actual stairs, to the top, was hard and we stopped many times to slow down the heart rate and just take in the sheer magnitude of it all.

As we were walking up the stairs we noticed the dark clouds coming, and as we got to the very top, in came the snow and hail and poured down on us like a welcomed shower as we were sweating from the steep incline. We both felt our hearts were going to burst!

It was spectacular from the top. The view needs to be seen with your own eyes to appreciate it, so my advice is go, go do the stairway to heaven, keep going, it will be worth it!