| Slieve Meelmore, via Happy Valley is probably the fastest and easiest summit to reach on foot out of all the Mourne sevens. Technically it is not one of the Sevens at all though as it is listed as 687 metres on all but the 1990 edition of the OS 1:25000 scale map. (The 1990 edition lists it as 704 metres.) As with my previous camp on Bearnagh I was able to get to the Mournes after work with enough time to ascend before enjoying the sunset. I pitched the tent on the west side of the wall as the wind was from the east. This also served to provide a fantastic, unobstructed view of the sunset from the tent. |
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 The old ruins on the way up through Happy Valley. |
 Perfect spot on the west side of the wall.. |
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 Tent pitched with unobstructed view of the sunset. |
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| Once the tent was up I took some time to relax and enjoy the last of the sunlight. The first thing that struck me was how warm it was. The temperature was not forecast to dip below 10C all night and after being used to winter camping this was a very pleasant change. I was able to watch the shadow of Meelmore slowly creeping up on Bearnagh until the sun had completely set on Bearnagh. I then settled into the tent to watch the sun setting far to he west and then to watch all the streetlights appear from across County Down and beyond. The only problem I had sleeping was the heat. It was probably best to to have ditched my down sleeping bag for a lighter one for that camp. |
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 I was able to see the shadow of Meelmore creeping up Bearnagh. |
 Just after 9pm I sat back and enjoyed the reward for the hike up. |
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| It was another bright day when I got up in the morning, forecast to be pleasantly warm again. On the hike down I realised that my sun hat was at home in my smaller day pack so I was forced to wear a woolly hat all the way down to prevent sunburn. Needless to say I was quite warm by the time I descended all the way to the car. | |||
| Check out my long term plan to camp on all of the Mourne 500’s here | |||