I am in pain. Not the sort of pain you get from a hard days night. More the sort of pain you get when you haul your old, overweight, carcass around something like 18 kilometres of mountains which only seem to go up! Added to that, this carcass stupidly decided to haul camera, lenses and tripod with him.

So, and let me make this abundantly clear, I am only typing this through the magic of ibuprofen. If it gets a little woozy, just ignore me...

I'd never been into the Mourne Mountains before, apart from a few trips as a child to the more accessible parks and places. Not having the first clue about hill safety or map reading or where to go while up there I never considered it an option really.

Thanks to Dean at Ulster Rambles  I was able to organise a day trip which took 6 of us up into the mountains yesterday. Deans expert guidance and knowledge of the area meant we all got a good challenging walk and lots of interesting asides and explanations. He also got us to climb Slievenaglogh for a view which was to die for. (I'd even say he organised perfect weather for us, but I'm claiming credit for that...).

I'm working through my 200 and something photos now, but in the meantime, here's a shot of the Mourne Wall.

(f/8, 1/200sec, 22mm, ISO-400, 27/09/08)

I'd spent a lot of time before this considering what to carry. given the weight of my camera kit these days, I knew it was unrealistic to take it all plus the waterproofs we wouldn't need. So, I quickly rationalised it down to two lenses - my 10-22 and my 55-250. I figured this covered off all the likely focal lengths I'd want. Also, after much debate, I took my tripod.

Weight was a major issue for me the entire day, but surprisingly the tripod and backpack wasn't the worst of it. Actually having the camera around my neck for 8 hours was the biggest issue. It was much more awkward to put the camera away than just carry it, but by the end of the day my neck was throbbing. (Thanks to Jon who carried it for me for the last part of the day).

As I climbed along the Mourne wall up Slievenaglogh  I'd really considered the sensibility of bringing the tripod. But, sometimes the experts are right. If you're going to take landscape photographs it's such a valuable addition to your kit bag.

In fact, the only part of my kit that failed me yesterday was my...erm...my trousers... Yep, my trousers. I'd love to say I ripped them in some sort of rugged "wrestling a mountain bear" type story, but no. I ripped the crotch clean out of them by lifting my leg to high to climb up onto a stone. By the time I got to the top of Slievenaglogh  I was getting a little too close to nature and the split rang from zipper to beyond my right knee. If ever Geoff needed to secure a place in heaven, he did it when he produced a spare pair of shorts.

So, would I do it again?

Yes. In a second.

I know people who walk in the Mournes a lot and I know people often go up there without guides (or even proper shoes). But for me, having Dean lead the party meant there was never pressure of checking where we were, keeping an eye on the time, fearing being left behind or even worry about a fall (and I had a couple). Walking off path, through heathers and bogs and over (OK, through) rivers was brilliant. I'd recommend using his services in a second. In fact I'm already planning a return trip where hopefully he'll take some of us up for some sunset photography.

And from a photo point of view. The sky was actually more blue than that picture shows. I actually de-saturated the blue a little to make it more believable.