Sir, – Hill walking is increasingly being promoted for natives and tourists alike. So why can’t we make life a little bit easier and safer for the hill walker by discreetly marking the tops of our mountains and hills, with a stake and sign denoting the name and height of the mountain?
It is done in other jurisdictions and in no way defaces the mountaintop. I recently wandered in a south-westerly direction off Scarr, Co Wicklow, instead of in a north westerly direction towards Kanturk, by not realising I had reached the top of Scarr, as it was enveloped in dense fog. I have done the Tour of Mont Blanc, walked in the Tyrolean Alps and the English Lake District and have found all mountain-tops and paths well marked and signposted, I never felt the markers were an intrusion on the landscape. And of course I never got lost! There are some great markers on our way-marked ways. Why can’t we continue the practice on our mountain tops? – Yours, etc,
MARY FOLEY,
River Forest,
Leixlip, Co Kildare.