The Youth Club organised two challenging hikes to the mountain for boys 10-13year and boys 14-17years of age.
Again the title was: “Discovering Allah’s Beautiful Creation”, whereby we contemplated on the wonders of Allah's creation by observing the vastness of the high mountain, the lakes, the clouds, feeling the strong wind against our faces, smelling the forest air and touching the spring wate. It made us wonder about the beauty awaiting us all in Paradise, Insha Allah.
There are really beautiful places in Ireland, and they are not far away from Dublin. This area we visited is in the Wicklow Mountains.
For the first hike, the senior boys took on a search of Lough Ouler – which is a lake shaped like a heart. It was a quite difficult climb to the top of the mountain as we had to go through boggy terrain, steep hills and compete with strong wind pushing us back. Another challenge was to find the lake after we were at the top! We had to navigate in the right direction. After a quick search we got on the right path and ended up on the edge of a very steep hill whereby the lake in all its beauty came into view hiding among high hills.
A beautiful analogy about the lake is that this lake is hidden and protected by the hills from all sides like the heart is hidden and protected in the chest.
We went down to the lake and some of the boys took a dip to discover that the water is quite cold!
This hike was a really unique experience for everyone.
The second hike was for the junior boys and the target was Djouce Mountain. It started with a nice walk in the forest and we were welcomed by the strong wind. We spread our arms and were ready to fly!
The next stop was the top of the mountain, which was hiding in the clouds. It was an interesting experience to be in the clouds. We had a race and rolling downhill competition. The path continued around the mountain and lead us through to a fresh spring with tasty water. We sat for a nice reminder and break before heading back.
We all enjoyed the walks, the sceneries, clean air, the strong winds, the clouds, the beautiful sky, snacks breaks and more in these glorious places.
It was great experience for all alhamdulillah.
Look out for the next adventure Insha-Allah
~ Zahri
