Search and rescue volunteers have taken on one of Northern Ireland's toughest hikes in a bid to tidy up the Mournes.
And the group of five also used the 22 mile trek around the famous Mourne Wall to raise money for the K9 Search & Rescue team.
But the trek and tidy mission found mountain peaks covered in litter - so much the team managed to fill four bags while taking in the stunning views.
Petra Armstrong was one of five volunteers who decided to turn one of the region’s toughest hikes into a mammoth rubbish gathering exercise.
The squad, which included members of the K9 Search & Rescue team and the North West Mountain Rescue Team, spent last Sunday taking on the 22 mile trek which involves a total climb of over 9,000 feet.
Petra told Belfast Live: “We managed to fill four bin bags during the whole hike which certainly made the whole exercise a lot more difficult.
"But I was pretty shocked at the state of the place. Binnian was bad with water bottles and even tissues lying about the place. There was loads of banana skins and orange peel too which I think some people believe it’s ok to dump as they’re biodegradable.
“But it takes two years for a banana peel to decompose, so it’s pretty bad for people up there to sit down to have a bite and they put their hand in someone else’s banana peel. After Binnian there was less rubbish on the lesser known peaks but a few bottles which looked like they may have been there years.
“At Donard though, it was just disgusting. There was a disposable barbecue that was still warm, so we’d to wait for it to cool down before we lifted it. There were beer and cider bottles, broken bottles. I just couldn’t get over the state of the place.
"The numbers of people who have been up there this last while since lockdown was eased has been like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s a real shame some people are just dropping food and bottles up there. It’s disrespectful to be honest.
“No one wants to see loads of decomposing fruit skins when they head into such a beautiful, natural environment and contrary to beliefs it is not good for the soil nor the wildlife, who it may in fact harm.”
The team set off from the Carrick Little car park outside Annalong at 5.30am before taking a total of 19.5 hours to finish the circuit.
Petra works with the K9 team and also used the hike to help raise funds for the group which is staffed entirely by volunteers even though they are on-call 24-7 to help in search operations involving organisations including the Coastguard.
The team is made up of 15 ‘operational members’ as well as four ‘non-operational’ and has seven dogs who have to undergo extensive training and certification before they are allowed to take part in searches.
Equipment for the dogs, five of which search for living people while two are being trained as victim recovery dogs, is expensive as is materials needed by the volunteers. Details of the fundraising efforts can be found on the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/K9SARNI or the GoFundMe page.
