When asked what I should do with my day in Belfast many people suggested I should visit the Titanic Museum. I rejected their advice and headed south at the urging of Pete Phillips.

@danny_webster climb Slieve Donard

— pmphillips (@pmphillips) January 18, 2014

If you wish to try this yourself I have a few words of advice.

1. Do not begin your walk at 2.35pm in January.

2. Do not walk in jeans and shows that have matching holes on the outside of each foot’s toes.

3. Do not expect to stay dry.

4. Do not pause in the rain to read the information board explaining the peculiar hut on the other side of the gushing river.

5. Do not walk in the streams that pretend to be paths.

6. Do not think that you’ll be able to take decent photos when your phone won’t even let you tap in your entry code because it and your fingers are so wet.

7. Do not set off with no water and no sustenance except two Cadbury’s Cream Eggs.

8. Do not think you’ll ever actually see the top through the mist/cloud/rain/dwindling daylight.

9. Do not get most of the way to the top and then have to turn back because light and inappropriate footwear are about to defeat you.

10. Do not forget that the views are stunning, even on a day such as this.

11. Do not miss out on the Belfast Community Gospel Choir concert which, once I had reached a modicum of dryness, I absolutely loved this evening.