0:00:36 > 0:00:39We're off on another hiking trail -
0:00:39 > 0:00:41to Benaughlin Mountain.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45The "Peak of the Speaking Horse" gets its name from the mythical white beast
0:00:45 > 0:00:49who tells fortunes and haunts these slopes.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55It's a cracking location for a walk,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59just off the Enniskillen to Swanlinbar road.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03It starts and finishes at the end of a forest track,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06which gives easy access to the foot of the mountain.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10It's a great introduction to hill walking,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12with a minimum of effort.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16It rises to only 370 metres -
0:01:16 > 0:01:18but what it lacks in height,
0:01:18 > 0:01:23it more than makes up for with huge panoramic views of the entire county.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29And I'm travelling in elevated company -
0:01:29 > 0:01:33heading for the top with three adventurers who trained here
0:01:33 > 0:01:35to conquer Mount Everest.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38- Great view over Upper Lough Erne there.- It's fantastic.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Neil Elliott from Ballinamallard has climbed the highest mountains
0:01:43 > 0:01:44on six of the seven continents.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47He now has Antarctica in his sights.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Trillick publican Fergal Corrigan has come a long way
0:01:53 > 0:01:56since his first ascent here in P5.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00He's climbed all over Europe and loves ice routes in the Alps.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And their pal Raymond Hassard is serious about the mountains, too.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09He's reached the top on five continents -
0:02:09 > 0:02:13a far cry from the farm near Enniskillen.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16And they love home ground.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Raymond and I started from school, as such,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and we met together through the Duke of Edinburgh Award at school.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Then we went on and met Fergal, you know,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28at the age of probably 17.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32And we, you know, had a like interest in mountaineering and climbing -
0:02:32 > 0:02:35getting out there, doing things - and we've developed it
0:02:35 > 0:02:37and we've been all round the world.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Whenever we decided to go off to Everest, it was brilliant
0:02:42 > 0:02:45to go off with such a group of... You know, my two best friends.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48And, you know, you knew you were always safe with them.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52It's a passion we've had and it's been great. It's worked really well.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00The first time I came up here was with an uncle and my old man,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04and...it was an expedition in itself.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08The heather and that was probably as tall as I was back then, but...
0:03:08 > 0:03:11I remember finding money on the summit,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14you know, that obviously someone had lost and they spun me
0:03:14 > 0:03:18some story about fairies leaving money out or something like that,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21so I kept searching the whole time I was up here.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30The likes of this on your back doorstep's just brilliant.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34It's a great stepping stone for anybody - any aspiring climber,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36anybody who's just into hill walking,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39who wants to do a wee bit of rock climbing or whatever.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41You're in a fantastic area for that.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43With myself, Raymond and Neil,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45we sort of started off here.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47It was a natural progression for us
0:03:47 > 0:03:48to go other places,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51but I suppose our friendship grew
0:03:51 > 0:03:54alongside our climbing talents, as well, which was good.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00The hikers' trail follows the contours around the mountain.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03We're making steady progress,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05but it was a very different story for Raymond
0:04:05 > 0:04:10when he first tackled Benaughlin as a 12-year-old boy scout.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14I remember coming up the steep section and just wondering,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17would I ever get to the top? Was I able to get to the top?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And every, kind of, hill that you climbed,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23you got round the corner and seen another hill.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Right the way up to the top, you weren't sure if you'd get there.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30And when you got to the top, you were elated. You'd climbed a mountain! It was a big thing.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32It's possible.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- That stuff's great whenever you're a kid.- It definitely is.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Anybody who does any kind of walking,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41whether it's just round the town,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45you know, if they really want to get out into the hills, they can.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49And it's not that big of an effort. You start off with forest tracks,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and then progress your way up to something like Benaughlin here,
0:04:53 > 0:04:54or Cuilcagh Mountain.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58And like you've seen there today, it was a fairly easy terrain.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01There's a track almost the whole way to the summit.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04And if you prepare yourself well, be sensible about it,
0:05:04 > 0:05:09wear the correct footwear and bring a hot flask with you,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and bring rain-proof clothes and what have you,
0:05:13 > 0:05:14it's a safe place to be.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17And who knows where it all might end.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22Benaughlin was the spark that took the men to Tibet in 2006.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27For years, going up through the various mountains that we climbed,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30we would talk about the Himalayas and Everest.
0:05:30 > 0:05:37And it was a case of, I wouldn't go out there, just pay the money
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and join an expedition that I didn't know anybody in.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42If we were going, we were going together.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45We would support each other because we trusted each other.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49And the team spirit among us backed each other up,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51so we felt safe.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54We know our strengths and we know our weaknesses
0:05:54 > 0:05:57and we can rely on each other, we have done in the past.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02And certainly, it was one of the major, major things
0:06:02 > 0:06:04of our success on Everest.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06I mean, we were going to have a good time
0:06:06 > 0:06:08whether we got to the top or not.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12But Everest is a killer
0:06:12 > 0:06:15and thin oxygen at altitude took its toll on the boys,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17including Neil.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18That was hard work.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Hard, hard work.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21Well done.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29I think I'm just going to...go and lie down and die here.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32We're as close friends as ever,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35um, the likes of any of our mountain experience's down the year,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38we've always made more friends out of them, actually.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41And it's a great place, it can be difficult at times,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44but you actually see people's real values
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and whenever you get people together and times are tough and hard,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49everyone gels together.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51And that's always been the case.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54If anything, we're better friends, not worse.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58We don't, probably, see as much of ourselves during the week now,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59you get busier with life,
0:06:59 > 0:07:03but there's always someone at the end of the phone if you want to call someone,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06you're going to do something, there's someone there
0:07:06 > 0:07:07to jump up and go and do something.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12And with the gentle patchwork of rural Fermanagh laid out below us,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14we're on the last leg of the hike.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18You can take this mountain at whatever pace you want.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21If you want to train hard for a mountain like Everest,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23you just come here and you go faster
0:07:23 > 0:07:25and you go longer distances.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28We usually take in Cuilcagh from here as well
0:07:28 > 0:07:31because we want big days and endurance,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34so we put on heavy packs and carry big weights
0:07:34 > 0:07:36so we can go to Everest as quick as possible.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39But it's great that it's on our doorstep.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Here's us just coming up to the trig point now.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Yeah. And that's one for a Sunday afternoon
0:07:45 > 0:07:47to work off the dinner, isn't it?
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Anybody could manage that.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Absolutely, you know, an hour probably, something like that,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56you could be up here from the road down there.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58So it's brilliant, like. It really is.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01It's just pretty as a picture -
0:08:01 > 0:08:05360 degrees of beautiful Fermanagh.
0:08:05 > 0:08:10And the big mountain, the big boy, Cuilcagh in the distance, there.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11Yup.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12Lovely.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Many's a time we tramped across those hills.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18And many more to come.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22If you fancy a breath of fresh mountain air,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24why not give it a go?
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Just log on to...
0:08:29 > 0:08:34where you'll find route maps, advice about how to tackle the walk safely,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and useful links to rambling clubs in your area.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:08:41 > 0:08:43E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk