Extremes on the Kerry Way

My oh my!  The last five days have been a roller coaster of weather, terrain and accommodation!  How to explain the force of the storms that we have walked through; the highs, lows and bogs of the path; the best B&B EVER!  

Day 4 of walking was from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen.  It all started off ok with a little bit of drizzle as we climbed out of Glenbeigh.  We chose the route through the forest where there were 100 fairy houses scattered amongst the trees.  Very charming.  Then a little bit of road walking before we jumped a stile or two and headed up along Drung Hill.

This is where things got a bit hairy.  The wind was rising and the rain was starting to go horizontal and the path was a metre away from a 340 metre cliff (truly!).  Every so often, a gust of wind would throw you sideways (unfortunately towards the cliff!) and the constant rain had turned a rather nice path into a creekbed.  By the top of the hill, the wind and rain had increased.  Water streamed from our clothes and the hood of my jacket wouldn’t or couldn’t stay on in the face of the gale.  Each raindrop felt like a needle piercing my face.  Were we having fun?  No.

That's Merran next to the cliff!!!

Chilean rhubarb - a weed

So we really didn’t see anything.  We stopped worrying about wet boots and just waded through the water and mud.  We didn’t stop and instead walked and walked and walked.  Five hours later and we were at Foilmore where we had arranged to be picked up.  We were 2 ½ hours early! 

A well deserved Guinness after a challenging day

Did you know that you can spell Cahersiveen four different ways?  There’s also Cahirciveen and Caherciveen and Cahirsiveen.  Don’t you think they would have sat down at some stage and made a decision?

We then had a rest day – much needed and greatly appreciated.  It was also dry and sunny … bummer! … perfect for walking.  We got up late (7am) and had a relaxed breakfast.  Our lovely hosts suggested (a) hiring e-bikes and riding around Valentia Island or (b) walking to see a ruined castle and some iron age forts.  Instead, we went to a craft shop (an Irish version of Made in Mansfield), French patisserie (coffee and cake) and some op shops (books) before coming home and reading all afternoon.  

Day 5 Cahersiveen to Waterville  This was my least favourite day walking.  It started with steps – a lot up and even more down.  Boggy paths and rocks and big drops and my leg was screaming.  So not a happy Anthea.  And then it started raining.

It basically rained the whole walk so we didn’t see any of the views and I got very wet (yet again).  We stopped for a little while in someone’s shed near an old abandoned school house, before setting off in the rain … up again and then and then down onto a road.  Phew!  This I could walk.  But I haven’t been happy all day and I am desperately wanting some better weather.

Day 6  Waterville to Caherdaniel.  An easy walk to Waterville before it was off into the hills, with the views and the weather improving by the minute.  Iron age forts, gorgeous long eared sheep and beautiful ruined houses and barns skirted the path, which wasn’t very arduous.  

The sun started to shine, underneath the misty tops of the mountains, showing the beautiful coastline, all rocks and surf (we even saw 3 surfers), and making the whitewashed cottages glow in the sunlight.  It really was a delightful walk.

More ups and downs, some boggy sections and some delightful paths through bluebell forests, before we did our last slog and ended up at the Blind Piper, a gorgeous pub.  Aaaahhhh!  

Iron age fort outside Caherdaniel

Iron age burial site

Day 7  Caherdaniel to Sneem (great name, huh!) We were so lucky today with the weather.  Apart from waking up to some mists on the top of the mountains, it was either just cloudy or even sunny!  No rain to speak of!  Today’s walk, a rather gentle 17.5 km (I say gentle, but there was one steep climb but it was nothing awful) had lovely coastal views of Caherdaniel, with the towering hills behind.  Once over our first climb, we had a different view of the coast, all the way to the Beara Peninsula.  The terrain varied from farmland, dotted with sheep and their new lambs, to rugged peaty moors.  It was very dramatic.

I love how they number the lambs - No.16 sheep had two lambs, both appropriately labeled

Day 8  Templenoe back to Sneem.  More good porridge!  More good weather!  More great walking!  It was a long but easy day today, with only a few climbs and some beautiful sections through the Dromore Forest, all leafy glades and bluebells.  We saw a few flowers that we hadn’t encountered before as well as a new invasive weed, the Japanese Knotweed.

Really!  You want to sell this?  Just looked it up and it's under offer!

I'm missing Maggie.  Lucky there are lots of surrogate border collies around. 

Back at the BnB, showered and clean, we’re about to go out to the pub again.  I’m looking forward to a Guinness or two or …

The Kerry Way - the first 3 days

I love long distance walking.  Even with a dodgy leg.  It's so difficult to give an accurate picture of the joys of the last three days and the varied landscapes we've explored - so I apologise if this is a bit wordy but I want to give you the feel of this brilliant walk.

Day 1  We made it (or should that be I made it … there was never any doubt that Merran would make it!).  And it was a delight … if a rather damp/wet/soaked delight. The day started off very well.  Our chatty hostess served up beautiful porridge for breakfast, talked at us for quite a while and then I had a bacon sandwich.  OK, the coffee was instant but you can’t have everything.  And her lovely, quiet husband Danny offered to take us to where we wanted to start walking.  Actually, away from his garrulous wife, he became positively verbose in the car.  A lovely couple.

The walk started along an easy path that skirted the Muckross Abbey and then Muckross House.  Before too long, we were climbing up our path to reach the Torc Waterfall.  We heard it well before we saw the plumes of spray – it wasn’t a waterfall, it was a force, a torrent!  After taking some photos, we kept climbing, with tantalizing peeks at Muckross Lake through the pines and beeches.  There were rhododendrons, a few still flowering, and small native primulas along the path.  Up, up, up through the forest until we reached the Old Kenmare Road which all of a sudden pitched us out onto the boggy moors.

Now don’t get me wrong … I like moors.  I can even see the beauty in a bog.  BUT I really don’t like getting my feet wet, especially this early in a day’s walking.  But there was no avoiding it with water pouring off the hills surrounding us.  Water flowed over the track and made little creek crossings not so little.  And I was a bit hampered because my left leg really didn’t like bending.  Slippery rocks, steep little ascents and descents – this was a tricky section in some ways.

Reaching our B&B, dry, clean and happy, we sat down to an amazing Thai meal cooked by our hostess (who is Thai).  I had an incredible green papaya salad and then chicken stirfry.  Unbelievable!  

Day 2  Remind me not to eat eggs again!  It was a pretty ordinary breakfast this morning – sad, considering how good last night’s dinner was.  But the best thing about this morning was that it wasn’t raining.  Excellent!  We set off at 8:30am and walked along the valley.  You can see why it was named Black Valley – the rocks are so dark that it seems to suck the colour from the surrounding hills.  As we got closer to the head of the valley, we passed three little lakes, evidently quite deep.  These are the last remnants of the force of the glacier that formed this valley.

Finally, we reached the end and then started a steepish ascent, up along a damp and rocky track.  But it was still dry – yippee!  It would have been a horrid walk if raining like yesterday.  The big difference today was that we met quite a few other walkers, including the Ballyhoura Bears, a large walking group from Limerick.  Politely, we let them all pass us (actually I was happy to have a rest) and then it was back to the serenity of walking the last section up to the flat top.

We walked and walked (starting to get a bit tired and sore now) until we reached the Climbers Inn at Glenbar.  Oh, the relief of having a shower, a couple of pints of Guinness and some fantastic fish and chips.  

Day 3  Best day ever!  Apart from the steep downhill towards the end, this was a delightful day … and it was sunny!!! Breakfast was great – a really good muesli, greek yogurt, fruit, real coffee – NO EGGS!  After, we set off into the sunshine!  I kid you not!  And the path was lovely, all dripping moss and springy green grass.  Before too long, we were walking in the forest, rising up to Castle Rock, where there were hanging gardens of ferns and the sounds of birds echoing through the trees.

The views were fantastic … the Reeks behind us as we walked towards Windy Gap.  We’d decided to do the tougher section rather than the easier (but longer) road version and (despite the pain) I was so glad that we did.  The views were superb and once we reached the gap, the views in front of us were amazing!  There was the sea!  Everywhere was green paddocks, grey/brown peaks, blue skies and colourful sheep.

Into Glenbeigh, we found a NZ girl who knew the difference between a long black and an Americano before coming to our rather up-market hotel.  Showered and with a Guinness and it’s only 4pm.