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.