Dave Byrnes

Round Ireland - 2016

Overview Planned Schedule Map Diary Pictures

Day:	027
Date:	Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Start:	Glenbeigh
Finish:	Bridia Valley
Daily Kilometres:	24
Total Kilometres:	774
Weather:	Mild and sunny with strong winds at altitude.
Accommodation:	Stepping Stones B&B
Nutrition:	Breakfast: Full Irish Breakfast Lunch: Apple tarts, muesli bars and chocolate Dinner: Tomato soup, rack of lamb and vegetables, apple and berry crumble and ice-cream
Aches:	Right shoulder still a bit sore
Highlight:	Brilliant sunny day for some of the best scenery in Kerry
Lowlight:	None really
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	I woke to a cool sunny morning and was walking by soon after 9:00am on a day when I knew I had to climb through two mountain passes and approach the Magillycuddy Reeks, the highest mountains in Ireland. The first pass, Windy Gap, was early in the day and not that windy when I reached it around 10:00am. The views were superb on both sides of the narrow gap and the descent on the other side into Glencar relatively gradual, with the mountains rising high in the distance. Once down into Glencar, there was a mix of road walking and forest trails with some of the latter being particularly pretty where they passed through old growth mossy forests. The day had warmed up and I was down to T-shirt and shorts again, though the small number of hikers I met coming the other way, were all dressed for much cooler conditions. To tell the truth, most looked like "greenhorns" who were wearing/carrying new gear and only a couple of days into their multi-day hike along the Kerry Way. Some were travelling very light and I suspect were making use of the service offered by many B&B's to transport your gear from one stop to the next. In the early afternoon, the Kerry Way presented a choice between going cross-country (shorter but tougher) and road-walking (twice as long but much easier) for a section. I do enough road-walking, so opted for cross-country. It wasn't too bad, and I'm sure was more scenic, but took longer than expected. However, I wasn't worried because I judged I was easily going to make my B&B for the night. After the cross-country section, the Kerry Way followed a farm road leading up into the Gearanagour valley with what seemed like a steep wall of mountains at its end. I knew that somewhere, not easily visible, would be a trail up over the wall and through the second mountain pass. When I reached the end of the farm road, it was indeed a steep rocky and technical climb up the wall, maybe the toughest of the trip so far. However, by the standards of hiking climbs I have done in other countries, it wasn't really that much. At the top of the climb, I met an Israeli family (parents plus three teenage children) who were walking some of the Kerry Way. We chatted for a while (they had spent some time in Sydney once) and I may see them again on the Dingle Way where we are both headed in the coming week. From the pass, it was a long, but relatively gentle, grassy descent into the Bridia Valley, with the high mountains through which I will pass tomorrow, directly in front of me. Where the trail met the country road on the valley floor was my B&B for the night and I checked in at 4:15pm. It's a bit upmarket (and more expensive) than I'm accustomed to, but choice was limited in this remote valley. After a shower I was given a welcoming cup of tea and a scone, and then later an excellent three-course dinner. I shared a table with the other B&B guests, a couple from The Netherlands, and a single German guy, all of whom had been staying at the B&B for several days while they toured the area by car and did a few short walks. It was a pleasant evening, though by 9:30pm I could feel myself fading and headed for bed, knowing I had a long day tomorrow.