Dave Byrnes' Adventures

Round Ireland - 2016
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Day: 032
Date: Monday, 25 April 2016
Start: Dingle
Finish: Dunquin
Daily Kilometres: 24
Total Kilometres: 902
Weather: Cool with alternating light showers and sunny periods all day.
Accommodation: Dunquin Youth Hostel
Nutrition: Breakfast:  Cereal, fruit, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, toast and jam
Lunch:  Muesli bars and chocolate
Dinner:  Pasta carbonara with tuna and noodles, jam tarts
Aches: Muscle strain/tear behind left knee
Highlight: The "dress circle" walk through farm paddocks high above Slea Head with the calm blue Atlantic far below, stirred by the occasional zephyr, and brooding islands near and far intermittently obscured by localised rain squalls.
Lowlight: Somehow straining/tearing a muscle/ligament just below and behind my left knee after a few kilometres.  What I thought was a niggle rapidly became worse and I ended up limping in pain for the remainder of the day.  Hopefully it will improve somewhat overnight.
Pictures: Here
GPS Track: Here
Journal: I stayed up late last night trying to fix a self-inflicted computer photos problem with a recent, and not very good, Arnold Schwarzenegger movie going in the background.  I think I have fixed the problem, but I was very annoyed at my stupidity and went to bed unhappy.

Knowing it was a relatively short day, I dallied in the morning and didn't start walking until 9:45am.  Before I had even got out of Dingle there were two short light rain showers, interspersed with warm sunshine, and that was the way the weather worked all day.  As one shower abated and the sun appeared, it was possible to look into the mountains and see the next shower on its way.

After a few kilometres on the road, the Dingle Way left to follow a farm path for what seemed like an unnecessary detour on the map.  Given I had time, and the detour involved gaining some altitude, and therefore views, I decided to follow it.  Almost immediately, as the climb began, I could feel some minor pain behind and below my left knee.  It grew worse as I climbed and by the top was very painful if I didn't take care.  There wasn't much I could do about it, and since I had plenty of time for the day, I soldiered on walking at a slower pace and limping to protect the leg.

The views down to Ventry Beach from the top of the climb, and back to Dingle, were very good, and the knee wasn't quite so bad when descending.  The low-tide limp along the length of the wide sandy expanse of Ventry Beach was a new experience for this trip, but it was hard to concentrate on the scene as I pondered what the knee problem could mean.  I'm not in a race, and can alter my itinerary if necessary, so it's not catastrophic.  Assuming it's a soft tissue tear/strain, if I nurse it for a few days, it will probably gradually improve and in three weeks be a memory.  But I wouldn't fancy any long kilometre days with my speed cut by about one kilometre per hour.  Also, limping is aggravating my ever-present right heel problem.

Near the end of the beach I exchanged waves with a girl taking a break, sitting on her pack on the edge of the dunes, and saw her a few more times during the day before we both checked into the hostel at the same time.  She's an American student from Iowa who has just graduated from college and has an internship starting in Minnesota shortly.

After the beach walk, the Dingle Way followed some old farm paths including one extremely narrow one, less than a metre wide, with walls of stone and briars several metres high on both sides.  Then, after a short roadwalk, it climbed high onto the side of Eagle Mountain and followed a stone fence contouring through grassy sloping stone-walled sheep paddocks with the tourist road and the Atlantic far below.  The views were awesome, though the knee pain made any climbing a test.  At one point, I rounded a corner to find a ram with its horn caught in a wire fence, desperately trying to free itself.  As I approached, feeling the need to try and help the animal somehow without getting kicked or gored, its terror increased to a frenzy.  Frantically jumping up and down, it thankfully broke free and scampered away.  Whew!

At two other places, the Dingle Way passed just above beehive stone forts, probably dating from around 1200AD, and built by inhabitants dispossessed of their more fertile lands by the invading Normans.  Another piece of an incredibly long and complex Irish history.

After passing high above Slea Head, the Dingle Way turned north and descended to the tourist road and then some back roads before passing right by the Dunquin Youth Hostel, supposedly the most western hostel in Europe.  I arrived at 4:30pm and had to wait until it opened at 5:00pm, but was glad to be off my feet and left knee.

After checking in, I had a tepid shower, and cooked the dinner I had carried with me from Dingle.  The only other guests are the American girl and a European girl I haven't managed to speak to yet.  Looks like being an early night with some reading.

ADVENTURE LIST

 

Round Ireland
(2016)

Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)

Via Alpina
(2012)

Australian Alps Walking Track
(2011)

Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)

Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)

Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)

Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)

Three Peaks Race
(2004)

Appalachian Trail
(1986)

Alpine Track
(1983)

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