Dave Byrnes

Round Ireland - 2016

Overview Planned Schedule Map Diary Pictures

Day:	026
Date:	Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Start:	Derrymore
Finish:	Glenbeigh
Daily Kilometres:	26
Total Kilometres:	750
Weather:	Cool, overcast and dry
Accommodation:	Village House B&B
Nutrition:	Breakfast: Cereal, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, toast and jam Lunch: Muesli bars and chocolate Dinner: Sandwiches, corn chips, apple tarts
Aches:	Right shoulder sore after another fall
Highlight:	The spectacular walk across the north face of Drung Hill with Castlemaine Bay far below and the Dingle peninsula, where I will be next week, across the water.
Lowlight:	Not that bad, but another fall when my toe clipped a rock on the trail and I fell forward and to the side into some prickly gorse bush, taking most of the impact on my right shoulder which was already a bit sore.
Pictures:	Here
GPS Track:	Here
Journal:	After an early 7:30am breakfast (for Irish B&B's), I was on the trail by 8:30am on a cool and overcast morning. I walked along a quiet country lane past endless sheep paddocks (lambs everywhere) back to the official Kerry Way, which I had left to reach the B&B. When I rejoined the Kerry Way, it followed some farm paths and crossed some sheep pastures in the River Ferta valley for a while until it reached a confusing road junction. The map seemed to indicate I should turn right, but the signpost said turn left. By going left I could see I would eventually get to where I needed to go, across the valley, but it was a lot further. I wondered whether someone had messed with the signs and eventually decided to follow the map rather than the sign. After half a kilometre I discovered why the route had changed when I reached a broken steel footbridge. It looked like a flood had shifted one end of the bridge off its foundations leaving it somewhat precariously leaning on a rock a couple of metres above the river. After giving it a few shakes to test stability, I decided it was safe enough and walked carefully across without incident. From there the Kerry Way followed lanes and old farm paths on a gradual climb up to a low saddle between impressive mountains with the Ring of Kerry tourist road parallelling it a few hundred metres away. The number of tourist buses was amazing. The higher I climbed the better the views got and I was enjoying the relatively dry trail in perfect hiking weather. I met two young German girls going the other way, five days into their ten-day Kerry Way hike, and we had a brief chat. Soon after, I stopped for my first break at 11:30am on a thoughtfully-provided bench by the trail. The Kerry Way was now quite high on the side of Drung Hill more or less following the 300m contour. As it swung around the north side, I had "dress circle" views of Castlemaine Bay and the Dingle peninsula with the Ring of Kerry and the ubiquitous tour buses far below. It was spectacular, and I felt privileged to be there in weather that allowed me to enjoy the full grandeur of the scene. From there the trail gradually descended towards the village of Glenbeigh, my destination for the day, which I reached at the early time of 3:00pm. Unfortunately, I couldn't raise the B&B owner and ended up sitting outside for half an hour before she appeared from somewhere round the back (she had been painting), extremely embarrassed that I had been waiting. Anyway, it was still an early finish, which is always welcome, and I showered and caught up on a few chores for the remainder of the afternoon. At 6:00pm I went for a walk around the village, but the only eating places seemed on the expensive side, so I went to the small supermarket and bought some sandwiches for dinner along with a few supplies for the next couple of days.