The Wicklow Way

If the rest of this trip sucks it'll still be worth it. This hike has been that good. The views have been beautiful and the Irish I've met along the way have been positively charming. This has been Ireland that you'd expect from watching shows. 

The trail is 80 miles long and goes through the Wicklow Mountains and the national park of the sane name. These are real mountains and it took some effort to hike up them. No climbing, fortunately. They are working to restore the depleted forests and I've been going in and out of forested areas. The old woods were so dark  even in the middle of the day, that it was easy to see why they used to think they were haunted. Then I would go through mountaintop bogs that went fir miles and required bog boards to get through. If you stick your pole in it won't reach the bottom. And, all along, are these fabulous views.

Being spring, the flowers are in bloom. My wife, Sherry, loves flowers so I send her a picture every day for her wake-up time (six hours behind me).

So far, I've gone about 65 miles out of the 80 through seven days. I expect to finish tomorrow - day 8. I could've gone faster and done it in six days but didn't really feel any need. We started about lunch but still did ten miles. The next day was a hard hike but Thursday was a half day. I arrived at a hiker shelter just as it started to rain and I decided I was done for the day. It was cold and wet after that but I was rewarded in the morning with a beautiful sunrise and a view looking out over the lowlands out into thr Irish Sea.

That day (Friday) was great hiking but Saturday was drizzling rain all day. Sunday was beautiful and the trail was easier so I was able to do 19 miles, putting me within reach of end in one day. I arrived at an old, country pub - The Dying Cow Pub - just as it was beginning to rain. Done for the day! Instead, I had a couple of pints of Guinness with two locals I met on the trail. I could understand only about half of what they said but it was still fun.

Last night was the first time I paid for the night. For ten euros I was able to camp out back, slept in their hut, and was able to take a shower. Oh, blessed day! Then, this morning I awoke to pouring rain and howling wind. I was pushing to finish a day ahead of schedule to rest and read up on the Kerry Way, the next phase of this adventure. So, I decided to do just that and lounged here for another night. Now I'm working to make arrangements for tomorrow night when I reach Clonegal. I have about 12 miles to go but my backpack is getting lighter (so am I), I'm getting in trail shape, and the trail is getting easier so I shouldn't have any trouble.

More adventures await after that.