Waterville to Caherdaniel

Actually, today’s hike started in Caherdaniel.  Normally, today’s leg of the hike would have ended in Caherdaniel, but the B&B there is closed right now. So, Abby, our innkeeper in Waterville, drove us to what would have been the end of today’s hike and we walked back to Waterville for our second night there.

This was a shorter leg - around eight miles. It started with a long uphill out of Caherdaniel, through woods, around a lot of rock outcroppings, and across fields.  The higher we got, the better the views got. The views are of the small harbor outside of Caherdaniel, the bay, and the ocean beyond.

Changeable would be the best description of the weather today. Within the first twenty minutes we’d put on and taken off our rain gear three times.

Near the top of this first climb, the trail crosses the ring road, the route that most tourists take when driving around the peninsula.   A lot of tour buses take the route. The tour buses are asked to  travel the route counterclockwise, because the roads are too narrow for two buses to pass each other.

The Scariff Inn is at the point where the trail crosses the ring road. It claims to have the “best known view in Ireland.” I can’t say whether it’s the best known, but it’s got to be among the best period. We stopped for Diet Cokes, orange juice, and a chance at the view.

Later, we stopped for lunch (crackers, power bar, trail mix) at a spot looking over a valley with ancient stone buildings below, and the ocean in the distance. We could watch the next storm working its way toward us across the valley. So we put on the rain gear again and headed out.

The rest of the walk took us across the side of a long valley several miles and back into Waterville. Just outside Waterville we passed a pretty nice golf course. According to our innkeeper, this course is where  “the famous Tiger Woods” comes to practice before the Irish open.

Before dinner we went back to the Fisherman’s Inn for a bit of refreshment. There was a TV on in the bar, tuned to “Master Chef - Australia“.  We got there at a moment of high tension -  they were about to tell the dozen or so would be chefs what the theme of the next dish would be. You could see the stress on the faces. You could hear the music building in the background. You could hear the tremor in the voice of the announcer. Then, a commercial break. After the commercial they built up the tension again, and announced that the theme of the next dish would be: OMG!!! Chinese!!!.  The audience gasped. And the contestants groaned.  All except one. Her name was Hsu. Hsu Kan Kuk. I think she was a ringer.

Turns out Hsu didn’t win, but she did ok. The winner made a dish out of mushrooms, chicken, and Chinese vinegar. It actually sounded pretty good.

But there were a couple of contestants eliminated. Their dishes were both variations using tofu. It’s fitting they were eliminated. Anyone trying to make a tasty dish out of tofu shouldn’t be allowed near a hot oven in the first place.

So it was fitting that after listening to this, we left the Fisherman’s Inn and went down the street to the Huntsman Lodge for dinner. You see, the Huntsman Lodge has the best Thai restaurant in town. Actually, it’s the only Thai restaurant in town. Actually, it’s a pretty solid bet that it’s the only Thai restaurant in a hundred miles.

It looked like we were taking a big risk when we walked in and the only people in the restaurant were two very non-Thai looking guys playing solitare on a laptop. Together. But sometimes first impressions are deceiving. What followed was the best Thai meal I’ve had in forever.
John had Thai oysters (caught just a little earlier in the day in the next  bay over from Waterville). Marty and I had duck spring rolls as appetizers. Marty’s main was a baked hake with a basil compote and vegetables that he said was outstanding. I had red Thai curried chicken. Outstanding.  And the dinners came with a chocolate fondant dessert.
All of this was accompanied by appropriate amounts of Guinness and a nice French Bordeaux. And closed out with Jameson’s.

Finally, feeling well prepared for another day of hiking, we found our way down the street to our B&B.

These Guys Got Stile

This is how the trail crosses over fences from one field to the next. Lots of these.

Derrymore to Waterville

Today’s walk encompassed twelve miles, a lot shorter than yesterday. So we figured it would be an easier day. Go figure.

The majority of the mileage today was along two different major ridges. There are good and bad things about ridge walking.

The best thing is that the views are outstanding. For much of the day, we had views stretching 20 miles or more in all directions, when the weather cooperated. And the weather cooperated for the most part.

But a downside of walking along ridges is  getting there. The first long uphill started right ouside our B&B and wound up and around a couple of major hills until we got back on the Kerry Way just below the summit of Knockavahaun, the highest point on the coastal portion of the Way. And the first big hill of every hiking day is always the hardest.

Once up on the Knockavahaun ridge, we were able to follow it for several miles, with long distance views of the valleys down below on each side, before dropping down into the Inni River valley.

After crossing the Inni we stopped for ice cream at the Mastergeehy Post Office, a small building out in the countryside. We’d heard they had snacks, but it turns out a choice of ice cream bars was the extent of the menu. The postmistress (who has probably been there for a long, long time), offered to make us tea,  but we pushed on.

From the Post Office it was 45 minutes of uphill to the next ridge from where we could see Lough Currane and  Ballyskelligs Bay. Off in  the distance, down the ridge, was Waterville, our destination for the day, still a couple of hours away.

On this ridge we experienced another of the downsides of ridge walking. For the next couple of hours we fought winds that were probably never less than fourty miles an hour, and gusts much higher, blowing in off the Atlantic in the distance. When the trail finally got to the point where it dropped down into Waterville all three of us said we simply felt beat up.  What had started out looking like an easier day was tougher than the day before.

When we got to our  B&B around 3:00, Abby, the innkeeper, was surprised to see us so early. She asked if we’d come “down the mountain”, and said that a lot of people choose to take the longer but easier route staying on the road.   (We never thought about it.)

Waterville is a neat little town, maybe four blocks long, almost all of it facing the ocean. It’s not the high season yet, so it’s all still pretty quiet. At the edge of town is a lifesize statue of Charlie Chaplin, who used to spend summers here. We each took our pictures standing next to the Charlie Chaplin statue, but none of us believe we were the first to think of that.

Abby suggested the Fisherman’s Inn as a good place for dinner. She was right. The Fisherman’s is a nice quiet pub with good pub food. At the Fisherman’s, the order of events was: Guinness, Guinness, Fish and Chips, Apple Pie, Guinness, and Jameson’s.

At least that’s the way I remember it. But I could be wrong.  

Historic Events We Just Missed

In an epic case of mis-scheduling, Queen Elizabeth of England arrived in Dublin Tuesday, a day after we did. Our invitation to the events must have gotten lost in the mail. Just as well. We had other plans. But I’ll bet the Queen didn’t sleep on her flight either.

Seriously, this is a really historic visit, and important to the Irish people. It’s the first by a British monarch in over a hundred years.  The last visit by a British monarch was her grandfather,  when all of Ireland was struggling under British rule. Since then there have been many years of  bloody conflict, with the Republic of Ireland formed in 1947, but with Northern Ireland still under British control. The papers are saying that security in Dublin is at an all time high. Irish we’ve talked to about the visit say that the feelings between the two countries have been so intense that only now is it possible for this visit to take place.

The Queen arrived wearing emerald green, and one of her first acts was to join the President of Ireland in  laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance, a monument dedicated to Irish who lost their lives fighting for independence from Britain.  

So in the context of this history, you can imagine the tension at lunch today when Her Majesty said: “Ireland is really nice. I think I’ll stay a while.”

The tension didn’t ease until Philip leaned over and whispered  into the Queen’s ear, after which She was heard to say: “Just kidding. Hey, anyone been to any good weddings lately?” ( I made this last bit up).

(It’s also worth noting that this picture was taken by NBC at the Gravity Bar in the Guinness Brewery, overlooking downtown Dublin. It’s the place you get your free Guinness when you finish the Brewery tour.  That explains the presence of the NBC photographer.)

That's Gotta Hurt

Marty makes a mistake crossing an electric fence. He's now assuming the role of soprano in our trio.

For you Bailey's Irish Cream Lovers

This is where it all begins.  Some Bailey's production workers taking a break to gaze at passing hikers.

Glenbeigh to Derrymore

Everybody had a great night’s sleep. Some of us even slept beyond the 7:30 time we agreed to. But we all were able to get to our “Full Irish” breakfast at 8:00. That is, full Irish, with the exception that we asked John the Innkeeper to hold the black pudding. Turns out, not even many Irish like the black pudding that’s supposed to come with a full Irish breakfast. What does come is cereal, yogurt, and fruit. Then, sausage, bacon or ham, eggs, toast, tomato, juice, coffee, and black and white puddings. (To be clear, neither black or white puddings are puddings as Americans would know it. The ingredients are - oh, never mind). .

In spite of this breakfast, we were able to strap on our packs and hit the trail shortly after 9:00. We were anxious to get an early start since today’s hike covers almost 19 miles to the next B&B - in Derrymore. We weren’t sure what pace we’d be able to keep, and we thought our arrival time could be anywhere between 6 and 8 pm. A tough day for the first day of the hike.

We left in a light, misting rain, with raincoats on. The weather varied a lot throughout the day. Misting rain, light rain, drizzle, and threatening rain. Actually, there were a couple of times the clouds broke. Between the types of rain.  For a couple of minutes each.  This wasn’t the best day of weather we’ve seen hiking in Ireland, but it also wasn’t the worst. But at the end of the day, it didn’t affect our hiking.

The days hike took us up some forest trails with rhododendron in bloom, down farm roads lined with fuschia, across fields lined with sheep and cows, and up and over several of significant hills. A lot of the Kerry Way follows ancient paths and roads across these fields and valleys. There were occasions where the clouds and fog opened up to some great long distance views, including Dingle Bay to the north. And there were many times we could see back several miles over the ground we covered, or several miles ahead.

We passed three other hikers shortly after we left this morning, and those were the only hikers we saw all day. On a lot of the back roads we walked cars would occasionally pass, almost always with a smile and a wave from the driver. On one farm road, a farmer in an old Land Rover passed us with his dog, an Australian Shepherd, running along in front of the truck. The dog stopped to greet us, so the farmer had to to stop and call him back. Back at the truck he started running down the road in front of  the truck again. This was a working dog, heading out to a field with his owner to herd sheep into a different field. Marty and I saw this multiple times last year.

The geographic names in Ireland are terrific, mostly derived from Gaelic. Mountains we went over or around today included Curra, Knocknadobar, and Drung Hill. We crossed the Behy and  Verta Rivers, and walked across the Beith and Verta valleys.

And we finished the day a lot earlier than we thought. Around 4:00 we got to the Failte Farmhouse, meaning we averaged around 2.5 miles per hour over all the terrain, including what few rest stops we took.

Failte Farmhouse is pretty isolated, several miles from Caherciveen, the nearest town. So the proprietess made dinner for us here. Homemade mushroom soup, roast chicken, vegetables, and apple pie with whipped cream. But Marty and I had to note that this is the first night we’ve spent in Ireland without Guinness. We’ve got some catching up to do.