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. |
|
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)
|