Day: |
050 |
Date: |
Friday, 13 May 2016 |
Start: |
Carran |
Finish: |
Kinvara |
Daily
Kilometres: |
30 |
Total
Kilometres: |
1353 |
Weather: |
Warm and sunny all day with an occasional
cool breeze. |
Accommodation: |
Fallon's B&B |
Nutrition: |
Breakfast: Cereal, toast & jam
Lunch: Muesli bars and chocolate Dinner: Pizza,
ice-cream |
Aches: |
None really |
Highlight: |
Sitting on top of Mullagh More (200m) in
brilliantly sunny weather with expansive views over The Burren in
all directions. |
Lowlight: |
The last 10km of the day through less
interesting scenery on exposed roads under a warm sun with tired
legs and feet. |
Pictures: |
Here |
GPS Track: |
Here |
Journal: |
While eating my breakfast in the hostel
kitchen, a tradesman who I had seen working at the hostel last night
came in to prepare his own breakfast. It turned out that
thirty years ago he had lived for a time at Gosford, 10km from my
home at Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast, and had played for the
victorious Central Coast Irish hurling team in a Sydney-wide
tournament on St Patricks Day. Small world!
I started
walking at 8:30am on a beautiful sunny morning following minor roads
eastwards and climbing gradually. After an hour I turned onto
an old farm road that followed the bottom of a wide shallow
limestone canyon for a couple of kilometres before emerging onto a
broad rocky plain. Ahead was the clear light green Lough
Gealain with the white rocky mountain of Mullagh More as backdrop in
the Burren National Park.
My route took me past the lake and
up a very rocky ascent of Mullagh More. A bit of rock
scrambling was required in a couple of places and great care the
whole way to avoid ankle twists and stumbles. It was a slow
climb but rewarding and I stopped frequently to admire the views.
At the top, I took my first break for the day and enjoyed basking in
the warm sunshine and taking in the 360°view.
The descent
down the northern side of Mullagh More was also rocky and technical,
and I was quite tired by the time I reached the base and not looking
forward to the long road walk I had to Kinvara, today's destination,
in the warm sunshine.
There was some shade early on, but as
the road climbed out into the sunshine, it became just hard work.
I took a second break in some shade with 11km to go, then just put
my head down for the last few hours through rocky farmland,
eventually arriving at Kinvara on the shore of Galway Bay at 5:00pm,
and very happy to finish.
After a shower, I found a tick on
the back of my left calf and managed to leave its head buried in my
leg when trying to carefully extract it (later remembering that I
should have smeared Vaseline over it and it would have removed
itself). Using my pocket knife, I dug the head out and then
dabbed some antiseptic on the wound, hoping that it will be OK.
I got a fresh-made pizza from the deli in the local supermarket
plus some other food and drink and returned to my B&B to rest my
leags and feet. More warm weather and more roadwalking for the
next few days as I make my way north from The Burren Way to the
Western Way in Galway. |
|
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)
|