The Rugged Coast of Ireland
I am back on facebook, as this is the only way I know to share this blog, and keep up with some of my family.
Today I measured my steps since the last blog post, and my total since that date is 54.5 miles, one of my busiest and best walking sections yet. What made the difference? Vacation. My daughter and I traveled to Ireland, and we walked all over that beautiful green country. We walked around Dublin on Saint Patrick’s day, surrounded by tourists and music and lights. We walked along the bay in Galway, enjoying swans, colorful houses along the water and light breezes. We walked along the stunning Cliffs of Moher, battling stronger winds and watching a sunset. We walked along a peninsula near the Ring of Kerry, alone completely on the trail except for a few shy sheep, battling the strongest winds yet. We struggled to stay upright on the bare rock and grass turf, water roaring against the cliffs on every side. We walked on a beach, walked down to see tetrapod footprint fossils, and we walked back and forth, over and over, in airports. This was the ultimate walking vacation, we could explore on our own time, wherever we wanted, but we could sleep indoors each night. Back in our BnB’s we would share notes on our favorite places while untangling our wind swept hair. The weather was cold, but not unpleasant, and we enjoyed wearing sweaters and scarves.
In the Burrens, an area where topsoil has washed off and bare rock covers the land
From my diary while in Ireland I wrote:
” Today was my favorite. We drove out of Galway, and stopped at beautiful scenic spots. One was a stone cairn gravesite from 4000 BC. It was in a stunning beautiful barren location in The Burrens. Ireland was once covered in trees. Then Vikings began to farm. They cut down trees, burned and such to clear. Top soil eroded and now this area is all limestone and bare rock. …..We drove along the coastline and stopped at a rocky beach, and walked around stepping in the water and hopping on rocks. We stopped at an old cemetery, modern and Celtic/Christian. We stopped at a cliff over the water and then…We drove up to the Cliff’s of Moher, stunning. They are 1000 feet down to the ocean. The water was blue and the cliffs rugged. The water and sky were silky.We walked around and watched the sunset, and froze. Birds flew around, ospreys and various sea gulls. ……Friday we drove to Valencia Island, another beautiful place. The drive was interesting as we saw lots of homes and regular life small towns. We saw some old castle ruins, pretty waterways, narrow roads and views of bays and mountains. We followed a long winding road to the sea, to rocks along the shore with ancient tetrapod footsteps fossilized in the stone. It was rugged and isolated, and honestly I’ve run out of superlatives. Walking around it feels like Shining Rock,( NC), or Grandfather Mountain, on the sea with wild crashing waves. What a lonely place rural Ireland must’ve been. Old cemeteries with Celtic crosses, moss on the stones, walls covered with so much grass it’s hard to find the rock wall underneath……Today was the best, the Ring of Kerry. We hiked up a steep bald mountain in such extreme wind we could barely stand. The mountain was a peninsula out to sea with cliffs and birds and crashing waves and cheery blue-green water.”
More bare rocks
We took a walking tour in Dublin based on Saint Patrick. I knew very little about him, just that I must wear green on his day to avoid being pinched, and that he chased snakes out of Ireland. Our guide started the tour speaking in Irish. He said Americans like to call the language Gaelic. We walked around the city, enjoyed old buildings and cathedrals and saw where Saint Patrick was to have first baptized the people of Ireland. His cathedral was stunning. It turns out the idea of chasing snakes out of Ireland is probably a myth, due to the importance of snakes to Druidic worship. Patrick started life in England as a son of a bishop, and at the age of 15 he was captured by Irish raiders, where he began his life in slavery. Dublin was a huge slave port, and shackles are a part of the artwork found in the city. Patrick spent several years hungry and suffering as a sheep herder. He finally walked across the entire country, found a ship home and returned to his family. In a vision he discovered God wanted him to return and bring Christianity back. He studied, became a bishop and he did return. One of the focuses of his work was to end slavery, both in Ireland and England. He was the original abolitionist. I was proud to walk along his footsteps. Reading a book later, I found in him the perfect mix of strength, compassion and empathy, everything a leader trying to convert wild peoples should be.
Spot where St. Patrick is said to have baptized first converts
In our pretend walk along the AT I have reached North Carolina, and am between Sassafras Gap Shelter and Brown fork shelter. These spots are blind areas for me, I have never been there. Fontana and the Smokeys are ahead of me. The family I am watching has made it into the Smokeys, but eventually ran into bad enough weather to choose to hop forward, and return later. I can understand that. I think the best time in the Smokeys is later, more near late April or June, when the wildflowers are blooming and the weather is warmer. In the video I watched today, the family got a ride along some of the roadway affected by Hurricane Helene, and it was something to see. The interstate is still down to two lanes, one each way, in the area that had been destroyed. The mom in the group was deeply affected by the storm damage, and she cried some before filming, sharing with us her feelings. She had been involved in relief efforts after the storm passed over, and now she was back, seeing how much had been done, and yet how much remains to be done. It is hard to see a beloved place suffering, the people and the landscape. Even so, the joy of being on the trail, hiking in natural beauty, and the adventure come through in the videos this family is producing. I hope they make it to the end of the trail and I get to follow them the entire way.
March 31 - 146.12
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