Ireland in Sept 2006 part 2

Well now that I am set up with the new blog location I can start up again, maybe now I will be a little more diligent with my postings.

Where was I, … oh yeah the trip to Ireland. Our hiking trip consists of hiking from the south coast of the Dingle peninsula to the north side going across rather than around on the road, this sounds great to me… now. The day hike offers a part of the adventure that while I fully expected it to happen, I could have gone without. It was misty and rainy that morning, but I am prepared. My boots have been water proofed and I have this really cool rain suite that I bought at Cabela’s called the Frog Tog. I bought it for my trip to New Zealand, but never needed it. It was light weight and very packable. I have finished breakfast, walked down to the local store that has a small deli in the back and ask for a chicken or ham sandwich. The lady behind the counter looks at me like I have 4 sets of eyes. By her puzzled look I explain what I am in need of. Then she says ‘oh you want a meat roll’, and I says ‘uh yeah I guess I do’. She points to a row of open top, uncovered baskets of loaves of bread. So I proceed to the various baskets of ‘fresh baked rolls’ which to me look like at least day old sticks. They are not wrapped or covered just in a basket for anybody and everybody to look at and or to touch… ewe! So I do what I think is the next logical thing, I dig down (with clean hands of course) and get one that is buried in the center of the basket and feel pretty good that nobody else has touched this one and give it to the lady and proceed with my order for what will be my lunch later in the day.

To make a very long story relatively short as I am not ready to write a book yet, I head out in a van with my new group as the party chick from Australia has given it up. So it is me, the guide, Jim and the 2 young girls from Australia. The weather is getting worse, but hey I am game, I am here with water proof boots and the Frog Tog. The van drops us off at a dead end in the road, we get out don our gear and a hikin’ we go. As we hike up this really big hill, the rain is now literally in sheets and the wind is virtually blowing us up the hill. The water is running down this big hill and now I am concerned about the possibility of flash flooding it was raining so hard for so long. We reach the top of the hill and descend with the wind pushing down the hill along with the torrents of rushing water. The wind is blowing so hard that the rain is ‘falling’ horizontally.

As we are going down hill the girls (both of them are about 21years old and could not weigh more than 105 pounds soaking wet, which they are by now), are being knocked down by the wind. At first they both laugh and are having a grand time with it. I had to stop for a minute to unwrap my ‘meat role’ as it now after noon and have to eat so as not to have any low blood sugar issues. It is raining so hard that before I can eat half of the sandwich, the bread is saturated and is falling to the ground. I have to stop again to put the plastic wrap (which kept the hard stale ‘fresh role’ a little bit dry) in my pocket so as not to litter, the wind gusts again and before I know it I am knocked down to the ground. The girls got a kick out of this, because by now they have been knocked down a dozen times each.

Our guide, Thierry, has to yell just for us to hear him in the wind and rain, and he tells us that even though we cannot see it because of density of the rainfall, the coast and the cliffs are just to our left and to be very careful so not to slip and fall into the ocean. Alice is extremely scared at this point as since we cannot see the edge and the velocity of the wind, she is afraid she will fall off. The next mile or so I hold her hand to steady her. After that, the terrain flattens out a little bit, we crest the hill top and the wind is beginning to slow down a bit as the hill serves as a wind break and is at our back now. It was an interesting hike to say the least. I knew that at some point this would make for a great story but right now I just want to survive the process of the hike.

We finally hike through the trail to a well defined cow/sheep path that leads to a road, then on to the B/B where we are to stay the next 4 or 5 days. By now we are all soaked and freezing and my fingers are getting numb. My plan is this; if we ever get to our destination, I am in for a 30 minute long hot shower. And that is exactly what I do.

The weather clears up for the remainder of the trip and the biking is great. One of the great memories I take from this experience is the wild blackberries that grow wild everywhere along the roads. We bike for a while then stop and pick blackberries and eat them then and there. It was great.