June 13 - 16 miles in total! Day 2 of the Hike - toooo much cow poop!

 

Today we went from Annascaul to Dingle. The walk itself was 14 miles, but we ended up doing 16 between getting to our B and B and to dinner.

  We had thought that today might have been our rainy day, but the weather held off until we arrived and we were, again, hiking in just one layer and had to use sun block.

   We had a good breakfast at the inn and then set off. The bakery where we were to get packed lunches was closed, so we had to go to a little store and get - an apple each, a pecan kind of cookie each and a packet of crisps to share.

In the far distance - a white house. We hiked there and still had 2 miles to go! And this was just over halfway into the day's hike!

Dingle Harbor

We hoped to see a tea shop along the route, but we were in very rural country with no such thing. (And - no toilets, of course.)

Our meagre lunch - apple, chips, a bit of chocolate

    The climbs today were not insignificant as we went from Annascaul to sea level and then inland and up and then down to sea level at Dingle. However, we both thought they were more gradual today. But, it was a very long day, for sure - the most I have ever walked, I suspect.

 

Minard Castle

  Our first stop was a Minard Castle from the time of Cromwell when the English troops surrounded and damaged the castle and all the Irish inside were killed. It was in a gorgeous setting with lots of daisies. We saw several people there we had met over the last two days. 

 

No picture can convey the depth and squishiness of this mud and dung path.

   Then - lots and lots of walking. It was beautiful and rather warm. We wanted to walk 2/3 of the trip before we sat and ate, so pushed on.  The worse bit was a fairly long section (100 feet) of mud filled with cow poop - lots of it. Our boots sank down an inch or two at points, so it was very slick, very squishy. I went slowly, slowly, as I was afraid to fall in the stuff and get any part of my body in it. Jecca was very patient and held my hand for a while telling me where to step.

   

 It was also a day of climbing stiles. We wish we had counted them - probably 30 is a conservative guess. They were of several varieties, but must involved climbing up and then climbing down backwards.

      After the cow poop section, we came to a stream and sat there to eat our meagre lunch. Our boots were covered in muck.

The dung covered boots!

       We saw part of where we were headed before we'd descend to Dingle - a white house. In one photo it looks soooo far away, but we did get there.

     The descent was not as steep as yesterday's, but it was a much longer walk to the b and b (Emlach Lodge B and B) than we wanted. We passed through a sewage treatment plant and it did not look promising! But, when we got to the b and b, we were so impressed. Maggie let us in (but take off those boots with cow shit!) and showed us to our gorgeous room with Dingle Bay views from two windows. The room is the best one yet on the hike. 

     After a well-justified rest, we went into town. It has started to bucket rain and Maggie offered us a ride into town - which we took! I bought a beautiful t-shirt while we waited for a table at The Fish Box, run by the 4th generation of a family which catch their fish from their own trawler. Needless to say, we had fish and chips which were amazing. Jecca had a delicious fish chowder, too. 

       

Fish and Chips at the Fish Box - after a LONG day!

When we were done, it had stopped raining and we walked (ugh) back to the B and B armed with some more blister pads and some dried fruit snacks.

         Truly a glorious day. But, we did walk from 9:00 - 4:00 with just a short break at Minard Castle and when we ate our lunch.

View from Emlach Lodge B and B - gorgeous