Day 12: Back on the Kerry way

Day 12: From Portmagee to Waterville

DateAug 25, 2022 (Thursday)
Today's Distance: 18 miles / 28 km
Route and StatsRoute Video
Total Ireland: 85 miles.
Total All Caminos: 1705 miles
Lodging: Klondike House B&B @ $ 70
Total Lodging: $ 795
Total Buses / Trains: $ 245
Food: $ 8
Total Food: $ 264

Meaningful Moment

I don't know if I call it a meaningful moment, but I was definitely most challenged at the end of the hike.

The day started with great weather so I stopped for about an hour at a roadside view of the Kerry Cliffs. You can see the videos below.

From there it was probably 14 mi of hiking on one lane roads, but pretty much routine. 

About 1:00 p.m. the skies turned gray and by 3:00 it was pretty much a constant rain with a constant cold blowing wind.

Anyway the memorable moment is really a couple of hours of just having to push through all of that, to keep going, to not give up, to not have a meltdown, to realize that I was accomplishing something today in distance and in spirit.

Random Thought of the Day

I have either two or three days left on the Kerry Way. The last stage is half new but also half a repeat of the first day. Many people just skip it. Maybe I'll walk that last stage, maybe I won't.

On the Road / Notable memories

Today two people stopped to ask me if I needed a lift. Must have been on a road where they're just not used to seeing hikers. Lol

Weather started out nice with blue skies and sun and I even had my hat on to block against it.

I knew from the weather forecast that it was going to change in the afternoon. And boy did it.

By 1:00 p.m. there was a slight drizzle going on so I brought out the backpack cover and put on my poncho.

By 2:00 p.m. it was drizzling consistently.

By 3:00 p.m. it was raining with a cold wind coming in off the ocean. I could definitely see how a person could get hypothermia in that kind of weather.

By 3:45 I made it to my bed and breakfast for the night and I was drenched. The lady representing the B&B kindly offered to take my poncho and shoes downstairs to the basement to dry out. :-)

By 3:55 I was in a hot shower.

***

So Waterville Ireland is known for being the European side of the first Transatlantic cable. I discovered this by walking around the town this evening.



The beautiful cliffs of county Kerry.








Some videos of the cliffs of Kerry







A few moments of personal reflection




Beehive huts were used by settlers of Ireland up to a thousand years BC.







When crossing my tallest mountain today, just outside of Portmagee, this grotto was on the side of the road. It struck me as an odd place for a statue.




My last panorama of the north shore of the Iveragh




Waterville








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 10: An Atlantic Ocean kind of day

Image
Day 10: From Kells to Caherciveen Date Aug 23, 2022 (Tuesday) Today's Distance: 13 miles / 21 km Route and Stats Route Video Total Ireland 58 miles. Total All Caminos: 1678 miles Lodging: Private B&B @ $ 80 Total Lodging: $ 635 Total Buses / Trains: $ 245 Food: $ 11 Total Food: $ 216 Meaningful Moment On this stage of my Camino Iveragh, I hope to slow it down as I go from place to place and see things as I move along.  In the past I've been focused on distance.  Now I'd like to focus more on actually experiencing something in these places. Random Thought of the Day Both yesterday and today started the same way. Late. It makes me anxious to be sitting around instead of walking. But yesterday  I was waiting on bus transport, so I had an easy morning in Killarney before the bus left. This morning I'm waiting for a sheep dog demonstration right next to the bed and breakfast. After the demo I'll start walking. *** Thought I was all alone in t...
Read more

Tomorrow is "Go" Day

Image
Tomorrow We Depart for Ireland Date Aug 12, 2022 Total All Caminos: 1620 miles Names for various parts of the Iveragh Peninsula trail system. 1. Kerry Way 2. Ring of Kerry 3. Wild Atlantic Way Meaningful Moment Took Adriana and Jayden out for a Burger King run and a Starbuck's run. Then we did a check-thru of Carlos' and Adriana's backpacks. All is looking good. Finalized some equipment needs. Completed the American Airlines on-line check-in procedures. Just like on my last trip to Spain, we could not check-in on-line for the international portion of the flight, so we will get that done tomorrow at the gate when we turn in my backpack for baggage check-in. I believe that both Carlos' and Adriana's backpacks should qualify for carry-on. Random Thought of the Day The peregrine falcon watchers (of which I am one) from the Genesee Valley Audubon Society are having a get-together tomorrow. I will be sad to miss an opportunity for camaraderie. On the Road ...
Read more

Day 07: Serious downtime and chilling out

Image
Day 07: Dublin Date Aug 20, 2022 (Saturday) Total Ireland:  37 miles. Total All Caminos: 1657 miles Lodging: Hilton Garden Inn @ $ 100 Total Lodging: $ 470 Total Transport: $ 165 Food: $ 20 Total Food: $ 130 Meaningful Moment I'm in a serious negative mood. Carlos and Adriana and I talked about me being in a rut. Hard to say what I've been feeling, but it's been going on for a while. And hiking in Ireland has not alleviated it. I  wonder if I've been retired too long without a meaningful contribution to society. Of course there are many people who still work, and have no feeling that their efforts at the job contribute to society.  I have definitely enjoyed my retired life, which is going on 3 years now.  I get to do classes that I want to take, activities that I want to do and leisure when I want to relax. It's very different from the working world. But sometimes I wonder what am I doing that's good for the world. Maybe after Carlos and Adri...
Read more