Sunday brought us from Kenmare to Killarney along the old road, a distance of around 18km. It took us through some of the best scenery that Ireland has to offer.
The terrain was excellent for long distance walking. Gravel paths, railway sleepers and flagstones kept our tormented feet well away from the worst of the boggy land.
The path is very interesting. Trees emerge from the bog in unusual places, abandoned homesteads dating back to the time of the famine are common, and we walked through a narrow glen in one place that seemed to come right from the movie “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”.
After a number of hours we descended the steps by Torc Waterfall. Only a few minutes to go. Or so I thought. We still had Muckross Estate to get through.
And finally, the Brehon Hotel, the finish line, and a chance to take off our boots at long last..
Update: Video of Day 3
Maybe we’ll see you on the 2009 walk?
Passive Impressions 
Well done, Colm!
I wouldn’t mind going back to Kerry – or Ireland – but I guess I’d need better walking shoes if taking a walk with you 🙂
Well done! That’s one heck of a long way to walk in 3 days, and some pretty rough terrain too by the looks of it. 🙂
We had a few sprained ankles from using the wrong walking shoes, but Sunday’s trek had by far the best paths.
It does look a bit easy there doesn’t it? I’m putting together a set of movies where I will show a far larger collection of photographs and videos taken during the 3 days. Hopefully that will give you a better feel for the trek.
WOW!!! This was an awesome feat! (‘scuse the pun) I trust all blisters are healing and aching muscles are easing? I was so impressed to read that there were over 200 people participating the one day.
In Cape Town we have two annual ‘walking for charity’ events.
The shorter one (up to 20 km) is called “Blisters for Bread” (http://www.entrytime.com/index.asp?GoTo=EventInfo&EventID=1909 and http://www.psfa.org.za/projects.html – the Peninsula Schools Feeding Scheme, which benefits from the walk) and is on 31 August 2008.
The longer one (up to 80 km) is appropriately called “The Big Walk” (http://www.bigwalk.co.za/), and it’s on 9 November this year.
Both draw thousands and thousands of walkers and spectators line the roads for kilometres. But the route is along tarred roads, mostly highways and main roads, which are blocked off to vehicles for the duration.
So it’s not AT ALL scenic like your hike. I so much prefer yours. Mind you, I don’t think the narrow gravel roads and rocky tracks around Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak (Cape Town’s famous mountains) would survive the onslaught of thousands of hikers (with all their rubbish) on a single day! We’d have to employ thousands of cleaner-uppers!
80 km? In one day? That’s absolutely mad stuff!
I have a feeling that there will be many more people participating in the event in Kerry next year. It is only 3 years old and yet the numbers attending are increasing pretty steeply each year.
They have a strict policy regarding litter. People think it’s ok to throw away banana skins and apple cores, but it’s not: the walk leaders took a dim view of erstwhile litterers!
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