As some of you already know, I have decided to hit the road again and travel for the rest of the year. The goal is to do as much hiking as possible, so I will be visiting a lot of countries with mountains or with good hiking opportunities. For a "warm up" I chose to visit Ireland. As the mountains here are not too high and as there are many long distance hikes I thought it a good idea to start here. My first stop was Killarney, a lovely little town surrounded by a national park. It's also the starting and ending point for a 8 to 9 days hike called the Kerry Way. As I will do another long distance hike next week, I didn't had the time to do this one as well. But to get a glimpse of the Kerry Way I decided to walk the last stage from Kenmare back to Killarney. So early morning the other day I took the first bus to Kenmare. It wasn't difficult to find the first sign of the Kerry Way, so I was on my way within minutes. The first part led through Kenmare and it's outskirts and it took me about half an hour to leave the last house behind me. The path climbed steadily and once I made it over the first hill I had a nice view of the way that lay before me.
The sun was shining bright, but the air was still cool and fresh. It made for a really enjoyable walk along the countryside. The way led down into the valley and then up again towards the gap between the mountains of Peakeen and Knockanaguish. The ascent wasn't really steep and that was good, so my legs were able to warm up. Once I arrived in the gap, views of the other side of the two mountains unfolded before me. And what a view that was. Mountains all along the horizon, lovely fields in the valley below, the sky still as blue as possible, it was time for a short break to enjoy this beautiful scenery. Walking down into the valley I followed a creek for a while and the path got a bit muddier in places. But nevertheless it was a great walk. Surrounded by an amazing landscape, no other hikers on the path, a couple sheep bleating away every now and then, it was nature at it's very best. Once at the bottom of the valley the way led straight ahead before coming to a turnoff. Turning right, in the direction of Killarney, the Kerry Way started to climb once more. Soon I vanished into a little forest and marveled at trees covered in moss all over. What a sight to behold! I took the chance of the trees for a peeing break and when I stepped from the main path I saw a deer may be a hundred meters away from me. What a coincidence, as without the break I would never have seen it. :) Continuing with my ascent, I left the forest behind me and soon was on the top of the next hill with more splendid views all around me.
Another descent followed and while it was still a beautiful day, some clouds had moved in during the last hour and together with the wind it was a rather colder walking than before. At the end of the descent I arrived at a small pond with a waterfall. There I found some rocks to climb onto and took my lunch break. Strengthened by the food the next little ascent was a piece of cake and soon enough the next big goal loomed ahead of me: Torc Mountain. Actually this one is not part of the official Kerry Way, but it was recommended as an easy mountain to get up to. As I knew that I would pass it on my way, I thought it a good idea to add it to my hike today. Well, what greeted me at the foot of the mountain was a "Path closed" sign. But further up I saw some other people ascending and therefore decided to ignore the sign as well. Taking the first steps, the smell of burnt wood was in the air. Looking around a bit closer, I noticed that all the bushes around me were burnt down by a fire not so long ago. Counting one and one together I assumed that the path was closed because of this. Nevertheless I continued onwards as I thought it safe to proceed. There was a well maintained path with planks and logs basically all the way to the summit and not much was damaged by the fire. The ascent itself was steadily with a lot of serpentines and after about an hour of walking an incredible 360° view greeted me from the top. While clouds obscured the sun when I reached the summit, they disappeared about 15 minutes later and as the sun lightened up everything the view got even better.
Just before I wanted to go back down an elderly lady arrived at the summit and she told me that the fire was set by someone on purpose about a week ago and that the path was still "closed" as a precaution by the park rangers. Never thought that things like this could happen in Ireland.. Well, nothing happened when I was there and I made it back to the bottom of the mountain safely. While I didn't met too many hikers before, there were a lot around Torc Mountain. The way now led from Torc Mountain to the Torc Waterfall and as this one is easy accessible there were even more people. What a difference to the start of the hike! From the waterfall the path continued along the Muckross Lake until I reached Muckross House. There, another break and a sunbath was necessary as I was already a bit tired from today's hike. But the hardest part actually was still ahead of me. Well, the first kilometer after Muckross House still led along a lake and was beautiful enough. But the last four kilometers back to Killarney were a real struggle. Following the main road, there was nothing to see except a lot of cars and hotels. The feet were aching and the belly was rumbling, so I was really glad once I was back in the town centre for a well deserved rest. Although the end was not too nice, it was a great day and I know that in the end I will remember only the good things about today and of them were more than plenty. :)
Highlight of the day: definitely the view from Torc Mountain
This hike is for you if:
- you want to get a glimpse of the Kerry Way
- you don't have the time to walk the whole Kerry Way
- you want to see some lovely Irish countryside
- you want a 360° view of the Killarney National Park
This hike is not for you if:
- you prefer to walk short distances only
- you're looking for complete loneliness
- you plan on drinking in the pub til early morning the day before :)
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