{i’ll be posting my ireland journal in it’s entirety for the next few days. if you haven’t had a chance to view the images, check that posting out here. i’ll also be posting my polaroid images when i get them scanned into my computer}
“jess and i hiked mt. errigal. we got wet. soaked.
it was about an hour drive to dunlewey, which is at the base of the mtn. we stopped at the visitor centre before mom and gma dropped us off at the carpark {we got a map and some water, among other things}.
we started hiking, realised we couldn’t really go up the way we were headed, and walked back down and to the right. the guidebooks say the hike to the summit and back is about 2.5-3 hours, but i highly doubt that!! we hiked for an hour and weren’t even close to the ridge connecting errigal and the other one. it didn’t help that there isn’t really a path, so you are kind of left to your own to figure out how to get up there… after an hour, we figured we’d better head back down so we did – we had arranged to meet mom and gma two hours after they dropped us off. it took us less than 30 min to get down, and as we got to the bottom, it started raining hard. we decided to walk back toward town and head to the church we’d seen by the lake but as we started walking the wind picked up.
{this is an entirely comical situation: the road goes along the base of the mountain, so you are walking along a ridge, and there is nothing to protect you from the elements… i tried to huddle under some peat, but the ground was so wet that it really didn’t do much. and the rain was coming in from all directions it seemed, so it was a useless attempt at hiking}
it took us 20 minutes to get just around the bend, where a man had stopped to watch us and ask if we wanted a ride into town. thinking a) mom would be along soon and b) gma wouldn’t approve, we declined – luckily they did show up just a minute later. we drove back to the visitor centre, where they have a restaurant, and sat by the fire to dry out. we were essentially soaked from the hips down – everywhere the rain jacket didn’t cover. i felt like i had put on jeans right from the washer!
the mtn was cool, and i wish i’d had more time to hike it. the further you go, the more peaty and mossy it becomes – before the mtn starts its steep incline. the moss and peat was surprisingly springy, though we did spend a lot of time picking our way through puddles on the way up. after lunch, we drove to ardara, a town that’s famous for its woolmaking heritage. i bought a gorgeous wool blanket – one i most definitely will not be letting the dogs near!
(g got sammy shaved today – will send me his pics)
from ardara, we turned off the main road to go toward port. i would guess that for at least 45 minutes we didn’t know if we were on the right road, nor was road any wider than my office (longways!). it wound us through a valley and climbed steeply over the mountain before dropping down again. we finally saw signs for port – gma was convinced we were lost – you would think that since i’ve very clearly been reading the maps all week and never gotten us lost, she would have a little faith in me!
the scenery was intensely wild – large tufts of heather, boulders, and sheep everywhere. we had flocks of sheep in the road at one point and i managed to get some great photos.
the “town” of port is abandoned on the hillside. the stone houses are largely falling apart (but oddly the fences aren’t), though there was a more modern house that appeared to be lived in. the cove down there was seriously windy, so we didn’t stay long, but i would have loved to.
the pebbles on the beach wre more like stones and the waves were crashing over the rocks in the harbour.
the drive back to killybegs was short and we went to dinner at the tara hotel again. jess + i stayed out for drinks as well and talked a little more about everything.
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i want to travel and write. do i really want to go to chicago?“