A Skywalker Moment
I woke to beautiful clear skies. It was quiet in the city of Dingle. After breakfast I found myself out on the trail again a little before 9:00 in the morning. Today's walk transitioned through all kinds of scenery.
About an hour in, I left the paved surface shortly after running into a woman named Ruth with her two dogs. She told me not to take the roadways for granted because some of the trail ahead would probably be pretty muddy. She was right. There clearly wasn't enough time for the ground to dry out after yesterday's rainstorm.
After several miles of slogging mud, getting back on a paved surface was a welcome relief. The country roads are not heavily traveled. For the first three hours of the day, I probably didn't see more than half a dozen cars.
It took me until day four, but I actually got a little lost and off the trail. I wound up doing about an extra half mile. I must have missed a marker somewhere, but it was no big deal. I just had to find my way down to Ventry Beach, and it wasn't that difficult. It just meant I had to walk on a slightly more traveled road for about 20 minutes.
The beach was fairly crowded on a Sunday. Lots of people, some strolling with dogs, even a couple of people swimming in the ocean. The water wasn't freezing but I was not going in for a dip. There were some strange footprints that penetrated deeply into the sand. It took me a little while to figure out exactly what they were. Then it dawned on me that they were hoof prints from a horse.
I was about halfway through the day, and since I had worn my non-waterproof shoes my feet were fairly soaked. It was a welcome surprise to come around a corner and see what was basically a bench made of stone. That's where I took a break for about 15 minutes and changed socks. Dry feet always manage to put more of a spring into my step.
Shortly afterward I came back out onto the road, and things got a little more challenging. This was the heavily traveled tourist coastal road and it was pretty narrow. Cars would have to pull off onto what limited shoulders there were to let other vehicles pass in the opposite direction. In addition, it was all uphill.
As I rounded the southernmost part of the route I could see a couple of islands off in the distance. Skellig Michael, also called Great Skellig, is the twin-pinnacled crag and former site of an old Irish monastery. It’s also recognized for its starring role as Luke Skywalker’s island sanctuary in the 2015 and 2017 Star Wars films.
There were more Star Wars influences along the route. Other scenes in the film series were filmed at Dunmore Head, and Skywalker’s terrestrial hideaway is one of the area’s mysterious stone beehive houses, a dwelling of Christian monks built with local rocks in the 6th century.
Seeing the beehive buildings required leaving the road and following the trail up a steep hill. This was the most unmanaged part of the trail I've seen so far, and some sections of the footpath were totally undetectable. I can only guess that some of the Dingle walkers stay on the road to avoid the exertion necessary to get up and down these hills. The altitude did afford some great views and allowed me to pass by a very impressive waterfall.
The last several miles were all on roads again. The coastline is impressive, but difficult to enjoy when cars are passing only a foot or so away. For the most part, there were no shoulders on either side of the road for this stretch.
At the very end, I went off-trail again by missing a turn. This time it was good fortune, because it took me directly to my lodging for the night. Check-in was shown to be at 3:00, but when I entered the building they posted that it wasn’t until 4:00. I took the opportunity to walk across the street to the only nearby eatery. Krueger's Pub promotes itself as the westernmost bar in Europe.
It was great to finally sit down again and be served a hot meal and cold beverage. I made a pint of water disappear in record time. Today's walk required some serious work. On balance, I would say it was worth it for the views.
Once checked in, it was the same routine: Do my wash, take a shower, and then take a nap. Tomorrow is a relatively easy day with only 12 miles of mostly flat land. The weather is supposed to be great and I'm looking forward to continuing the journey.
