Dingle to Dunquin (17km / 11.5mi)

This coastal walk to Dunquin was our favorite day of the trip!  Surprise surprise, the day began with rain but it also began with a taxi ride with Sean Moran, the 79 yr old owner of Moran Transportation and expert of all things Irish.  I LOVED this man and if I ever write a book he will be the inspiration for one of my favorite characters.  Mr. Moran felt sorry for us & dropped us off at Ventry beach (closer to our destination) and told us he’d be waiting for us at the end of our walk that day.  

The rain and wind along the beach made it difficult to take pictures or see very far, but it was so quiet and wildly beautiful.  Along the way we met fellow Dingle Way hikers from Ottawa Canada who were 1st time “inn-to-inn walkers” like us.  The poor guy had plantar fascia, so I stopped complaining about my shin splints when I saw he was determined to trek on.  We had lunch at a cafe near Dunbeg Fort and continued winding around the western coast of Ireland.  We saw the “Sleeping Giant” (Ceann Sibeal), an island that looks like a giant man in repose.

Dingle

Eric and I were in rough shape so we decided to skip hiking and spend the day in Dingle.  It turned out to be a rare full sun day, so all the locals were wearing shorts & sunbathing along the dock.  I bought pottery then shortly broke it in a grocery store because my gut reaction to tripping was to save the loaf of bread instead of the breakables.  Lunch was fish & chips from Reel Dingle Take Away (a little odd-tasting as they left skin on the fish before frying) and ice cream cones at Murphy’s.  Two things we noticed in Dingle:  most of the doors were painted bright colors AND the tourist shops had a lot of t-shirts with puffer birds wielding light sabers.  We never got a good answer for the doors, but we did learn that the new Star Wars franchise had filmed recently in the area and the locals were crazy fans at the moment.

Dingle is a music paradise, so of course we spent our evening listening to live music.

Annascaul to Dingle (20km/13.5mi)

This route was the second prettiest hike of the trip, with light rain off & on and a long stop at the rocky cliffs surrounding Minard Castle.  I could easily envision a Count of Monte Christo scene here or at the very least some smugglers bringing in French wine.  This was our third day straight of walking 10+miles, which we had NEVER done and these flat-landers were pretty sore early on that morning.  Dining options along our route were limited so when we stumbled on Kate’s Cross, a VERY tiny gas station/convenience store, we were thrilled with their simple offerings.  A table, some chairs, a toilet, and toasted ham & cheese sandwich with coleslaw — bliss!

At some point we reached a field where the instructions said walk across the field, but the entrance to this field had a large “beware bull” sign.  Needless to say, we moved quickly.  The last two miles before Dingle were beautiful, with hills full of sheep and rapidly moving rivers.  The road into Dingle, however, was a nightmare vertical walk straight down that seemed to last forever.

I had shin splints at this point & was so miserable that Eric claims I started muttering to myself and castigating the local livestock.