day 6: rest day off the edge of Ireland

location: the Great Blasket Islands
distance: 8.1 miles
entertainment: 3 mile boat trip, an unexpected proposal and a wonderful Irish couple to help capture it
sights: views of the Blasket Islands,

Slea Head, and the end of the Dingle Peninsula -- off the end of Ireland
lodging: Dun Chaoin Hostel (two nights!? what a luxury!)
dining: Blasket Island Centre for a late lunch and a fabulous restaurant and gallery the name of which I cannot find.

route: we slept in a bit late and headed down to the Blasket interpretive center to learn a bit about the island, what life was like living on the island, the consciousness-raising efforts of some of its final inhabitants, and the diaspora of former residents. from there we walked down to the ferry launch and crossed the three miles of open water to land below the abandoned village. from there, we climbed up the hill and behind the village for spectacular views, some photos taken by a friendly older Irishman ... and an unanticipated marriage proposal. the Irish gent did a fantastic job taking photos, and Andy had the foresight to start the GoPro recording just before popping the question, so we have great record of what happened.

after the big event, we sat down on a tuft of grass (vainly attempting to avoid the sheep droppings) a rested. Andy returned to a normal shade and his heart slowed down while I couldn't stop smiling. before climbing up the hill, I'd had a mind to find the departure point of the next free informational tour after we got back down to the village, but that was completely blown out of the water. instead, we just wandered around, through the tumbled-down houses and old tracks, between fields and around (surprisingly) skittish sheep. even though the islands were evacuated in the 1950s, a herd of sheep remain and obviously hadn't been sheered in quite some time.

as we headed back to the Blasket center from the ferry landing, the guy who'd sold us our tickets out to the island caught us up. he was out walking his friend's grand-daughter's toy-sized dog before heading to Limerick to pick up a pair of tickets to a Springsteen concert in Dublin the following weekend. we hadn't spoken more than a few words to him before heading out on the boat, but walked and chatted with him for a good fifteen, twenty minutes afterwards. as Andy said, he definitely looked like the kind of guy who'd been to more than a dozen performances of the Boss and the E Street Band.

lunch was good, made calls to my parents with the good news, and headed back to the hostel to rest for a bit before climbing over the hill for dinner.

evening: after returning from our adventure and once growing a bit hungry after our late lunch, we determined to try climbing over the hill in search of the restaurant the hostel's proprietor mentioned -- supposedly about a 20 minutes walk along the Dingle Way. it turned out to be closer to thirty, but it was certainly worth it. the food was good and there was a huge family group with a tiny baby nearby (and somewhat overwhelming the wait staff and kitchen, as it transpired). once the dining room cleared out a bit a young guy began performing perhaps the most traditional music we heard in a restaurant setting. an excellent way to end another spectacular day.

day 5: Dingle to Dunquin

location: Dingle to Dunquin
distance: 16.9 miles
entertainment: curious calves, A Wise Man's Fear, Snap Judgement episode 414, Nerdist episode 377
sights: Ventry beach & harbor, Mount Eagle, Dunbeg ring fort, Slea Head drive, the Great Blasket Islands
lodging: Dun Chaoin Hostel
dining: Ventry Beach picnic & Kruger's Bar

route: the morning started out a bit rough. I'd developed some uncomfortable blisters towards the end of the preceding day and I wasn't sure how they'd fare, in spite of the judiciously applied Compeed. (as an aside -- how do we not have Compeed or some approximate equivalent in the US?! hiker friends -- do you know of anything comparable?) after my feet warmed up and got used to walking, however, I was ready for the long haul. about that point, Andy's knee decided to act up -- to the point that we had to take about ten minutes sitting beside a field with a gaggle of curious calves to determine whether continuing on would be a good idea. I'd conceded not twenty minutes earlier that I was going to power through the pain in my feet because this was the section of the hike I was most looking forward to and nothing was going to prevent me from experiencing it. after a rest and some anti-inflammatory, Andy was game to continue on, though it was a bit awkward and still painful for a good while once we started walking.

we stopped for a picnic lunch on Ventry beach with spectacular views of the harbor and, if we stood and turned, of Mount Eagle. as we crossed the sand, we encountered another hiking couple with whom we'd been keeping pace for several days (we exchanged nods over breakfast at our B&B in Anascaul). they'd opted to have one of their bags transported and had both experienced some degree of difficulty on their hiking trip (stomach problems for the woman, knee problems for the man) and were taking it a bit easier this day.

in the next segment, I suggested straying from the path a bit and visiting the Dunbeg ring fort, a 2,500 year old ring fort perched precariously on the edge of a cliff -- with spectacular views off to the Iveragh peninsula. but as good as the views were from the fort, they exponentially more impressive from several hundred meters up the shoulder of Mount Brandon as we followed the Dingle Way. the drive along Slea Head is nice, but the hike just a bit higher up? so much more jaw-dropping. the walk was a bit challenging, with all the ups and downs and uneven terrain (I think I turned my ankles more in this section than perhaps any other) but rounding the mountain and getting that first glimpse of the Blasket Islands made up for every uncertain step, every reminder of growing blisters, every twinge of every over-taxed muscle.

of course, after we came around for the sight of the Blasket Islands, there were still a disheartening number of kilometers remaining before we reached our hostel... but at least that distance gave us an idea of how long it would take to get to the interpretive center and ferry launch for the following day.

evening: while the hostel offered pasta and sauce for purchase, we opted to try the only pub in town (Kruger's) for some basic sandwiches and pints. we encountered that same couple as earlier in the day, whose transported bags had been misdirected somehow, as we headed for the pub. it was perhaps one of the more authentic small town moments of our trip. there were just a few guys having their Tuesday evening pints, chatting about mundane things in both English and Gaelic. a younger woman pulling pints behind the bar and a woman who looked to be her grandmother sitting, supervising, and chatting with the patrons in Gaelic. when we asked for sandwiches she was happy to oblige (allowing for the fact that there weren't many options remaining). it was one of the more satisfying cheese and tomato sandwiches I've ever eaten, and the view more than made up for any possible limitations of the meal. I imagine living in Dunquin to be not to different, logistically, than where we live now, with the giant difference of the views you'd wake up to every morning. must be something spectacular even with weeks of unrelenting drizzle.

Dingle to Dunquin was the most visually spectacular day of our trip. period.

day 4: Anascaul to Dingle

location: Anascaul to Dingle

distance: 15.8 miles

entertainment: The Name of the Wind, Snap Judgement episode 313

sights: Minard Castle, panorama of Iveragh Peninsula, Garfinney Bridge

lodging: Rainbow Hostel

dining: a touristy pub not worth remembering.

route: today's hike started easy over little-used country roads down to the beach beside Minard Castle with incredible views across the water to the Iveragh Peninsula (better known as the Ring of Kerry). the road from there was less picturesque than previous days; as we cross the hill we encountered a pair of guys driving oil tankers stop and chat while heading to/from wherever the oil was being used. there were narrow lanes with tall hedges on either side, fields beyond presumably for grazing sheep or cows. we walked past a wool collective and one of the larger milking farms of the trip. 

nearing Dingle (and reassuring me we hadn't strayed from the track) we came upon the Garfinney bridge, a 16th century stone construction that collapsed a bit over the years but which has been restored to picturesque, traversable glory. as we hiked through this bit, I listened to an episode of Snap Judgement about the Apocalypse (which originally aired in December of 2012) and got to thinking about what it would take to survive a cataclysmic event in a place like the one through which we were walking. one story mentioned zombie preparedness.

the walk into Dingle was along a somewhat busier highway -- two whole lanes! with lots of curves that kept us zig-zagging across the road to stay visible. we arrived into town and headed for the bustling grocery store where the hostel shuttle was due to make an appearance in the near future. Andy supervised the packs while I headed in for some lunch and supplies. as the most visible and possibly largest supermarkets in Dingle -- the only place on the peninsula with a fully stocked grocery -- the place was thrumming. took a bit to find all that we might need, as well as find an ATM with the cash we'd need for paying for lodging for the remainder of the trip.

evening: after recovering a bit at the hostel, which was a fair distance outside of town and longer than we'd want to traverse after a day of hiking, we caught a van ride back into town. Dingle is a lovely town, but after several days at a slower pace and spending time in more off-the-beaten-path places, it came as kind of a shock. we found a pub for dinner that was perfectly fine, but felt a bit touristy. had some fried brie and cranberry sauce, which is apparently a hot appetizer, that turned out to pale in comparison to what such a thing can taste like (we enjoyed that fantastic plate three nights later at The Old Pier).

we'd worked ourselves into a bit of a corner by kind of pressuring the hostel guy to come back with the van at 9 to pick us up. we could have stayed out later, perhaps caught some live music, but we certainly weren't interested in walking the extra distance back to the hostel. so after a quick wander around town and a half pint of Murphy's at Murphy's on the waterfront, it was back to the hostel to settle in for the night. 

(at midnight, after we'd been in bed and asleep for a good while, someone came crashing into the hostel kitchen, intent on cooking something. signs clearly stated the kitchen closed after 11:00 p.m. but it was about ten minutes before the staffer got this point across and something approaching sleeping conditions returned.)