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.