Today, I set out to begin my trek from the west coast to the east coast of Ireland. My day began around 830 am at the local grocery store. I grabbed a pastry, banana, and protein shake and watched locals double park as they grabbed last minute items on their way to work. On a referral from the clerk, I placed a call to Flor, a local cabby. It appears I woke Florence out of bed this morning. He seemed more that willing to take me to Bunglass Point, my starting point for the day. The ride over, was wonderful! Florence is a retired fisherman from Cork, Ireland. As we speed down the narrow streets of Killybegs, he's honking and waiving to what seems like the whole town. "That's my nephew," he says to me. There is an estimated 30,000 Ukrainian refugees currently calling Ireland home while the conflict rages on in Eastern Europe. "See those folks there, Ukrainians. Killybegs (Kelly-bags) has some 8,000 in town. Hard to find hotels right now. What are you doing in Ireland?" I look at Florence and say, Walking to Belfast is my plan. Most people think I'm mad when I tell them. He responds with, "You don't have to be mad, but it helps." We both laugh and he begins to inquire about my trip. He laughs when I butcher most of the Irish town names I'll be visiting in a few days. "I'll be in Ardara (Ar-dare-ah) in a couple days", he laughs. "Ah-drah" he says. Florence is full of little tips and local history. He makes our 30 min drive feel like 5 min and makes me feel right at home. We arrive and I proceed to pay him the 40 euros for the trip. "Anyone expecting you on the other side of the mountain? Are you in touch with anyone over there?" Yes. Frank at the Malinbeg Hostel is expecting me. "Very good. Best of luck to you." He rushes off before I could ask for a photo.
As Florence drives off, I turn north and look at the fog covering Slieve League cliffs. Slieve (shleeve | meaning: mountain) and league (meaning: grey). I can see only a fraction of the cliffs and don't know quite what I'm in for. Fog for sure. Rain, perhaps. What else? It's now 9:45 am when I start up the mountain.
I start up the path that leads into the fog and the eventual top of the mountain, about 1,600 ft up. The path from Bunglass Point is a combination of gravel and stone steps. They are improvement, placed there to reduce erosion. Today, if feels like I'm climbing the stairs to Mount Mordor from Lord of the Rings. Unable to see the top of the mountain, I tell myself "This is the Way" and off I go.
Not long after leaving Bunglass Point, I encounter my first marker, I call him Uncle Phil. I'm feeling great though the climb is steep. I take comfort in seeing the Uncle Phil markers. This is going to be ok. The markers make it better than I expected, I tell myself. The wind is blowing about 25-30 mph. It's cold but the climb keeps me warm. I press on, admiring what little I can see. Below is the last picture I take before ascending up into clouds.
Not long after, I'm surrounded by fog. The wind is howling at my back. My visibility drops to 100 feet. I wonder what lies ahead? Simultaneously I'm pondering whether I chose the wrong start time? After a few brief seconds, I affirm my decision and press on. After all, it's Ireland after and This is the Way. If you look closely through the middle of the photo below, you can barely see the stairs leading up to Mount Modor.
I continue climbing. UP and UP and UP. It begins to drizzle, which feels like a 1,000 little needles with the blowing wind. I stop, pull out my rain pants, gloves, and trade my puffy for my rain jacket.
As I continue to climb up, the trail gets faint. This fog is not helping me right now. Where's Uncle Phil? I'm now following boot prints in the mud. After some harrowing scampers across wet rocks and steep hillsides, I spot these yellow painted rocks. One every 30 to 50 feet. Not quite what I was expecting. They are however, leading me in the right direction..UP! So I press on. I hike along some of the steepest hillsides I've ever traversed. This stretch of the hike is not for the faint of heart. This is some treacherous country and some of the most challenging I've crossed with a backpack. I think to myself, best I not fall. It will be a long tumble down before I stop. So, I take my time. Being mindful of every step, I make sure I have multiple points of contact with ground.
Somewhere along the way the fog parts and lifts briefly. I'm standing on the edge of Ireland and on top of the tallest cliffs in all of Europe looking out across the mighty Atlantic Ocean! I'm overcome with emotion as I reming myself what started as an idea and a simple dream, is now REAL! The fog quickly rolls back in. At about 115 pm, I start my decent. Once I drop below the fog, I stop and look back. Words cannot capture the beauty and immenseness of what I saw. This picture cannot do the cliffs justice. After 3 hours, I had crossed Slieve League and was well below the fog line on the northwest side. In the picture above, my trek started on the grey spot on the second farthest point (Bunglass Point). If you look closely at the farthest point, you can see a small tower on the point. I'll cover that in my next Malinbeg post.
This photo looks back towards Bunglass Point, a little after 3 pm. I stop for lunch on my way down one of the steepest descents I've ever made. The picture above doesn't capture the steepness of that grassy mountain. Nevertheless, I press on, alternating my way through peat moss, solid ground, and bogs. Darn! I need to find drier ground, I tell myself. With my next step, I'm up to the middle of my shin in water and can feel my foot sinking lower. Rats! Thank goodness I have gaiters. Two steps later, I'm back to stepping in a few inches of water, then back on dry land. I continued the Bog two-step all my way to Malinbeg.
I stopped a few times along the way to filter drinking water. Never miss an opportunity to top off an empty bottle.
Some time after 3 pm, I could see the loose association of houses they call Malinbeg as well as Silver Strand Beach below. A beautiful white sand Irish beach. On the tip of the point of the mainland, you'll notice there is another one of those towers. Malinbeg is my final destination for the day. It took me 6 1/2 hours, to hike the 8+ miles across Slieve League. The conditions were not easy. With my final destination in front of me, I pressed on, arriving around 4 pm, right on schedule to meet with Frank.
Below are my only trail companions I saw today. Sheep all around the "common lands".
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