At around 9am, Frank reappears from across the way. I step out in the morning breeze and we chat next to his truck. It's a black Nissan that looks similar to a the Frontier model from the states. Pickup trucks are few and far between here in Ireland. And a mid-sized Frontier looks HUGE compared to all the tiny passenger cars. After chatting with him for a while, I get the sense Frank would like to not be tied to the hostel anymore. His solution, reduce his availability for now. Covid is a good excuse for that. I feel lucky that he decided to offer me a place to stay. After a bit, we head in and I pay my 30 euros for the night. The air is cool and breezy. The wind will feel chilly once I head out the door, so I throw on my rain jacket, powder blue and yellow in color. Frank looks at me and says "Wearing the Ukrainian national colors are we?" I laugh and reply, I hadn't thought about that, I wanted to be visible and I like yellow. Given the circumstances though, I'm ok standing in solidarity with the Ukrainians. I say my farewells to my host and head out in the morning breeze. It's overcast, breezy, and a cool mid 50's. I start to put Malinbeg behind me.
As I walk out the door, sometime after 10 am, I take a moment to admire the rock wall that divides the property. Masonry is a true art form. The Irish masons have skill. The wall is perfectly plumb on both sides, a remarkable feat since there is no mortar, and some stones are placed on edge.
My trek today to Glencolumbkille (Glenn Kohlum Keel) is all road miles, about 13 km (8 mi) total. Not far from the hostel, I pass a draw that drains into the Atlantic. Head good, body good, feet good, mind good, heart good - ALL Good!
As the kilometers clip by, I take a moment to look back over the Atlantic towards the Malinbeg tower (just visible in the left side of the picture). The air feels great. I take a moment to shed my wind breaker.
Although it's been cool, overcast and rainy, I'm reminded that it is summer in Ireland when I pass a patch of buttercups growing in the borrow ditch. They are the only flowers open this morning, most everything else is waiting for it to warm up. I notice that Ireland is void of much wildlife, a handful of bird species, and a whole lot of sheep.
The miles clip by quickly. A local farmer comes riding up from the opposite direction on his bicycle. He leans it against a utility pole some 100m from his pasture. "Out for a walk are ya? It's perfect weather for it." he says. I tell him about my hike up and over Slieve League the day before. We chat about little things for a few minutes then we both move on. He gets back to checking on his sheep and me back to my walk.
At about 1 pm, the road winds to the right and I get my first glimpse of Glen Head - The Cliffs of Glencolumbkille. Florence, my cabby from Killybegs, mentioned this site on Monday. His favorite actually. I must admit, it's fairly dramatic to round the corner and have it appear across the way. On top of Glen Head, I notice another Napoleon tower. Not far from the town now. Before I left Malinbeg, Frank assured me Glencolumbkille was a town. "It has both a grocery store and post office," he says. The two necessities that are needed, according to Frank, to be a town. Malinbeg store and post office shut down about 10 years ago. I guess technically that make Malinbeg a ghost town in Ireland.
I stop in town to grab lunch at Cafe Blasta. It's 2 o'clock now. A weird time for restaurants, many have shutdown or have not opened yet. The cafe is busy though and I order the special, baked salmon with Irish potatoes, green beens and carrots. Shortly after I find my BnB and unload for the night, the Millstone Bed and Breakfast.
Geraldine, 5'6" and dark hair, meets me at the door. "No wonder I didn't here a car. You're on foot," she says before showing me to my room. "Full Irish breakfast in the morning?" she asks. That sounds great, tomorrow is a big day and I jump at the chance to get filled up before I hit the road. "I normally do breakfast around 830 or 9am. When are you heading out?" she asks. I pause for a second and think to myself...I know I have close to 20 miles to hike tomorrow, an early start would be really advantageous. How about 7am? Geraldine stares at me. I can tell she doesn't want to get up at 6am to make a breakfast exception for one of her many guests. After a moment, I suggest 8 am. She seems much more pleased and retires to her side of the house for the rest of the day. It feels good to have an easy day. I use the extra hours to get groceries, and upload yesterday's adventure to the blog.
This is a picture of the countryside from Geraldine's Millstone Bed and Breakfast.
Wow, the beautiful things you're seeing. Thanks for sharing this
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