Walking in the Green: Camp to Annascaul ~ The Dingle Way (Day 3) Ireland

Dingle Way walking sign posts: to Tralee, Dingle, Cloghane

The “Walking Man” shows us the way out of Camp.

Is there a country in the Western world that doesn’t take to the wearing of the green on St Paddy’s Day (March 17th)?

Thanks to the abundant numbers of people of Irish origin living outside Ireland, shamrocks and Kelly green are known far afield.

But, in Ireland, it is not only the shamrock which is green: it is the whole landscape. From olive to kelly and emerald: greens of every shade and hue. And, as the skies opened and the rains fell on our heads on the second day of walking along The Dingle Way in County Kerry, we could easily understand why it was all so lush and fresh.

Wild fuchsia hedge against white sky.

The narrow country lanes and muddy paths are hedged in with verdant fuchsia bushes.

Day 3: Camp to Anascaul

This walk takes you across the hub of the Dingle Peninsula. Following a “Boirín”, a Gaelic word meaning small road; that leads you to a col between Corrin and Knockbrack Hills to reach a height of 235Mtrs.705Ft. 
From here you will have some remarkable views of Baurtregaum Mountain; which is the highest mountain in the Slieve Mish range and an impressive megalithic fort that sits on the edge on Caherconree Mountain. 
From here the trail descends gently downwards and eventually offers you some spectacular views across the wildlife sanctuary of lnch Beach. It was here that some of the famous “Ryan’s Daughter” movie was filmed.


Distance: 17km/11.6 miles, Ascent: 350 m/1050 ft

Flowers planted among the stone ruins of an old home.

Camp, Ireland: where modern new homes can feature ancient ruins as part of their front-yard landscape design.

Small bitumen road through green fields and hills.

The old Tralee to Dingle road leads off into the greens…

Green fields and blue mountains.

… more greens …

Shaggy Irish sheep against green fields and hills.

Sheep on the green.

Heather, Ferns and Foxglove along a small black creek.

Heather, ferns and foxglove along a boggy creek.

A rusty barrel in a green field.

A rusty barrel provides a nice point of contrast against all the green.

Large granite stone encircled by grasses.

Standing stones, ogham stones, stone circles and just plain stones… We were never quite sure what we were looking at!

Evergreen trees in the rain.

An evergreen tree farm in the rain.

Rain against green hills.

Rain against the hills.

The rains came and went, as we walked the seventeen kilometres between Camp and Anascaul.

A photographer friend of mine asked me how I had kept my gear dry. Well: disposable plastic rain-coats pulled tight over broad-brimmed hats, plastic sleeves over the cameras, and an umbrella to keep the lenses dry whenever I wanted to take a shot. We were a bit of a sight!

Ferns at the edge of a puddle.

Ferns at the edge of the road-side puddles.

A tangle of brambles.

The tangles of brambles made me think of faerie tales and sleeping princesses…

Sheep in a green field behind a wire fence.

Fenced-in greens.

Red and yellow wild flowers

Wild flowers against more green…

Decrepit barn in the lee of a green hill

A pale-red roofed barn in the lee of an impossibly-green hill.

Three cows in the foreground against green hills.

Mooo! Curious cows watch us pass…

Rocky creek in very green fields.

A creek joins us on our descent into Castlemaine Harbour.

Our trip-notes told us that “excellent lunches” were available at Foley’s Bar in Inch, so we followed the road through the rain and down into town.

The young cailín (colleen) tending bar told us that her family had owned the pub for generations, but they had only just sold the restaurant-portion of the Bar, and the new owner had decided to take the week off! So, we made do with coffee from the bar and muesli bars and nuts from our back-packs, while we chatted with the barmaid. Her family farmed – but things were slow – so two of her brothers were working in Australia. She had considered visiting them, but she was concentrating on her studies, and she loved being in this small corner of the world where she knew everyone and the outdoor activities were plentiful.

Smoke from a chimney against green fields and gray skies.

Peat fires over Inch.

Rains on the Beach

Rains on the beaches along the North Atlantic.

A pale brown cow looks out from behind a fuchsia bush.

The cows found us quite a sight as we passed.

Fuchsia hedges against green fields and blue-green mountains.

More fuchsia hedges contrast the greens as we descend into Annascaul for the night.

text: slainte - good healthIt was not a hard walk, but it was wet. When we finally descended into Anascaul (Annascaul on Google-maps), we were very pleased to hear that we could get pizza on site, and not walk any further.

And, red wine makes a nice contrast to all that green!

Slàinte!

 

  • dietmut - September 8, 2012 - 5:06 pm

    leuk dat je ons hebt meegenomen op deze wandeling. Het is een mooie serie geworden. Ik wens je een fijn weekend, DietmutReplyCancel

  • Signe Westerberg - September 10, 2012 - 3:50 am

    What a delightful place, quaint and welcoming it seems from your posts and by gosh it is Green…. thanks as always for sharing your trip with us.ReplyCancel

    • Ursula - September 10, 2012 - 11:16 am

      Thanks, Signe! I do appreciate you taking the time to comment. 😀ReplyCancel

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