Glendalough and the Spinc

Another spectacular glacial valley in Ireland that is the well trodden is Glendalough in Co Wicklow.

That photo was taken really early one Saturday or Sunday morning, two summers ago and it turned out to be a scorchio day so me and my pal Susan even ended up going for a dip in the little rock pools on our way back.

But the rest of the snaps were taken on a recent and dull, wet and very windy, average Irish day.

This is the route we took, the White Route http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/walkingtrails.html, which starts at this little waterfall....

Before beginning the steep ascent up these sleepers......

You go up 600 of these and then come out on top of the valley and walk all along the top of the cliff until it starts to meet a river...... and you come to this bridge.....

If you run out of water worry not you can have some of the fresh stream water to quench your climbing thirst, well we drank it anyway and we're still alive.....

After you cross the bridge you'll have a view something like this.....

See the lake in the background? That's where you'll have come from.......

You'll keep walking all along this big, powerful flow of water, it had been raining heavily, so it was a fearsome flow the day we went.....

Keep descending and just as you arrive on the flat you'll get to the old mining village.......

Here we are exploring after our big climbing expedition.........

You'll then walk back along the shore of the lake to the car park. It costs 2 euro to park so have change. It's really not that tough of a walk at all, the initial ascent is a bit hard going at first but the rest is a doodle and the views are fantastic all along the way. Walking very fast and without a break you can do it in 2 hours but just taking it handy it'll take 3.

The Gap of Dunloe

The Gap of Dunloe is really special place.

 Years ago my mum and Dad were there off having a stroll and there's a picture of my Mum sitting on a rock and she's a good 5 months pregnant. My older sister having never been there in her entire life ended up getting married in the Gap of Dunloe. That was her in the tummy in the pic and that photo showed up about a month before the wedding. To the present........

Bring rain gear, it can start pouring rain here at the drop of a 1 cent coin. Me and Neil went here last summer, well we went to Killarney on our summer holidays, and set off from Kate Kearney's Cottage where we parked the car. We got absolutely soaked, but we didn't care, and kept on walking.

Look at how close all those clouds are? Walking through the gap imagine, when you see no service on the iPhone, what it was like two million years ago when a glacier lived there.

 Leaving from Kate Kearney's you'll keep the river and streams to your right and come across a few lakes on your way. Just keep walking straight.

And don't forget to look up....... there are loads of streams running down the sides of the mountain......

It's not just all nature though because if you keep on walking you should come across some derelict little houses. Imagine living all the way up here on your own back when there was no electricity or Wi-Fi.

Easy enough now to see why the lads moved on..........

Keep on keeping on as they say and you'll get to this lake......

Look to the foreground and you'll notice that the gap has started to narrow now......

We got as far as here and turned back, we were truly drenched. But were refreshed after some afternoon tea in Aghadoe (think it was less than a tenner for this.....)

And we got all warm, dry and cosy, looking out at this.......

The lake we would have arrived at had we completed our walk.