Day 18: Ardara to Glencolumbkille (16.2 miles)

A few days ago I drove this route with my husband Tim. I'd had a look at it on Google streetview but nothing had prepared me for how amazing it actually was. Bear in mind that we drove it in high winds and rain and it was still incredible. Today as I walked off from Ardara I did so knowing that it was going to be a challenging walk but also that it was sooooo going to be worth it.

Before I get into all that though I want to tell you about this morning before I left. My hotel last night was ...ok, I suppose ... but it didn't allow for interaction with anyone. There were only a few other guests and as far as I could tell only one member of staff (aside from the chef). So there was no chatting and no chance to find someone who might be going in my direction who could take my bag. I decided therefore to cough up for a taxi to take it to my next stop. Before I called the taxi I rang the hostel I'm staying in tonight just to make sure that it would be OK to drop the backpack there before I get there. Cliff, the manager of Ionad Siul, who has turned out to be possibly the nicest and kindest person I've ever met, quickly told me not to bother with a taxi which would be very expensive (around 30 euros) and that he'd come and pick the bag up himself. He just asked that I reimbursed him for the cost of the fuel. This was a 32.4 mile round trip and he offered to do it without taking a pause. I was overwhelmed and so thankful. One of the things that I'm continually impressed with on this trip is the lengths that people here will go to to help me out. It's humbling and it shows me every day how much goodness there is in people. So - problem solved!!

So off I set on my way. Because I was going to be staying in a Hostel which tend to be self-catering and I wasn't sure if there were any places to eat in the town, I decided to buy and emergency meal. It had to be lightweight, need little or no cooking and be a single portion. I bought a Pot Noodle. I also bought emergency rations of Toffee Crisps. The man in the shop also converted all the change I'd collected into a 10 euro note and a 2 euro coin. My wallet was suddenly so much lighter!!! Provisions purchased, I set off.

About a mile and a half out of town I turned off the ever present N56 toward the Glengesh Pass. As always the road started to rise before me. It took me past a primary school where the children were having a PE lesson teaching them soccer. It was a glorious day to be outside. So glorious, in fact, that I was sweating a brick with all my waterproof kit on. I had to stop and take it off. So my orange poncho and my trousers were put away in my small backpack. I carried on. The road got narrower and steeper. The hills to either side of me were dappled with sunlight and cloud shadows. They looked like impressionist paintings.

As the road started to corkscrew around and become even steeper I found some evidence of cycle racing. All over Donegal on the narrow, hilly back roads there are starting points for 5KM and 10KM races painted on the road. This particular race had a lot of painted encouragement for a Danish lad called Mikkel who the artist was encouraging to GO to ERRIGAL! It's nice to have cheerleaders Mikkel.

I passed tiny thatched cottages and lots and lots of sheep. Sheep are very jumpy. As soon as they see you they start running. One sheep knocked another sheep over and then trod on him to get away from me. So unnecessary! I have become quite fond of sheep and all their adorable lambs. Last night when I was ordering my dinner there was roast Donegal lamb on the menu. After all the little chats I've had with lambs over the last 10 days I couldn't bring myself to eat one, so I had chicken instead. I haven't had any conversations with them.

At the top of the pass I stopped at a viewing point to look back at where I'd been. It was stunning. I sat on the wall and ate one of my Toffee Crisps and drank some water. It's a nice thing to just stop and look and appreciate what you've achieved.

When my break was over I continued on up for another wee bit before the road flattened out and I found myself back on a far expanse of bog. The Crocknamurrin Mountain Bog is vast and it went on for miles and miles. It was also very peaceful with only the sounds of invisible birds chirping and the occasional rumble of a passing car to be heard.

This was quite a long section of the walk, but aside from the occasional dip it was largely quite flat. Eventually I climbed again but this time at the top I could see the sea in the distance. It was another four miles to Glencolumbkille but it was now in my sights. The rest of the way was down, down, down. About a mile and a half out of town, as I was coming to a T-junction, a car pulled up beside me. The window rolled down and a friendly voice from inside asked, "Are you Jane?" It was Cliff from my hostel. He introduced himself and asked if I needed anything. He had my backpack and he'd put it in my room for when I arrive. "You haven't got much further to go now," he said, "you're nearly there!"

When after 6 and a quarter hours of walking I finally reached my destination, Cliff welcomed me warmly. He told me my bag was in my room and that he'd be happy to drop it to my next B&B tomorrow. What a gent! He showed me around and asked if I had any plans for dinner. I said that I had hoped to get something to eat in the village but it didn't look like anything was open. I was happy to eat my emergency rations. He then surprised be completely by saying that he'd be cooking for the staff at 6 and I'd be more than welcome to join them. Of course I said "Yes please!" The thing is, when you're walking, as soon as you reach your destination, your feet basically refuse to work until the next day. I fully expected to pay for this dinner but Cliff said that he was cooking anyway so I might as well join in. He's my hero.

After I'd rested a bit and showered I came downstairs to eat. For the first time in nearly 30 years I watched a bit of Home and Away on the telly. I'm sure I recognised some of the faces! Dinner was delicious. I ate with the two young people who work at the hostel. I had a great conversation with Cliff about the walk and Donegal. Cliff took over looking after the place in August last year and for the first time since it was built kept it going the whole way through winter. So much of Donegal closes out of tourist season, it's unusual to find a place open throughout the winter. He and some of the local businesses are organising a committee to help promote the town and try and keep interest in the place year round. I really do think there's a market for it. I love getting away to the seaside in the winter. However if the infrastructure (shops/restaurants/pubs/entertainment) isn't there to support visitors, it's unlikely that they'll come. It was a good old chat. At the end he told me that he was going to Killybegs on Wednesday and he'd be passing my next B&B and the one after that so if I liked he'd move my backpack a further down the road again. How completely AWESOME is that? Cliff  is the best!

Today I really landed on my sore feet.


AWESOME!


Total mileage: 242.4 miles

Day 17: Lettermacaward to Ardara (7.8 miles)

I slept like a baby (the type that sleeps) last night. There is something comforting about the sound of the rain falling on a skylight. This morning when I woke up it was still raining but it was the gentle rain of an Irish soft day. My hosts, Anne and Rainer, were the loveliest and friendliest of couples and breakfast was smoked salmon, a range of continental meats and cheeses and whatever you'd like from the full Irish cooked breakfast. I had some eggs and toast with a little brie and smoked salmon. It was delicious. I talked with Rainer (I hope that's how you spell it) about his koi carp and pond which was very impressive. It made me think that I should do something about how over-grown ours has become. I had a lot of fun talking with Anne. She had some great stories about the area which she clearly loves with all its eccentricities.

One of the lovely thing about staying in B&Bs is that you get to meet other travelers. The other guests, aside from being friendly and interesting were also incredibly kind, offering to take the big backpack on to today's hotel. Anne and Rainer were very concerned about me walking through the roadworks over the bridge. It took very little to convince me to take a lift to the point where my alternative route left the main drag so I didn't get caught up in them. As my fellow guests were going that way anyway I went with them. The road was full of blind turns with no space to step out of the road away from oncoming traffic. I feel a little like I cheated today because this knocked a little over 2 miles off my walk. However I do think that that section of the road was too dangerous to walk (the reason for the major road works is to straighten the road because these bends are also quite dangerous to drivers.) So a very big thank you to Keith and Catherine for all your kindness to me. It is very much appreciated.

The route I took to Ardara (pronounced Ar-drah) was perfect - a narrow winding boreen with spectacular views and practically no traffic. At Maas I had to cross the road I'd avoided to take more winding roads. Although not as narrow as the first road, it had a better surface and again, very little traffic. This section of the walk was back into the boggy, barren landscape I've become so accustomed to. The distant hills were shrouded in rain-clouds. These are the very hills I will be negotiating tomorrow. Having driven the route with Tim the day before yesterday I can promise that it's fairly spectacular.

As I strolled along, lost in my own head, I started to notice that there was a rumble in the distance that was getting louder. Then over the horizon a large convoy of maybe 20 tractors of various ages came roaring into view. The drivers were clearly having a blast as they hooted their horns and yahooed loudly as they passed me. What else you you do on a Sunday morning in Donegal?

After the tractor rally had left and the quiet returned I found myself on the outskirts of Ardara. It had only taken three hours to get here. I didn't even have a back ache yet! Never mind, I thought, I could just mooch around town for a couple of hours after all the sign at the edge of town and another on the bridge seemed so promising. The only thing was as it's Sunday all the interesting little shops were closed. It was totally deserted. It was 2pm - a little early for a check in - but I had nowhere else to go, so I went to my hotel and asked if it was OK to check in a bit early. The lady at reception was very obliging and told me that my room was just ready and she'd already taken my backpack up. So I've spent the afternoon resting up, having a bath and planning the rest of my week. It's been very relaxing indeed.

Tomorrow will be a lot more challenging.




Total Mileage: 226.2 miles

Day 16: Burtonport to Lettermacaward (14.7 miles)

After yesterday's aborted mission I was hoping that today would be a bit friendlier to me, weather-wise, and it was. When I was rudely woken from my dreams by my alarm, the first thing I noticed was that the sky I could see through the sky-light in my room was blue. A good sign.

It was our last night in our little cottage in Portsalon so the morning was spent putting all our stuff away ready to vacate. I had to decide what I was going to take with me and what I was going to send back home with Tim. We had breakfast and by 10.30 we were packed up and ready to leave. Tim was taking me to the place he should have collected me from yesterday, had I completed my walk. We took our last drive out of Portsalon and through Glenveagh and eventually came to the garage at the turn off for Burtonport - my setting off point. I'd already called ahead to the B&B and they were absolutely fine with Tim dropping off my backpack early. We said our goodbyes. I get very emotional at these partings so it was with tear-stung eyes that I set out on the road again.

The day was fine and sunny in sharp contrast to yesterday. Before long I was regretting wearing my warmest base layer and fleece. I was carrying the orange poncho and waterproof trousers in my small rucksack. They were just unnecessary weight because as far as the eye could see it was blue skies and fluffy white clouds. It wasn't until about 5pm when I wasn't far from my final destination that the darker clouds started to form. Even still, no rain fell on me the entire day and I call that a win.

The first section of the walk took me into Dungloe, a busy little town with lots of pubs and places to eat. I stopped at a little bakery for a quick snack before heading out of town again, The route should have taken me onto the N56 again and into the massive roadworks I told you about in yesterday's post, so I went on a different road that took me straight out of town and immediately into undulating countryside and narrow quiet roads. When I envisaged what this adventure would be like, it was roads like this that I thought I'd be walking on, I barely saw a soul all day. I did meet two boys who were playing on a rocky outcrop up high across the road from their house. One of them was waving a Donegal flag and was making a loud, shrill call. It reminded me of playing "I'm the king of the castle" when I was very young. I thought how lovely it is to live in a place so safe and quiet that you can just go climbing and shouting and flag waving with your brother, I wish that my children had that kind of freedom. "Hello person I don't know and have never seen before!" shouted the flag-waving boy.

"Hello to you too," I replied.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm just walking." I'd walked past by now. He was still  shouting at me. He seemed very interested. I'm not sure that many people walk by his house. I could no longer hear what he was saying so I turned around and waved and said, "And now I'm walking onward. Goodbye!"

The land changed subtly as I went on. The sea was often to my right or the road would turn inland to a boggy area with browned grass and huge rocky outcrops. Sometimes there were trees, sometimes you could see hills roll away for miles in the distance. It was endlessly changing and interesting. At one point I stopped n my tracks because I suddenly became aware that, aside from birds, there was not another sound to be heard. It's so seldom that you become aware of silence. I stood still for a full minute just listening to it before the sound of a car engine in the far distance broke the spell.

I relied heavily on technology today. without my GPS maps on my phone I would have gotten hopelessly lost. As it was I overshot a turn-off by about 100m at one point before realising I was heading in the wrong direction. When you're walking long distances you really resent walking a single step further than you absolutely have to. After that mistake I checked every turn-off in the road to make sure I was going the right way.

Apart from one section of 1.2 miles I managed to stay off the N56 today.  I can't tell you how happy this made me. When I got off it again I was on the last section of road meandering between small lakes before coming out above the estuary. A golden retriever decided he was going to walk with me along the way. At first I got very worried and tried to convince him to go home but then I realised that he did this all the time. He led the way before leaving me to continue on to the beach. I turned a corner and after passing under a little tree tunnel I found my home for the night.

I was greeted very warmly by Ann and her husband who run the B&B. They are a German couple who fell in love with the house and the area. Ann asked if I'd like an evening meal as she was cooking one for the other guests. This was great news as we were far from a town. I had a very enjoyable meal with lovely people. It was delicious and the company was great. The other couple have kindly offered to take my backpack to my next B&B tomorrow so that literally is a load off. I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how generous of spirit the people I've met truly are.

As I type it's raining outside. The forecast is for it to be cloudy with showers tomorrow. I may have to break out the poncho! Think sunny thoughts for me!

Until tomorrow. Oiche mhaith a chairde. (Goodnight friends).


Total mileage: 218.4 miles

Day 15: Bunbeg to a bit further down the road (2.8 miles)

As you can tell from the title, I didn't get very far today. The wind and rain started to get up and party as I went to bed last night.  I knew that it was likely to rain today, but the ferocity of the wind took me by surprise. When the alarm went off this morning and the wind was still howling outside I started getting a bit of deja vu. (Does anyone remember the walk from Malin Head to Carndonagh?) The last time I did a walk in such severe conditions I had no choice but to continue because I was on my own. I was also on extremely remote road with very little traffic. This time, however, I was walking on far busier roads and I had support.

I had hoped to get started early but the conditions were making me nervous so I waited the morning to see if the winds would drop. By 11.30am I decided that I had to at least give it a go. Bunbeg, my starting point, was about an hour's drive from the house so I hoped that the weather wasn't as bad over that way. The likelihood was that walking fifteen miles in bad weather would take about 6 hours. I really wanted to be finished by six so we just had to leave and suck it and see.  The drive across Glenveagh National Park, which is a particularly barren and wild place, just increased my nervousness. But it really didn't seem bad when I got out of the car in Bunbeg. Yes, the rain was beating down but the wind didn't seem that bad. I waved goodbye to Tim and set off. Luckily there was a footpath on one side of the road so I felt fairly secure even though it did start to get a lot more blowy when I left the shelter of the buildings of the town. It was when there was a break in the trees on my right hand side and I was suddenly exposed to the raw, naked power of the wind, that I realised I'd been fooling myself - the wind hadn't dropped at all - I had just been walking on a particularly sheltered stretch. I kept my head down and forged on. I was wearing a waterproof coat under the orange tent but after a while I started to feel like I was getting wet. I thought I must be imagining it. The orange poncho is certainly not waterproof but even if it was letting in the rain, I had a completely waterproof layer beneath it so I must be dry. I was cold though. I wasn't imagining that.

As I got to the junction with the N56 I was increasingly anxious. I knew that as soon as I turned the corner I would be getting the wind full force in the face and as it was an N road I would no longer have a path to walk on. I would be on the road with the traffic. I turned the corner and the gales hit me. What I didn't realise was that I was still being sheltered somewhat by a large property. As soon as I walked past it the ful force of the wind pushed me straight onto the road. I righted myself very quickly but as the cars sped by me I had a moment of realisation - not only could I be killed or injured if I continued, potentially I was a huge hazard for the cars on the road and could easily cause a crash. I decided immediately to stop right there. I sent a text to Tim and waited to be picked up. I recorded this a few moments after deciding to throw in the towel for the day.

Attractive isn't it? I think that I'll come back in the summer and fill in this missing day. Hopefully in better conditions.

When Tim arrived I took off the waterproofs on the side of the road.  I was indeed, a little damp in places. My feet were soaking.I got into the car. My husband was looking at me in a very odd way.

ME: What? What is it?
HIM (smirking): It's your hair. You look like Boris Johnson.

I wasn't sure how to respond if I'm honest!

So here we were Tim and his Boris look-alike wife at lunch time with nothing planned.

ME (flattening my hair): Would you mind if we actually drove along the route I've got to take over the next few days so I can see what I'm in for?

HIM: Sure.

So we turned the car around and headed off on the road that my feet had just abandoned. The rain, unbelievably got even heavier and the conditions worsened the further we went. I was so glad I'd stopped when I did!

However it was further along the road that I realised that this opportunity to drive the route was hugely fortuitous. The end of my next walk is Lettermacaward and as we approached the town we found that there were very serious roadworks going on. All the roads in and out were dug up with massive diggers the whole way through. Only single lines of traffic controlled by temporary lights could move through. There simply isn't anywhere to walk. Now that I know about this I can try to plan an alternative route. If I'd gone in blind tomorrow I would have ended up completely stuck. I can't help but feel that I have someone looking out for me.

I won't give too much away about the rest of the trip but it looks like it's going to be an interesting week! I hope the weather stays fair. I've had enough of the very wild stuff,

Total mileage: 203.7 miles

Day 14: Gortahork to Bunbeg (14.6 miles)

I got started later than usual today. We were left without any phone signal last night which meant I had to write and post on the blog this morning. On top of that it's nearly an hour's drive to the drop-off point now so it was actually 12.20pm by the time I said 'goodbye' to Tim today and headed off west of Gortahork.

It wasn't long before the road started to climb. I hadn't had time to check the maps before setting out today so the almost instant hills were a bit unexpected. The coast provided vista after stunning vista as the road slowly wended its way upward.

As usual the sheep and lambs were very chatty. Well not all of them. It was such a sunny day some of them were having a snooze.

Soon I could see a beach below me. The higher I climbed the better it looked. The sea was a mixture of deep blues and greens. I even saw a few people on the beach near the pier getting ready for a swim.

In the distance was Tory Island, a remote but still inhabited island that is frequently cut off in the winter due to rough seas. No need to worry about that today though.

Ahead of me was a very large hill - it definitely would qualify as a wee mountain. With growing dread as I walked closer I realised that I was going to have to walk around it. It was HUGE! The road that led to it, because it ran over a bog (with all its inherent sinkiness) was about as twisty as it could be. I could see where I needed to go but the road never heard that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line - it just meandered around and around. As I came close to the wee mountain (Cnoc Fola) there came a fork in the road. The road to the left would bring me directly to where I wanted to go in 6 or 7 miles. The road to the right - which was the Wild Atlantic Way would take considerably longer and would involve a lot more uphill climbing. I was tempted to go left. I really was. I'd only been on the bog for a few miles but I was already utterly pissed off with it. I checked the distance on my phone. The way to the right would be 15 miles in total. It wouldn't be an easy walk but I didn't sign up for easy, I signed up to follow the Wild Atlantic Way as much as I possibly could. It didn't take more than a minute to talk myself out of taking the easy way and I turned right.

I wasn't wrong about what was ahead. It was more hills and more bog.

I was starting to regret my decision when I finally went around the wee mountain and the coast just opened up before me.

It was all worth it to see this. I continued on into Brinlack. It was ten miles into the walk and I needed a rest stop. Brinlack was the weirdest place. It was a very large village of just detached bungalows. It sprawled on for ages. Surely it must have a pub, or a tea shop or something? I kept trudging on. There was a very small post office. that was it. I was out of town and on my way to Derrybeg when I came across Teach Jack (Jack's House) a very large bar/ restaurant/ lodging house. I saw it from about a mile away. "Please be a pub. Please be a pub."  I said the whole way there. As I got closer and saw how huge it was I had doubts and thought it might be a hotel or a golf club or something."Please be a pub." It was a pub though so I had a lovely sit down, a cold drink and ... well you know at this stage what was needed after four hours on the road!

I texted Tim and arranged to meet in Bunbeg at 6pm. I was a little over 4 miles away. The rest of the journey wasn't very interesting because the sprawl of bungalows just continued, albeit interspersed with the odd dormer bungalow. It was very odd indeed. Brinlack turned into Derrybeg (a much bigger affair with actual shops and stuff) which eventually turned into Bunbeg. I found our meeting spot. It was 5.55pm. Tim came 2 minutes later. We couldn't have coordinated it better if we tried.

One of the biggest disappointments I had when planning my visit to Donegal was that I would not get to see the Glenveagh National Park which is inland and not part of The Wild Atlantic Way. However, because I have Tim with me for this week we were able to drive through it on our way home tonight. It is the most gobsmackingly beautiful and bizarre place I've ever visited, Proper big mountains tower above an alien scrubland. There are plantation forests and lakes and the roads are a driver's dream. I turned to my husband as we were zooming along and said, "You're loving this, aren't you?"

"I certainly am," he grinned.

I'm so glad I didn't miss it!

Tonight I'm parked up facing a tranquil lake with the sun just setting in front of me. It also happens to be a 4G hotspot with fantastic internet access. I didn't want to take anything for granted tonight. It's a long way back to Bunbeg. I'd like to get started earlier tomorrow.

Total mileage: 200.9 miles