The Last Days of Summer

Galway has had one of their wettest summers ever this year, but thankfully we were blessed with a few weeks of absolutely gorgeous sunshine. Since the job search was starting to bring down our spirits, Beth and I decided we needed to get away for a few days and take advantage of this warm weather before it swiftly left, never to return for the remainder of the fall. We'd been told about the cute town of Clifden, the capital of Connemara, and its superb hiking opportunities. It sounded like the perfect place to run away to.

So this past Monday we took the 12:00 City Link bus from Galway to Clifden. Only 15euros round trip! It was a VERY bumpy ride on some narrow roads, but the scenery was incredible. This was the Ireland I remembered, the one I came to see again, and the one I fell in love with seven years ago when I first came here with my mom. This was also the first time Beth had been outside Dublin or Galway and I was so glad she was finally getting to see more of the country.

We arrived in town around 3pm and walked to Brookside Hostel, just down the road. It was far from luxurious, but it was fine. After dropping off our stuff, we explored the small town and walked along the harbour, later grabbing dinner at a cute cafe with a view of the water. When we returned to the hostel, we had the owner, Richard, draw us one of his famous "Magic Maps". On it, he showed us how to get to some of the best hikes and what we would see along the way. He was a pretty funny character and he still seemed surprised that so many more girls were going hiking nowadays. With our map in hand, we set out the next day to tackle the Sky Road- a 12 km (7 mile) loop around the peninsula. The first stop along the way was at the John D'Arcy monument, the founder of Clifden, which is up on a hill with a perfect view of the town.
The next stop along the way was at the ruins of D'Arcy's castle. As amazing as Richard's Magic Map was, it wasn't exactly drawn to scale so we got a bit confused about how far away it was. We were just about to turn around and try another route when we ran into a man walking down the road. "Did ya visit the castle?" he asked. "Well, we were looking for it, but we couldn't figure out how to get there!" I told him. "Ah, you just keep on down this road. Come along, I'll show ya." I was immediately enchanted by the quintessential image of the Irish farmer, with his hat and walking stick. He told us that this was his land and he graciously led us down to the castle and gave us the entire history of the place. Then, he showed us to a room in the old storehouse that he was renovating as his little hideaway spot. From inside the cabinet (which, mind you, I have no idea how he got in there since this castle is down the hill in the middle of a field), he brought out an accordion and gave us an impromptu demonstration on his skills. Although he wasn't the best player I'd ever heard, it was such a magical experience that you really can only have in Ireland.

After his wonderful little detour, we parted ways and Beth and I continued on Sky Road. The clouds broke up and the sun poured down on us. The contrast of the yellow Scotch broom and the purple heather on the hills was extraordinary. Wild fuchsia bushes lined the road and blackberries tangled up among them, tempting us with their ripe fruit. We snuck a few particularly juicy looking ones along the way. As we walked further out along the peninsula, the view opened up to reveal the brilliant blue Atlantic Ocean and the islands just off the coast. It was indescribably beautiful. I think it's best if you see it for yourself:
All in all, it took us 5 hours to complete the loop. The final stretch was along the side of a busy road (with no sidewalk to speak of) and it was a little scary at times, but we made it! Richard was quite impressed with us.

I won't give a detailed description of our hike the next day because, well, it didn't go so smoothly. The hike took us up into the hills that back Clifden and our faithful Magic Map led us to the right road. However, Richard warned us that the road ended at the home of a particularly nasty German man and that we'd have to cut through his property to continue up the hill. When we got to his property and several PRIVATE PROPERTY signs flashed in our faces though, Beth and I weren't so keen on entering. So we attempted to go around through the sheep fields, which required us to ford through thick ferns and thistles while trying to avoid hidden streams, puddles, and bogs, not to mention sheep poop and dead sheep carcasses... And THEN, once we started heading uphill, we were then faced with thick swathes of scratchy heather. It's so thick that you can't see the ground beneath it, and we kept stepping into hidden holes. Beth seriously almost disappeared into the ground at one point. Frustrated, with muddy shoes and twisted ankles, we ate our packed sandwiches to regain our energy, then promptly turned back around. Rather than trudge through the fields again, we decided to try trespassing through the German man's property, where Beth was stung by nettles and we had the guy's dog chase us back to the road. Fan-freakin-tastic. At least we made it back to town to catch the 3pm bus back to Galway. And at least, despite the struggles, it was still beautiful.