The Fast Country

July 10, 2005

Glenmalur

I went on my first hike, yesterday, since spraining my ankle. Along with the usual crew, I walked the upper end of Glenmalur valley. We started at the car park near the hostel and walked to the spot height at the top of the valley, to look for the geocache there (Timon's Folly). It was a very easy walk due to the track Coillte put up there, but it was pleasant. I forgot two important pieces of equipment though. The first was insect repellent. Glenmalur has a large population of midges and they were very irritating, especially when we stopped for breaks. The second piece of equipment that I forgot was my camera. The views down the length of the valley are really nice, no matter what the weather is like. We had light rain, mist, and sunshine and the valley looked wonderful throughout. In addition we also spotted some deer. They were about 100m away but they hung around for a while, so if I had had my camera I would have got some good photographs.

Posted by JohnC at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2005

The Wicklow Way

The Saturday before last I went on my third hike. This one took the four of us along a portion of the Wicklow Way and up to the top of Djouce. The walk was not as long as previous walks: we walked about 9 km. However, there was about 450m of height gain, so we got a bit of exercise. We started at one of the car parks near Long Hill and ended up at the car park overlooking Lough Tay. The weather was bright but very windy.

It was an easy walk. The Wicklow Way is very popular, so to prevent erosion a path or railway sleepers has been laid as a path. So no stepping over heather, climbing out of bog holes, or wading streams this time. We did have a stiff breeze though, especially at the top of Djouce. The wind was strong enough to lean into and get to stand at an angle. A peculiar feeling that. There were some great views too.

The walk would have been the perfect if I hadn't had my accident on the way back to the car. About 400m from the car, a gust of wind caused me to stumble, and I sprained my ankle. The sprain wasn't bad so I made it back to the car without too much trouble. However it was a disappointing end to a fun hike.

Posted by JohnC at 12:52 AM | Comments (1)

May 12, 2005

Hiking and Hitchhiking

I went on my second long hike last Saturday, around Lough Iolar and up Tonelagee, again with Min, Jim, and Al. It was a good 10km walk, over slightly boggy ground - not surprising, as we were in Wicklow - in pleasant, if changable weather. We had good visibility, occassional sunshine and a stiff breeze.

Lough Iolar was beautiful. It is not the best named place, as there wasn't an eagle in sight, and the lake was only at 500m above sea level. However, Tonelagee is very well named. In Irish it is called Tóin le Gaoith and it was windy up there. It was cold too, and we were treated to hailstones once or twice. The hike up was worth it though: there were some fantastic views.

On Sunday, I took it easy, met some friends for lunch, and went to see the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There has been some debate, regarding the changes made to the movie, and the material that was left out. For example the Golgafrincham B-Ark was left out. Some fans think that the changes ruined the movie, and many miss their favourite jokes. However, I really enjoyed the movie. The changes were in the spirit of the books and the TV series (I haven't heard the radio series yet), with the same jabs at human nature and same attention to detail. The trip to Vogosphere was hilarious, with a subtle hint at the origin of the Vogons' bureaucratic nature. Casting was near perfect, in particular for, Alan Rickman, as Marvin, and Stephen Fry as the Guide Narrator. The only actor that didn't fit was John Malkovich. He just wasn't funny. Overall, though, the movie is funny, enjoyable, and true to the spirit of Douglas Adams's creation. Go see it.

Posted by JohnC at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2005

Hikers in the mist

I ache, but I am smiling. Over the weekend I took up a new sport, geocaching. Geocaching is a type of high-tech. treasure hunt. People hide a small box, containing trinkets and a log book, somewhere, and publish the GPS coordinates of its location on the geocaching website. Other people, like me and my friends, then go looking for it.

I went geocaching with three friends: Al, Jim and Min. Al was our party leader for the day. He is the most experienced hill walker, of the group, and also the guy who got us all into the sport. He planned our trip and advised us of what we needed: waterproof boots, good socks, a good waterproof coat, gaiters, and probably waterproof leggings.

We were glad we had all that stuff on the day is the weather was a bit damp. We went looking for two caches. The first was at the top of Luggala, a hill whose peak is just under 600m above sea level. The walk from the carpark was an easy one, over boggy terrain. We found the first cache but unfortunately we didn't get the great view of Lough Tay, that we would have on a fine day. Mist and rain saw to that. Jim, who found the cache, signed the log book, while the rest of us started our lunch.

The low visibility meant that we had to use either GPS units or map and compass to stop ourselves getting lost. This was the highlight of the day for me. Al taught me how to navigate properly using a map and compass, and set me the task of getting us to the second cache - the one on top of Knocknacloghoge. He was such a good teacher that I managed to find the trail down to the valley towards our second hill. Not an easy thing in a mist.

The bottom of the valley held the only real surprise of the day, a rain swollen Cloghoge Brook. Al, who had intended wading through it anyway for the practice, got all the practice he wanted assisting us newbies across. Nobody fell in, and two of us even kept our feet dry.

The trip up the hill nearly killed me. Bonny heather? Ptah! Bloody knackering heather, more like. A trek of 850m, climbing 234m, with heather forcing us to really pick up our feet. I found out just how unfit I was, then.

At the top we found the second cache, had a bite to eat, and rested.

I got us slightly lost on the way back to the car. While trying to follow a spur, I drifted south by 200m into boggy ground. Al soon corrected that, and after about 1km of walking we were back on the road, and shortly after that, back at the car. It was tiring but heaps of fun, and something I will hopefully be doing over the summer. As a means of getting fit, it sure beats a treadmill.

Posted by JohnC at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)