Craig Henderson Europe '23 Part 12 - Kerry Way

28 September 2023 - Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland; day prior to start of Kerry Way

The Camino Frances (last stage) was the last walk that I had made a firm decision to do before leaving Australia. So, while walking, I’ve been pondering what walks I might do after the Camino.

Given that I would be in Spain after the Camino, I was sorely tempted to drop down to south-western Portugal and do the Fishermen’s Trail (one of the trails falling under the Rota Vicentina umbrella). The Fisherman’s Trail is undoubtedly one one of Europe’s best coastal trails and late September/early October would be an ideal time to do it.

However, Ireland is another country that my Western Europe walk safari hasn’t reached and I’ve always been very tempted to try some of the walks on the peninsulas in western Ireland. I know the weather won’t be as good but I feel that western Ireland might be more challenging than Rota Vicentina. Also, I suspect that, after the Camino, I may be in the mood for some quiet trails and I’m pretty sure western Ireland will deliver that more than Rota Vicentina.

When I find out that I can fly direct from Santiago de Compostela to Dublin in less than two hours, my decision is made.

Then I agonise between the Kerry Way and the Dingle Way. The Kerry Way does a loop around the Iveragh Peninsula, while the Dingle Way does the same around the Dingle Peninsula. The two peninsulas are not far apart and you can see one from the other. The Kerry Way sounds more mountainous and wild than the Dingle Way, so I decide to do that first and then maybe do part of the Dingle Way afterwards.

So, here I am in Killarney, the launching post for the Kerry Way. Killarney is beautifully located just near a series of lakes that lie in Killarney National Park. The Park contains Ireland’s largest areas of native woodland. The town is attractive and buzzes with activity. There are lots of tourists but that’s been the case since 1861 when Queen Victoria visited and, at least in late September 2023, it doesn’t feel over-run.

The Kerry Way is 210 km in length. I’ve chosen a route that covers 175 km and I’m hoping to do that in seven walking days. I’m very curious to see what walking in this part of Ireland is like. How much forest is there? Are there many walkers on the trail? Is the trail well-maintained?

Also, is there too much tarmac (bitumen) road walking? I’ve read that about 35% of the trail is tarmac. This is a higher proportion than I would expect for a classic walk. But I’ve also read that much of the tarmac road is very minor and carries little traffic.

Tomorrow the answers will start to flow.

29 September 2023 - Day 1 of Kerry Way: Killarney to Bridia Valley (32 km; 7.5h)

Today is a long day so I’m off before 8.00am. The walk starts with a fanfare: a couple of kilometres out of Killarney, you enter Killarney National Park and walk on manicured paths through native forest with views of Lough Leane and several of its miniature islands. Then you enter the former Muckross Estate (now part of the National Park) and reach Muckross House, a well-maintained mansion dating from 1843 that overlooks Muckross Lake.

The next 16 km or so are wonderful walking. Most of it is in the National Park and through thick native forest or, once you get a bit higher, moorland. Eventually you reach Lord Brandon’s Cottage that sits on what’s known as the Upper Lake. An excellent place for a coffee or lunch.

After lunch things start to change. We enter remote Black Valley and pretty soon the track becomes a sodden, boggy trail through farmland, heath and conifers. There’s been a lot of rain in the last month and it feels as if none of it has soaked in or run-off. Progress slows as I pick my way through the morass.

With relief, I hit a minor road that climbs gradually, then steeply, out of Black Valley. At the top, there’s a plateau where I’ve been told I might get mobile reception to call my accommodation to organise a pick up time in the valley below (Bridia Valley). I get no reception so plunge down into the valley pondering my next move.

Today’s 32 km walk finishes in Bridia Valley but not at any accommodation or settlement. Just at a place that is a convenient pick up spot for my accommodation, The Climbers Inn. The Climbers Inn is located 10 km away from the pick up point.

I reach the pick up point at 4.20, having walked quite briskly for 7.5 hours. Still no reception and there’s not a soul around. I decide to walk the additional 10 km. Apart from the fact that I’m not sure how I’m going to summons my ride, I’m conscious that it’s forecast to rain heavily tomorrow. It would be nice to get this stretch done today when the weather is OK. I figure that if the trail is reasonable I should be able to do it in two hours. Sunset is 7.15pm. As I don’t have my head torch with me, I’ve got an hour’s buffer if I want to avoid finishing in darkness.

The trail turns out to be moderately challenging. I knew there was a climb - that was fine. But the descent is wet and slippery. I force myself to slow down. Then I hit another stretch of boggy track similar to that in Black Valley. Progress slows further.

I realise that it’s going to take me longer than two hours to get to The Climbers Inn. I scoot along where the track allows it. At 6.00pm, the light is starting to fade. I bump into a couple of hunters. They seem surprised to see me and are keen to know whether there are others of my species around.

At 7.00pm, I arrive at The Climbers Inn. I’ve been going for over 10 hours. My GPS shows I’ve covered 43 km. The scenery was sensational but I’m disappointed that I ended up racing through it. Clearly, I should have organised a pick up time at the start of the day. I’m tempted to collapse into the nearest chair but the landlady informs me that last meal orders are at 7.30pm. As this inn is the only food option for miles, I keep moving.

30 September 2023 - Day 2 of Kerry Way: The Climbers Inn to Glenbeigh (14 km; 4.0h)

I wake up to the predicted heavy rain. I can feel yesterday’s exertions but I’m very happy that that effort means I have a short day in these conditions.

I’m curious to see if there are other walkers at breakfast this morning. Yesterday, I saw virtually no other walkers other than a handful of day walkers. The breakfast room is busy. There’s a group of 10 blokes on a climbing weekend and a couple of others doing day walks from the Inn.

Then a German guy, Markus, appears and, yes, he is doing the Kerry Way. The first other Kerry Way walker I’ve discovered! We compare notes for the day. Both of us have a strategy of delaying today’s departure as there’s some suggestion the rain may ease late morning.

Eventually, I decide to leave at about 10.30am. It’s still raining heavily but I have no confidence the weather is going to be better in an hour and I’d prefer to get to Glenbeigh and start the process of drying my gear.

The scenery is, again, first rate. There is a grassy stretch beside the racing River Caragh that is just idyllic. There’s another dense native woodland. In the slightly lighter rain, with the rivers gushing, and no one to be seen it’s quite serene.

I reach Glenbeigh at 2.00pm. It was the sort of day where there was not much incentive to stop along the way. Glenbeigh is a pretty village boasting several pubs and a couple of other eating options. Most importantly, my B&B landlady lets me check-in straight away!

1 October 2023 - Day 3 of Kerry Way: Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen (20 km; 5.5h)

Shortly after Glenbeigh, the Way touches the coastline for the first time. We’re on Dingle Bay, which stretches 40 km in from the Atlantic Ocean. There’s a good-looking, sandy beach at Rossbeigh Strand and I can see Sunday morning surfers in action.

Our dalliance with the coast is brief, but as we climb away from the coastline the views over Dingle Bay to the distant mountains of the Dingle Peninsula are alluring. I’m still contemplating a jaunt around the Dingle peninsula after the Kerry Way and these views are certainly promoting the idea.

I catch up to Markus around the middle of the day. He enthuses about the ocean views we’ve had today and says he thinks it’s the best stage yet of the Way. I’d probably vote for some of the earlier sections where there are more woodlands. I get the impression that as we head west, towards the extremities of the Iveragh Peninsula, the native woodlands will become more scarce.

The last third of the day is primarily on sealed roads. As with most of the roads we’ve been on, they are very quiet. Also (and it goes against the grain to say this), because so many sections of the walking track are sodden and muddy, it’s actually often a relief to hit a dry, firm walking surface!

Cahersiveen, today’s overnight spot, is a few kilometres off the trail. My accommodation offers to collect you from the trail and deliver you back the next morning. I take up that offer. I’m pretty pleased about that decision when Markus later tells me that the walking path route into town was water-logged and boggy.

Views across Dingle Bay towards Dingle Peninsula

2 October 2023 - Day 4 of Kerry Way: Cahersiveen to Waterville (19 km; 5.5h)

Big news at breakfast - a Belgian couple doing the Kerry Way appear. I’d not seen them on the trail as they started the walk a day before me. That makes four of us on the trail (in our vicinity). We share a taxi to the starting point for the day. There’s a bit of debate as to where to get the taxi to drop us. My submission for a spot that involves cribbing a few km’s wins the day!

Today involves a reasonable amount of climbing and two long ridge walks. The views from the ridges take in wide, extensive valleys and the coastline. It’s an overcast day with low cloud so the views are grey and indistinct. But it’s not raining and that’s the definition of a good walking day in Ireland.

Around lunchtime I bump into two guys from Munich, talking to a donkey. Well that’s what it looked like as I approached. The humans were seated on a bench while the donkey stood placidly along side them, looking like the third member of their group. It turns out that the Germans are doing the Kerry Way as well. And they say that there are two American women somewhere around too. This walk is turning into the Camino!

Waterville is located on a narrow strip of land with the sea on one side and the huge Lough Currane on the other. Clearly, the town naming committee just went the simple and obvious approach. The beach is rocky and today there’s lots of seaweed washed up. On the foreshore promenade, there’s a statue of Charlie Chaplin. He and his family holidayed regularly in Waterville. Up until Covid, the town hosted an annual Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival. Unfortunately, it hasn’t yet been resurrected.

3 October 2023 - Day 5 of Kerry Way: Waterville to Caherdaniel (16 km; 5.5h)

I bid farewell to Markus after breakfast. He’s decided to have a rest day in Waterville. His full 12 kg pack makes a difference. I’ve got luggage transfer on this walk so carrying a light day pack only. Markus is organising accommodation as he goes so he’s got the flexibility that allows him to opt for a day off when a place takes his fancy.

If I needed confirmation that western Ireland in early October is quiet, I get it this morning. Once I clear Waterville, I don’t see a soul for three hours. That’s not entirely true - early on I catch a glimpse of a sole walker a kilometre or so ahead. He/she is wearing a pack but I lose sight of them and they don’t reappear.

The walking conditions are good - temperature is about 15C and it’s dry. The track sections of the Way seem less sodden as well. We’re skirting around the south-west corner of the Iveragh Peninsula today. There are sweeping views of the fractured coastline, including the protected Derrynane Bay. In the distance, the pyramidic profiles of the offshore islands, Skellig Michael and Little Skellig can be detected. Skellig Michael is the site of a well-preserved monastery dating from the 6th century. It blows me away that monks of that time thought that far western Ireland still wasn’t remote enough for their needs.

Right on Derrynane Bay is Derrynane House. This was the ancestral home of of Daniel O’Connell, known as “The Liberator”. O’Connell was a lawyer and politician in the first half of the 19th century. He founded the Catholic Association and led a successful campaign to obtain political equality for Irish Catholics. The house is a fascinating museum of the life and times of O’Connell. Apart from a whole lot of more important things, I now know the derivation of the name of the (former) Dan O’Connell pub in Melbourne!

4 October 2023 - Day 6 of Kerry Way: Caherdaniel to Sneem (20km; 5.5h)

For its first 3.5 km today, the Way hosts the Walk of the Planets. Aluminium models of each planet of our solar system have been located along the 3.5 km route based upon their distance from the sun. So, we pass Earth after a few hundred metres and we finally reach Pluto at the end of the route. Very clever.

Some pleasant walking today, but not quite to the standard of yesterday with its coastal views. The Belgian couple and I trade leading privileges, but other than them I see no other walkers. I keep up a good pace and hardly stop as the weather is forecast to deteriorate mid-afternoon.

Arrive in Sneem early afternoon. Sneem is a very attractive village and, accordingly, is a stop on tour buses doing the ‘Ring of Kerry’ scenic drive. I spot an appealing cafe, but as I enter I see that a bus group is just settling in. The single waitress is looking stressed already. I decide my coffee isn’t worth all the inevitable drama.

5 October 2023 - Day 7 of Kerry Way: Sneem to Kenmare (32 km; 7.5h)

My last day on the Kerry Way! Unfortunately, the forecast is for rain all day, with quite a lot at times. With 32 km to cover, that could mean seven or eight hours in the rain! One of the other walkers told me that he was going to catch the bus today and I can see the merit in that.

I chat to host, Feargal, at breakfast. As well as co-running the B&B, he leads guided walks in the area. He’s bemused that I would consider not walking today. His perspective is that it’s not cold and rain is what your wet weather gear is for. “It’s Ireland”, he says, “if you didn’t walk on days of rain you wouldn’t walk a lot”.

So, I head off at 9.00am with the rain falling steadily and all my wet weather gear on. I even don the thermal top I brought with me on this trip; up till now, it hasn’t had an outing.

Strangely, the rain eases and then stops after an hour. I then have a magical couple of hours walking through forest and woodland. The trees and shrubs are drenched but thrash about as gusts of wind sweep through. The streams are overflowing and running rapidly. The elements are alive and hyper-active. It’s great to be amongst it all.

The rain returns in the afternoon. When, in the last ten kilometres, the Way takes us up on to moorlands once more, it’s misty and the rain and wind are fierce. The rain, of course, has turned parts of the moorland into a quagmire. We’re quite close to Kenmare when, thankfully, we hit a sealed road and can walk a straight route rather than the tortured zig-zag required by a muddy track.

My final Kerry Way B&B is called The Happy Pig. It seems quite appropriate, as I arrive looking as if I’ve been wallowing in mud. I’m not sure if it showed but I was very happy to be there as well.