The Spink Path

The heavy rain of the previous evening carried on for most of the night and only really stopped just before we headed out for the day. There was still mist on the tops and a lot of cloud about so we chose not to explore the higher hills, but settle for a wander around the gentler terrain of Glendalough. This is the honey-pot of the Wicklow mountains and for good reason, steeped as it is in ancient history and beautiful scenery. As usual, though, you only have to walk a bit more than a mile from the car park to lose almost all the tourists.

We took the Spink Path which climbs high above the Upper Lake on the south side to cross the head of the valley by a lovely little footbridge and return by following the Glenealo River down on the north side. The Spink Path was nothing short of amazing, the entire uninterrupted 3 mile length of it being constructed from old railway sleepers, apparently imported from Russia. I'm not normally a fan of these artificial paths, but I just marvelled at the engineering of this one, and the route would otherwise be horribly eroded by the passage of so many feet and be a terrible scar on the landscape. It was a delightful walk and far more rewarding and photogenic than I expected, especially as there was so much water flowing. The rivers were cascades.

From Glendalough we drove and trained into Dublin for the evening to catch the opening might of the Rhythm and Roots Festival. We met up with TJ's good friend Sarah who was playing a gig with her band Sister Abigail. We loved their sound and energy and improvisation, in a style which they dub swampgrass. Before their session we managed to catch I Draw Slow playing at the Button Factory. I'm very new to their music but I've very quickly become a big fan. We'd been playing their latest album in the car in the afternoon and just a few hours later we were hearing the same tracks being played live. It was a fantastic evening. We even had the privilege of being able to drift off to sleep in the early hours to the sound of band members jamming in Sarah's apartment. I'm so envious of that talent. It was a great way to finish off another action-packed day!