To Seefin

A hearty Irish breakfast, and we were off for our second stage, climbing to the top of Seefin. No cheating this time, although Himself had shown us a way down from the top that isn’t marked on the map.

As you can see, the weather was scorching, and the first steep climb was very hard work. Progress was slow, and on one of our frequent stops, S found a fresh tick embedded in his leg. At least he’s already on antibiotics, and he managed to extract it.

My memory of the rest of the day is rather a blur. After four hours we were barely halfway along our 11.5 km route, and we stopped for lunch in the shade of a rock. I ate a Mars bar, which was a good idea as I found the going a lot easier after that. S had a plan B for coming down early, but I felt fit enough to soldier on. More climbing, but less steep, and a seemingly endless ridge walk. I only fell over once and twisted my ankle twice, but nothing broken this time!

When we reached the trig point on top of Seefin, a mere seven hours after we set off, I keeled over onto the grass. A couple who arrived shortly afterwards were surprised to find two corpse like forms lying there motionless. But we did recover somewhat (I had another Mars bar) before scrambling down Himself’s recommended path to a car park. From here, S phoned tonight’s B&B in Kilcrohane, and someone popped out to fetch us and save a further couple of km along the road. Cup of tea, a lie down, a shower, and we felt more human. Stats: 11.5 km, 500 m climbing, just under 8 hours! We left Glan Loch at 9:15 and it was 5 pm by the time we got down to the car park.

We aren’t exactly spoilt for choice of overnight stops, but we’ve been very happy with all three places so far. Friendly people, comfortable rooms, good food. Tonight’s place does evening meals, so we ate here. Our room is in the garden with a verandah and a glimpse of the bay. Tomorrow, there is a plan A for S, and a plan B for me :)