Day 8 femorah to camp 15.5k

Yesterday was the last day hiking on the dingle way-- bitter sweet. It has been such a lovely trip. The mind has rested and the body has worked hard. The achy feeling at days end feels good, the beautiful views have felt earned. All the food and beer tasted good and we met some great people along the way. 

The last leg was an easy enjoyable walk except for the last stretch on hard Tarmac along a busy narrow road.

Two little calves frolicking among the cows.

Dark clouds ahead, more beach walking but we stayed dry, no sun, dare I say the cloudiness and greyness that is typical in this part of the world.

Another doggie that Ana liked.

The tide was out and the clouds were low.....

A new outfit for the day, my other hiking pants are covered in dry mud and rolled up in a black plastic bag awaiting a good wash.

How about a weathered double selfie?

Back on farm tracks after the last of the beach walking.

 A funky narrow bridge.

Mirrored

The sad thing is, thevpub was closed.

Day 7 cloghane to femorah 17k

It was a walk on the beach yesterday, an extremely long 12k beach. In fact this is the longest beach in Ireland not inch beach, we were given miss information. 

Making our way out of cloghane.

Bought yummy cinnamon rolls baked in this bakery that we later enjoyed on the beach.

Thick seaweed at the beginning.

Being harvested for the fields.

Then it was firm sand just right for a yoga pose. We were lucky that the tide was out, walking in the soft sand for miles would have been tough. A group of young English lads that we had passed earlier in the day decided on a shortcut to avoid soft sand. 

The view behind us was getting darker and darker, but we stayed ahead of the clouds and remained dry all day.

The beach went on 

And on, but eventually we got to the end of the strip, analogous to cape cod, but much smaller and were treated to a sunny evening and spectacular sunset at 9:45pm. The evenings are long here and it's often the time when the sun comes out. 

The sun is out this morning and the last leg awaits. We have a bus to catch at 3:30pm in camp so we had better get on. 

Day 6 feohanagh to cloghane 21k

Yesterday was by far the toughest day, climbing over mount Brandon. This involved a steep 650m ascent into clouds, with spectacular views behind us. Then it was a steep extremely muddy descent. Luckily we hiked with the league of gentlemen adventurers. leagueofgentlemenadventurers.com/ 

and Jana from Germany. This group made the

tough hike much easier.

Feeling quite achy today. Here are some pics.

Ana doing her morning stretches.

That's where we're going.

The view behind us.

Climbing higher, view becoming more spectacular

And yes that is blue sky and blue sea. 

In in the

Day 5 dunquin to feohanagh 24k

Ana and Petra did a record 25k in 5hrs and 45 mins today. Not much climbing and a chilly windy day ending in rain that spurred us into the rapid pace. We were welcomed by Jimmy, a talented baker who owns "The forest of roses" B&B, enjoying being spoiled here. Had a lovely dinner of the best roast leg of lamb preceded by smoked mackerel pâté and the yummy hearty Irish soda bread, washed down by smithwicks red lager. Jimmy will be making Irish oatmeal with bailey's for breakfast. 

Tomorrow will be the hardest walk with lots of climbing so off to bed soon. A few shots of the day.

Black inquisitive cows. 

A pottery with unique art.

And woven scarves. 

Beach walking and pebble collecting.

The sea was dramatic today.

Ana was followed by a doggie for a couple of ks, but eventually he turned around and went home.

One of the many bridges, there was also stone hopping to cross streams.

Ana learning about Irish history and enjoying Jimmy's home baked fruit bread and lemon and poppy muffins.

Off to bed. 

The many terrains from Dingle to Dunquin

Petra and Ana pressed on feeling like a tricycle missing one of its wheels to the next destination. 

We walked along a busy road carrying our gourmet irish cheese bought in Dingle at "The Little Cheese Shop"and goodies   from the farmers market. 

 After walking along tarmac for a strong 6k we could feel the tingling in our feet and decided to stop for tea at the pottery cafe in Ventry 

Ana doesn't look too happy about our chicken guests, but was really just a bit confused and missing her walking buddy, Miss. Fiona. 

Apparently chickens in Ventry enjoy tea time too! 

Ana has eaten 4 scones in Ireland thus far. This was her 5th scone and she concluded it was perfection. The raspberry jam tasted like it was made from the berry bush that morning! 

The pottery store was large with great ceilings. The mugs with names were captivating. 

Fiona, Petra, & Ana (with 1 n!) were all accounted for 

Next was our first beach walk and oh my it was gorgeous! 

You can see the sand has been blown away but the stone remains. The beach had so many pebbles and stones raised like strange islands on the sand

There were 3 bridges like this one that we crossed over the boggy wetlands near the beach. 

Ana was thrilled to find this scallop shell. Best momento yet! It has an arrangement of colors if seen up close. 

Back to farm roads! 

Until.. we began our ascent up eagle mountain with the most amazing views of the coastline.

Ana having deep thoughts yet again. 

This is Bladket island. We later met the great grandson of the last resident of Blasket Island at the only pub in Duncquin. He was visiting from San Diego doing a documentary on surfing and his irish heritage that will be apparently "available everywhere" this August! It's called "the crest". Fiona and Ana actually saw them filming  in Dingle the day before. 

But back to the walk! The sheep were with us at every step of the way. Lambs are seriously one of the cutest baby animals. They're underrated! 

Ana couldn't get over the array of blues of the ocean water. Sometimes it felt as though we were in the tropics with the amazing turquoise blues. 

Ana couldn't help but squeeze one selfie in. 

Almost there! 

Petra and Ana are currently enjoying the youth hostel lounge after exploring the small village nursing some aches and pains. Petra ordered a half Guinness and Ana tried her first hot port from the ancient lady bar tender at the pub called krugers that seemed to hold many stories and jolly times within its old pealing wooden walls. I wish everyone could see the cliff views from this tiny gem! It is a beauty like no other filled with mystique and rich colors. 

Till next time! Sending you the wonderful enchanting scenes of the day!