Iron Bridge to Glenmalure

Up for breakfast and set our luggage downstairs with tags for where our stop tonight is.  It is very organized here, vans are running all over the place picking up luggage and dropping off for walkers that don’t want to carry.  This was all included in our tour price. (well maybe we paid extra for this but no way was Wendy lugging a back pack)

Wendy loved these coffee/tea cups, so cute.  Many different ones on the tables

The start of the walk to day is at Iron Bridge, which is a drive away from Rathdrum.  Daphne is giving us a drive to the start.  We arrive and there is about 20 people getting organized to start the walk.  Turns out this is a local walking group, Daphne seems to know everyone.  We get started quickly as we want to stay ahead of this group.  Well starting too quickly means we missed the very first turn on the trail, about 5 minutes in.  A great start to a lot of walking coming up! This is not the nicest part of our walk, we are pretty much just walking straight uphill along a power line.  Daphne had warned us that the walk would get better and better as we move along each day, we certainly hope so. So much logging is being done, it was kind of sad in some of the spots.

Start of the walk, boring climb up power lines

We will see this sign hundreds of times over the next few days

We spend a good part of the day walking and end up in Glenmalure at a hotel with a pub.  Our accommodations tonight are at an Inn in Aughrim.  We have been given a number to call to arrange pick up, it is quite a drive to get there.  Time for a beer while we wait for Paul to pick us up.  The sun is shining and it is beautiful out.  The hotel where we are waiting is full with a walking tour, we had seen them on the trail today.  We had brought along a lunch to have on the trails, there are no restaurants or towns on the trails, and we saw the group of walkers at one of our breaks. 

Double checking our maps/itinerary

There are 2 huts at the top of this mountain for overnight or getting out of weather

So much clear cutting of trees, we would see a lot of this today

New trees have been planted in these tubes

First heather, so excited to see, so much more to come!

My favourite part of day 1 walking

lunch break

Pub/Hotel at the end of our walk today, we will be picked up here.  Incredibly hot and sunny today

It was a pretty drive to Pauls hotel.  Paul is a golfer so lots to talk about.  Arrive at his hotel and there are no meals being served tonight.  There is a pub that has a few locals in it, Wendy has discovered she really likes apple ciders, she’s on the hunt for her favourite, Andre is trying all the different beer.  Paul recommends a little fish and chip place across the street, perfect.  This hotel was once a home,  I think we may have been the only guests.  Off we go to explore Aughrim a little

Fish and chips for supper at this spot