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This is a straight transcription of the notes I took on the Shakeout walk from Dublin to Rosslare between 26 September and 1 October 2016. This is not the style I’ll adopt for the rest of the entries! These are raw notes for use by me as fodder for more engaging posts. There’s little here about my emotional state.
09:30 - Left home after rain showers.
11:30 - Woodtown Road. Stopped for chocs and a rest at a bus stop. I’d slurped maybe 500ml alpha1 water about an hour before. Ground damp, but overcast cleared. Closing up again now.
11:36 - Crossed the M50. Horrible.
11:45 - Passed Woodtown Park gate.
11:54 - High, broken cloud. Sunny.
12:02 - Hot. Removed trouser legs at turn for Old Bawn. Road surprisingly busy.
12:37 - Stopped for lunch at Kilakee car park. Ground dry. Eggs and stuffed vine leaves. Nice view over Dublin bay. No need to put on extra layers. No wind. No insects.
13:26 - Back on the road. Cooler. More overcast. Road is more level. I’ll see if I can get water in Glencree Centre.
13:34 - Kippure comes into view.
13:40 - A motorcyclist stops and offers me a lift.
13:59 - Over my first pass.
14:42 - Dithered about detouring to Glencree Centre. Sally Gap 8km, Laragh 28km.
14:59 - Scoffing delicious ripe blackberries.
15:14 - Another offer of a lift from an elderly gent in a 2013 silver car, on the way up to Sally Gap. It’s a spectacular warm, sunny day.
15:33 - Finish another chat with Dave whose PhD is on the language of craft beer.
15:41 - Water from the Liffey at Liffey Bridge2. Rather turbid. 2 tablets 3. +2kg.
15:50 - Kippure access gate.
16:00 - Liffey Head Bridge - Ireland’s least specacular sight.
16:04 - Crested my second pass.
16:10 - R7594 visible across the valley.
16:19 - Stopped for a rest. Backpack heavy, legs getting tired. Still beautifully sunny. Had a decent drink from alpha and took off shoes and socks to massage feet.
16:26 - On the road again.
16:40 - Stopped to put on a second layer.
16:41 - Sally Gap in view. Wind colder and picking up.
16:46 - Crossed Sally Gap. Laragh 19km.
16:59 - Turned off the road uphill to find a campsite.
17:07 - Found a level, dry campsite. Started setting up the basha.
17:38 - First basha layout totally bogus5, have to move the basha!
18:12 - Second basha layout tolerably good. Time to start on dinner! Evening is getting cool and damp. Paper hat is a waste of space.
18:42 - Dinner eaten. (Chatpate Chole from a tin.) Washing up next.6 Decided not to make tea from the beta water supply. Pocket Rocket is a winner. Bracken is a pain in the arse.
19:03 - Cloud is closing in. Decided to get into bed.
19:26 - Texted Aisling. Bedding down for the night. Dusk is falling.
07:22 - Awake enough to check time. Rain and wind during the night, but I was snug and warm. No insects, no wildlife apart from murmuring birds7. Cloud still low, but mountain shapes begin to emerge.
07:25 - Decide to get up.
08:34 - Packed and on the road. Handful of nuts for breakfast. Drizzling.
08:46 - Back on tarmac.
10:16 - Porridge stop. Thankful for the rainwater resevoir8 on the basha - 5 litres maybe?
10:58 - Breakfast of porridge and fruit and nut mix. Teeth brushed, go!
11:18 - Passed Carrickshouk.
11:46 - Top of Glenmacnas Falls.
12:16 - Blackberry stop. Warmer now, but still need hat, coat and gloves!
12:48 - Finally warm enough to take my coat off. Two layers and hat. Watery sun, very windy.
13:26 - Eating a salad sitting on a red chair in Laragh.
Buy dinner. Laragh to crossroads: 10km Wed: Crossroads to Aughrim: 19km. Lunch in Aughrim. Buy lunch and dinner for Thu Thu: Ballythomas to Clonamona: 15km. Clonamona to Camolin: 10km Fri: Camolin to Ballaghkeen: 26km.
14:52 - On the road again to Laragh post office9.
15:19 - Finished dinner shopping
€17.00 for lunch: salad, tea, two cakes. €8.48 for dinner: bread, cheese, salami. €4.55 post.
15:26 - Walk out of Laragh.
15:43 - Turn for Glenmalure.
16:46 - Shay Elliot memorial, pass top.
16:57 - First possible campsite option a swamp.
17:06 - Found a campsite on a Coillte track. Level, dry, discreet.
17:39 - First campsite unusable; ground too hard.
18:18 - Second setup a success.
19:15 - Okay, bedtime! Final wizz and then into the sleeping bag. Few insects. Mostly blue sky with high cloud. Mild.
07:25 - Wake to a calm morning, low overcast. Thirsty and hungry.
08:43 - breakfasted, packed, ready to go. Low cloud and light drizzle. Warm.
08:51 - On tarmac. Fresh socks.
09:51 - Glenmalure crossroads.
10:09 - Drumgoff forest park.
10:18 - Filled both bottles with mountain stream water.
10:27 - Sock wash, then moving again. Very misty and damp.
10:46 - Top of the pass - stop for a drink.
11:11 - Stop for more water. The mist is clearing as I descend.
11:15 - Wow, caned 2 litres of water.
11:32 - Sign for Aughrim 12 km at the Aghavanna Bridge. Expect to be in Aughrim at 14:00.
11:52 - Stop for teeth brushing.
11:59 - OK done, crack on.
12:20 - Refilling with water from a spring coming from a pine forest hill.
12:27 - Moving again. Pills in. Water ready at 13:00
13:13 - Had to stop for chocolate and nuts.
14:10. Tea shop in Aughrim. Menu10 in front of me. Last hour and a half were killer.
15:27 - On the road again.
17:05 - Realised I’ve taken a wrong turn.
17:15 - Choosing to retrace my steps based on OSMAnd11.
17:36 - Back on the right road again.
17:42 - Cloud closing the sky. Still warm.
18:05 - On the road to the Coillte land.
18:16 - Carrig Wood is a no-go: tree felling.
18:31 - Getting a bit desperate, eyeing up flat areas at the side of the road.
18:44 - Found a yellow and black Coillte gate leading into a wood.
18:55 - Selected a less-than-ideal pitch in a bend in the track12.
19:09 - Ground’s too hard to drive a stake. That means no basha tonight. Boo.
19:37 - Dusk has fallen. It’s dry and mild. I’m going to put DEET on my head before bed. I saw some kind of hopping insect13. Eating tomatoes and apples for dinner, then text Asho and then bed.
07:43 - Half-dressed in the bivvy bag. About to make porridge breakfast.
09:08 - Phenomenal buttered porridge and buttered bread in the forest. Broke camp, ready to move on.
09:15 - Bright sunny day. Back up the trail.
09:38 - Asked for a refill of water at the Wicklow gap pub. Four litres again!
09:49 - Stop to brush my teeth and shed some clothes.
10:02 - On the go again. Beautiful calm sunny day.
10:48 - Stopped to take my trouser legs off.
11:39 - Stop for a snack and change and wash socks.
12:07 - Sock washing and change done. Moving again.
12:47 - Stop to power on phone and check Open Street Maps. R roads are pedestrian death traps.
12:53 - All good. 500m to Craanford Bridge.
13:21 - Sitting down to sausages, chips, egg salad sandwich and tea in the sun at Craanford Bridge.
13:38 - Pressing on.
13:58 - “Camolin 6km” says a road sign.
14:17 - “Camolin 5km” says another sign.
14:49 - “Camolin 2km” says the next sign.
15:24 - Camolin Post Office.
15:44 - Bit of a pointless faffage in Camolin trying to buy jiffy bags - but I did get two litres of water. Now at full 4kg complement.
15:59 - Limping painfully for the first time.
17:16 - On the way to Ballymore House14.
17:22 - At the gate of Ballymore House.
18:00 - Tea with Margaret and Colin.
21:30 - In bed after chats and dinner of sweet potato, carrot, parsnip and ham.
07:18 - Up and awake. About to wash and dress in cleaner clothes.
08:52 - Goodbyes. Bag on.
09:31 - Back at the junction where I turned left for Ballymore. Sign says “4km Harrow”.
09:44 - Sign: “3km Harrow”.
10:25 - At The Harrow.
10:46 - Chocky break.
10:55 - Moving again.
11:38 - Stop to air my feet and remove trouser legs. First blister! Heel of left foot. Also pinky of right foot. Pricked15 and alcohol wash applied.
11:59 - On the road again.
12:56 - Shoe inspection. Dealt with a constellation of four blisters on the pad of my right foot. Chomping nut and fruit snack.
13:20 - Moving again.
13:44 - In a trance-like state on endorphins a lady in an Opel stops to offer me a lift and I’m left with a blissful grin and effusive well-being at her generosity. First glimpses of the sea.
14:08 - Bob’s coffee shop, bar and restaurant, Ballaghkeen.
15:21 - Leaving Ballaghkeen after awesome lunch of fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch ice cream. Used the facilities for good measure.
16:20 - Garrynitoadagh Cross
16:35 - Ballylucas cross roads. Stopped to put on more layers. Temperature has dropped.
16:47 - Moving again.
16:53 - Turkiye16 fork.
17:20 - Very promising bit of GPA deciduous forestry.
17:31 - Stopped to swap maps. I’m just 3km from Castlebridge - bound to be a B&B there!
18:20 - 50km/h sign and “Castlebridge” sign.
18:44 - Castlebridge’s shecks-tourist smells-like-a-bordello B&B has no vacancies and the proprietor and his Thai wife gave me the dirtiest look when I told them I was on foot. I don’t care. There are loads of wild camping options in the town. Dusk is about half an hour away so I’ll hang about until then and pick something. Bivvy-only again tonight I’ll wager.
18:55 - Found a very pleasant spot behind some decorative mixed deciduous and spruce trees next to the devotional statue in the town. I’m waiting for dusk to fall before unpacking the bivvy and sleeping bag. There are no insects, only birds chirping, cars swishing by, no pedestrians at all and a lovely pine scent from the carpet of spruce twigs. I’m opposite a mini-estate into which a hipster drove a €120,000 car as I was crossing the road to size up the pitch.
07:39 - Awake enough to check the time. It rained constantly during the night and it’s still raining. Dressing and breaking camp quickly.
08:04 - Broke camp. Bivvy bag is soaked and was stinking17 last night. Swat valley small arms fire18 constantly going. Still raining, no breakfast, going back to “Frying Irishman”.19
08:18 - “Frying Irishman” doesn’t open for another forty minutes. Thinking of sticking around until nine! Had a lovely chat with a local man walking his dog while making my way to the “Frying Irishman”. He didn’t have anything good to say about the local B&B owner. “He’s an arrogant bastard, excuse my language - no-one likes him around here”. When I told him the place smelled like a brothel he said “Funny you should say that; he runs a brothel in Dublin”. He also had a very accurate two-day forecast in total recall. Apparently it’s due to clear later and be pleasant again, though rain is forecast for Sunday. I couldn’t give a shit about Sunday’s weather. I’ll be chilling out warm and dry and clean and shaved at home.
08:55 - I’ve given up on the “Frying Irishman”. No signs of life and Wexford is just 5kms away. I’d like to walk the R road before the traffic gets crazy.
10:17 - Wexford: Simon’s Place pub. Just ordered the full Irish. It rained the entire way from Castlebridge to Wexford. The R road had enough verge and footpaths for me to walk safely.
11:03 - Breakfast, deodorant, toothbrushing. On the road again soon.
11:15 - On the road. Watery sun. Rain has stopped. 20km = 4 hours. Could be in Rosslare by 15:30.
11:38 - Sign says “Rosslare 17km”. Chocolate break. Scoffed remaining Milka “Happy Cows”. Surprisingly bland.
11:48 - Earplugs in.
11:56 - Tighten shoelaces.
12:11 - Applegreen apple turnover consumed on the hoof.
12:15 - Grand day in patches. Stopped to take off my jacket.
12:21 - Junction with the N25 comes in to view. This is the start of the final stretch. I’m contemplating bivvying overnight at the ferry port.
12:31 - Rosslare 17km. Town or ferry terminal though?
12:40 - Gentle incline. Took off reflective piping top. Hat stays on.
12:58 - Lots of camper vans coming from the direction of the port.
13:04 - Tagoat 8km.
13:22 - Layby stop for water top-up (2l) and snacks. “21st Century tramping: putting the travail back into travel.” Manhattan peanuts, Eridanous crunchy almond bar. Wind has a bit of a bite to it.
13:33 - Lad with a trailer stops to offer a lift. “No thanks, it’s all about the walk!” I yell back. I don’t hear his reply through my earplugs.
14:00 - Passed Danby Lodge Best Western hotel.
14:17 - Have to stop for a rest at the roundabout that was Jones’ Cross Roads. Still seems to be about 10km to go and my legs and feet are almost all used up. The earplugs are really successful at making this type of walking environment mentally tolerable. The blister on my little toe is back so I’m going to deal with that.
14:33 - Moving again but only enabled by grunts and groans. Sign says “Rosslare Harbour 8kms”.
14:30 - A lovely plain-clothes nun does a u-turn to offer me a lift to the ferry terminal. I tell her I’ve walked all the way from Dublin.
14:46 - Archways B&B. Consider taking a Neurofen. Legs, calves are like lead. Sunny with scattered cloud but the wind has a bite.
14:49 - Decide to take the Neurofen, purely in the interests of research.
14:54 - ONWARDS!
15:09 - Neurofen seems to have begun to kick in. Walking is still sore, but starting after stopping is easier.
15:12 - 50km/h sign for Tagoat visible at the top of the hill.
15:19 - Tagoat Cross.
15:32 - Picked up a shiny conker. Rosslare Harbour 6kms.
15:37 - Padua B&B.
15:42 - Ferry port comes in to view on the horizon at the second lay-by. I jump onto a picnic table but I can’t see the ferry.
15:55 - Kilrane. Timetable indicates buses to Dublin Busaras at 1700 1900.
| Busaras | MO to SAT |
|---|---|
| 1700 connect Wexford at 1830 Mo-Fri | |
| 1900 connect Wexford at 2030 |
16:11 - Passed the “Failte go Rosslare Harbour” carved rock.
16:20 - Watched a ferry sail out.
16:35 - Entered the terminal building.
16:58 - Discovered my watch is eight minutes fast. Actual time is 17:00. Clock in terminal is wrong! Unsatisfactory phone call with Aisling. Realise the trip is meaningless in all contexts except my own personal perspective. Slightly deflated but also proud that I completed the challenge. The only problem is how to deal with the soaked and stinking bivvy bag. I have tomorrow to sort that out.
I’d labelled my two water bottles alpha and bravo so I could tell them apart.↩
Actually I was mistaken about the location. It wasn’t the Liffey.↩
Water purification tablets.↩
One of the roads that meet at Sally Gap.↩
I hadn’t lain down on the ground to confirm that it was sufficiently level.↩
I scrubbed the cooking pot with handfuls of bracken and sluiced it out with water.↩
…or deer, perhaps? I have no idea. The notion that the sounds were made by birds was more comforting.↩
I’d pitched the basha very low to the ground, with only a single short pole at the leeward corner. The dense bracken meant that the low end of the basha formed a dome over the bracken. It rained overnight. The water rolling off the high end of the basha pooled in the dome, leaving me with something between five and eight litres of pure rainwater in the morning. It was badly needed!↩
From where I posted superfluous items: excess pegs, the Dublin map.↩
My choice was chowder with bread and butter, chips and two generous slices of cake.↩
…in a dense forest.↩
Apart from some mystery itchy spots on the outer sides of my thighs (perhaps due to abrasion from my sporty underpants) I didn’t receive a single insect bite during the entire trip.↩
I’d been attempting to climb up the forested Carrigroe Hill to find a place to sleep for the night; all of the farmland in Wexford is explicitly private property. Failing to find the forestry path as sunset approached, I gave up and called on acquaintances in the area, who graciously fed me and put me up at a moment’s notice.↩
I used the still-sharp scissor blade on my Swiss Army knife. Other than that, the knife saw no use.↩
I couldn’t make sense of the Irish name, so ‘Turkiye’ it became.↩
The bivvy bag had gone into its waterproof bag damp after the night on the Coillte forest trail, so had spent a day and night and a day incubating forest floor microbes.↩
There was an industrial building behind the shrubbery in which I slept. It sounded like an all-night shooting range.↩
A big greasy spoon restaurant. I’d dropped in there on the way in to Castlebridge to enquire about accommodation options in the town.↩
