The Motley Crew

Thought I'd provide a photo to introduce everyone to the guys going on this walk. From the left is Marty Szabo, Alan (Al) Strickland, John Nelson, and Dick (aka Tommy Lee) Gamertsfelder.

As you can see from the photo, everyone's been working hard to get in shape for the walk. We've also spent a lot of time making sure we have the right gear. These leather outfits are de rigueur for long, difficult walks.

It's also important to minimize the weight of what you're carrying. For this walk, we've come up with a strategy to avoid carrying any maps. you can see from Dick's photo that he has had a map of the entire route tattooed on his body. The cutout on his right hip will allow us to check the map for the first day of the trip. Some of the other days are problematic.

(Group photo courtesy of Mark Luftig, of On Your Mark Photography)

Here's the Itinerary

Wednesday, July 10

   Leave Charlotte for Dublin

Thursday,  July 11                      

   Arrive in Dublin, drive to Kinsale. Overnight in Kinsale

Friday,  July 12

   Leave Kinsale, drive to Glengarriff

Saturday, July 13

   The walk begins.

   Glengarriff to Adrigole through the Glengarriff woods and Glenlough Mountains   - 14 miles.                                   

Sunday, July 14 

    Adrigole to Castletownbere  around Bantry Bay– 14 miles

Monday, July 15 

   Free day in Castletownbere. 

   We could do a walk to Dursey Island (accessible by cable car shared with sheep).

   Could walk Bere Island (accessible by ferry shared with people).

   Could explore Castletownbere.           

Tuesday, July 16

   Castletownbere  to Eyeries via the Slieve Mishkish Mountains and Coulagh Bay - 13 miles.

Wednesday, July 17

   Eyeries to Lauragh, via Ardgroom - 13 miles.

Thursday, July 18

   Lauragh to Kenmare along the Caha Mountains and Lough Inchiquin. -

15 miles.

Friday, July 19

   Get car back at Glengarriff, head for Galway via the River Shannon Ferry.  

   Still planning a day in Dingle, Doolin, or Lisdoonvarna along the way.

Saturday, July 20

   Galway

Sunday, July 21

   Galway to Dublin

Monday, July 22

   Fly Dublin to Charlotte  

Don't you just love the Irish names?                                                          

Another Year, Another Glorious Walk Through Ireland's Countryside

Two weeks until this year's walking adventure. This year we walk the Beara peninsula, in counties Cork and Kerry in southwest Ireland. Beara is the third of three major peninsulas in southwest Ireland. We walked the Dingle Peninsula (Dingle Way) in 2010 and the Iveragh Peninsula (Kerry Way) in 2011. Both of those were awesome experiences, and I expect the third time will be the charm.

Who is "we"? There are four of us this year. Marty Szabo and I walked the Dingle and Kerry Ways together. John Nelson joined us for the Kerry Way. And Marty, John, and I make up three of the four parts of  "we" walking the Beara way. The fourth part of "we" this year is Dick Gamertsfelder, who has threatened to join us before, and even went out and got a new knee just for this adventure.

As with the other Ireland walks, Deirdre O'Sullivan of Tailor-Made Tours has organized the walk for us. What Deirdre does is provide us the route, arrange for the B&B's and inns along the way, and arrange for our luggage to be transported every day to where we're staying that night. All we do is start each morning with an Irish breakfast, step out into whatever weather Southwest Ireland might be having at the time, and walk through back roads, fields, and trails across the gorgeous Irish countryside. Anywhere from 10-15 miles later we'll get to the village we're staying for the night, take a shower, rest up, and go find the first Guinness of the day.