Interesting weather for hikes

“Interesting” is not a desired descriptor of weather when you’re hiking in Ireland. We visited Connemara National Park to hike Diamond Hill.

As you can see, the weather wasn’t very welcoming when we started, but it changes quickly here, so we set off. At the base, everything was green and inviting -

As we climbed higher, you could see farther and we took hope from the patches of blue sky -

Near the top…

… a fast moving line of clouds drenched our legs and (adding insult to injury) pelted us with sleet!

As quickly as it came, it was gone and the sun came out for the rest of our hike.

Kylemore Abbey from above -

The path down off the hill on the back side wasn’t nearly as pretty, but it was sure expansive -

We then drove back along Killary Fjord…

… and passed through pockets of lushness…

… before climbing up past loughs as the clouds moved in again.

We also passed by a farmer working with his dogs -

We drove on many narrow roads on our travels…

… and met or passed many tractors both out in the countryside as well as in small towns.

Our next day was another big hike - up Croagh Patrick. The Diamond Hill hike was a baby (1300 ft of ascent over 4 miles) compared to Croagh Patrick (2400 ft of ascent over 4.6 miles).

Croagh Patrick is considered a holy mountain. Legends note that St. Patrick spent 40 days there for Lent, and archaeologists have found that there have been chapels at the summit since the 5th century. Thousands of people summit the mountain in late July for an annual pilgrimage.

It was pretty enough when we started…

… and the beautiful blue of the Atlantic kept teasing us -

Soon enough, we were climbing into the clouds -

(see the tiny people on the path?)

Woohoo! We made it to the top!

Apparently, there are gorgeous views from up here…

As we descended, we started seeing green…

… and then beautiful blue skies -

I guess I should have saved the picture of the little lamb to close this post, since I don’t have a real fitting one at the end of this long hike. You’ve also seen enough pictures of pints and whiskey pours, so instead I’ll give you a taste of a sunny day in County Mayo, which will be the focus of the next blog -