Well hello again my lovelies, I hope you are all doing well? I've had a busy time with trips and visitors and wedding prep, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you! Here are some of my favourite photos from the first full week in May. I was busy catching up with work from my previous trip, but I did get out for a couple of walks, including one spectacular hike, AND, I got to see the Aurora Borealis!!!! This was a huge deal for me, as I've wanted to see it for as long as I can remember, but honestly, those photos deserve their own blog post, so I will share those separately.
Pint of Guinness 0.0 at Nancy's Barn.
Excellent burger and chips at Nancy's Barn.
On the Tuesday I took a nice walk into Ballyliffin village and treated
myself to a meal at my favourite place, Nancy's Barn, before getting a
few supplies from the shop and heading home. Since I work from home, and
deal with multiple different health issues, I definitely don't get out
of the house every day. And because I can never guarantee how much
energy I'll have on any given day, I try to combine trips as much as
possible. So, if I need something from the shop, I often coincide it
with a nice longer walk and a meal out to treat myself. Afterwards, I
might be so worn out that I need to take a nap, or even take it very
easy for the next few days, but I am lucky that I can do that.
Clouds over Binnion. Such a nice day, I was inspired to take a walk!
Green hedgerows, Mullagh.
Country lane and standing stones.
On the Thursday, it was a beautiful day and I decided to go on a short
walk up to Mullagh, near where I live. It's one of my favourite walks,
and provides stunning views across the bay. Once I got up to the "ghost
village" at the end of the road, I decided to go cross country a little
way and check out the views from the lower slopes of Binnion hill. Once I
got there, I climbed a little higher to get an even better view. From
that point, I looked up the hill, which didn't seem like it was very
much further, and decided to go the whole way up Binnion.
View of Glashedy and Malin Head from Binnion.
Binnion and Bulaba.
It's fecking steep.
View of Pollan Bay from Binnion.
Really steep bit, but stunning views across Pollan Bay.
Now, the path I took leads up to an extremely steep face, so I was
scrambling up some treacherous rock and holding on to heather, and
questioning why I decided to do this when I wasn't even wearing the
right socks, didn't have any water with me, and hadn't actually eaten
anything so far that day! Still, the views were absolutely spectacular,
and it made for a funny story, so I kept going. The other thing you need
to know about Binnion, is that the photos I share from my house only
show the lower peak. The angle is so steep that you can't see the actual
top of the hill from where I live. I remembered this when I got to the
top of the extremely steep face, and saw the higher peak taunting me
from nearby. Fortunately for me and my arthritic knees, there are
actually some old roads/tracks that wind up to the taller peak, so the
next stage of the hike was much easier. I was beginning to regret my
lack of food and water, but I'd gotten this far, so it seemed only right
that I keep going until I get to the top. So I followed the old tracks,
which lead a meandering path up to the actual summit. The views from
there were absolutely breathtaking, and made it all worthwhile.
Looking towards Tullagh and Dunaff, view from Binnion.
Pollan Bay and the Isle of Doagh, from Binnion.
Looking towards Tullagh and Dunaff, view from Binnion.
Looking towards Tullagh and Dunaff, view from Binnion.
Gorse and hills.
Cows and hills.
Getting down was another matter entirely. I followed one of the "roads",
which petered out and left me scrambling down a steep hillside towards
Upper Annagh. I knew I must have missed the true path down somehow, but
my knees were now causing me tremendous pain and I just had to keep
going. I knew I was very close to where I wanted to be, so after
negotiating some barbed wire fences and crossing a rushing stream, I
found the true road and made my way home. I even managed to collect a
bag of rubbish and recycling from the hedgerows on the way back! I had
been out for about 3.5 hours by this point, (including stopping to rest
and take photos of course.) and now the lack of food and water that day
was definitely apparent, and I was feeling very unwell, but still very
proud of myself. I've lived so close to Binnion for a whole year now,
but I hadn't climbed it since I was a teenager. I was afraid to, because
of my bad joints and lack of energy, so I kept putting it off. And I
totally didn't intend to climb it that day, but it worked out well, and
even though I was in too much pain to do much the next few days, it was
worth it.
Interesting cloud over Glashedy and Pollan Bay.
Pictures don't do it justice. It's bloody steep, and this isn't even the highest peak!
Evening light over Pollan Bay.
Waiting for the Aurora, evening light over Pollan Bay.
Friday 10th into Saturday 11th May marked my first time truly seeing the Aurora, which was absolutely magical. As I said above, I will post those photos in a separate post. The rest of the weekend I took it easy, as my joints were still very inflamed after the big hike. The weather changed also and was much more rainy, so I cosied up with a good book and watched the clouds move across the sky, and still enjoyed every moment!
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