Day 1 of 2 — Sneem to Kenmare
This would be our longest day, over 20 miles even after I cut-short the route around a Kenmare golf course. It also involved 1900 feet of climbing, but that was all at the end. To begin with, our route led us close to the shore through a series of quite elegant old estates beside Kenmare Bay. The paths through the woods wandered around in a most romantic, but inefficient, fashion. Nevertheless, it was generally pleasant going as long as we could stay on the proper trail. The rhododendrons were in bloom and we spent some of the day walking and talking with a young French hiker whom we had encountered days before and rejoined outside Sneem.
A ruined cottage we passed added to the atmosphere of decay, but through the woods we could catch glimpses of baronial mansions more appropriate to these grand estate forests. We crossed the Blackwater Bridge about half way to Kenmare.
Our route continued near the shore a little longer. It was slightly overcast but the views through the artfully cultivated “forests” of the estate houses was quite attractive.
We had hoped to purchase food at Pat Spillane's Pub, which our guidebooks claimed was near our route, but it was clearly abandoned when we passed, so we stopped in a handy churchyard and made do with left-over snacks from our packs, shared with the grateful Frenchman. Soon after this, we began our 2200 foot climb up into the hills.
We were disturbed to walk by some clear-cut forestry. We have become accustomed to this seemingly careless treatment of harvested tree plantations in Ireland and Britain, but they are never attractive.
After a very long day of hiking, we reached a high-point aptly called Carrauntoohil View near the top of Gortamullin Mountain. We could see the McGillicuddy Reeks in the distance where we had started our circumnavigation of the Kerry Peninsula a week earlier. From here we began our tired descent into Kenmare.
Kenmare was busy mid-week with loads of Ring of Kerry tourists, but we had a pleasant dinner before heading to our well-deserved rest at Limestone B&B.
Day 2 of 2 — Kenmare to Killarney
On our final day we walked 16 miles on our way back to Ashville House B&B in Kenmare, up and over 3 passes with 2000 feet of climbing. We started with other walkers, but it did not take long to leave the crowds of Kenmare and the paved roads behind.
This was the first day we experienced cold and wind; it emphasized the wild steepness of the Old Kenmare Road into Killarney. We understood from the many carefully constructed boardwalks that these sections are boggy in most seasons.
As we walked closer to Killarney, the landscape began to resemble our first two days in the Reeks with granite outcroppings and jagged horizons.
Finally, as we reentered Killarney National Park, we took brief detours to reach two waterfalls: Cores Cascade must be quite impressive after normal rainfall and Torc Waterfall appeared lushly peaceful but is probably more energetic in wetter seasons.
These were our last memorable sights on our Kerry Way adventure. We had already seen Muckross House and grounds, and our feet were sore, so we haggled (not very successfully) for a ride on a jaunting cart with a driver who was returning home to Killarney, thereby saving ourselves 3 or 4 miles of road-walking. All in all, this adventure assembled with great care by Hillwalk Tours was an unforgettable experience. We walked 127 miles over 9 days of physically challenging but also stimulating travel through some of the most beautiful landscapes I have encountered. Michael and I had both cycled the Ring of Kerry; I have driven it several times; but none of those trips surpassed actually walking through the interior of the Kerry Peninsula as we did on this trip.
Full photo album for Ring of Kerry — Segment 5
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