This morning we headed out to hike the Cliffs of Moher! On the drive there, we passed by Dunguaire Castle. We wanted to see inside, but there was an entrance fee that seemed a bit exorbitant. We settled for a pretty picture with a pink flowering bush!
You can go straight up to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor's Center by car, but we chose the more athletic route to get there. We parked in the village of Doolin and walked to the trail. Near the trail head is Doolin Castle ruins. I realize for the Irish, castles and ruins are kind of run of the mill, but they are so cool to me, and we liked thinking about what the people's lives were like when they were occupied.
This "walking trail" was actually pretty glorious. The views of the sea were incredible, and the landscape here on the edge of the ocean is varied and interesting.
It was extremely windy up here on top of the beginnings of the cliffs, and we were quite buffeted about!
There were such fascinating rock formations, created by the sea dashing against them for thousands of years. The rocks here looked like giant keys, with straight and jagged edges jutting out from the cliff face.
Huge inlets carved out of the rock held bright turquoise water and birds flying in and out.
It was very sunny, and in order to get the picture facing the way we wanted I couldn't even keep my eyes open against the light!
The inlets ended in mysterious dark caves that looked super interesting to explore had we the time and the gear.
The trail began simply enough. Fairly level, but quite wet from the field runoff to the ocean.
Fences to keep the sheep in, but nothing to keep humans from pitching over the edges! I actually really enjoyed the refreshing perspective of the Irish...if you do something stupid, there will be consequences. Pretty simple.
The ocean changes color by the minute as the light hits it differently, and more key rocks to examine as we went along.
As we rounded the curve, the views just kept getting more and more stunning. Also the trail kept getting more and more uphill as the cliff gained height.
Again, really wild to be at the edge of the world like this and have no barrier between us and a drop that ranged from 390 to 702 feet! It was a little disorienting to turn our backs to the edge and look up at the selfie stick.
This shows the narrow way we traveled along the cliff edge. The fences surround the fields where sheep and other animals graze, and people hike the trail outside them. There were spots where the path was wider, but several where it was alarmingly narrow, and wet and slick to boot! Balance became a real issue!
But the views were incredible.
It was hard to fathom the majesty of these sheer cliff faces. Luckily the wind was blowing towards land, or we would have had to contend with gusts pushing us towards the edge.
The water was still flowing down the hills towards the cliff edge from the field runoff, but over on this side of the cliffs, the wind was blowing even harder off the ocean, which meant we saw upside down waterfalls! It was cascading down the side of the cliff, but the wind was catching the water and flinging it back up onto land. They were really cool to see, but they created super soggy spots in the trail that had to just be marched through anyway! The wind must always be very strong up here, because the grass and plants have been flattened and almost thatched with the force of the air hitting them all the time. That, too, was a little unnerving to step on a spot and have it depress with your weight.
There were several outcroppings near the Visitor's Center that really made you feel on the edge of creation.
By the time we got to the Visitor's Center, I was pretty exhausted. What I had THOUGHT was an 8 km (almost 5 mile) round trip, was actually an 8 km one way from Doolin to the Visitor's Center, much of that uphill. Being pregnant made it a little tricky, and I didn't have enough food with me! We had hoped to find some kind of shuttle or ride to take us back to Doolin, but we were unsuccessful, and ended up walking through the towns back. I rationed my peanut M&M's and made each one count! It has astounded me this whole trip how commonplace old stone ruins are here. They are just sitting on people's properties, some being used for one purpose or another, and others not being used at all. The Irish are a superstitious people, who believe that stones used in old buildings or constructions (including the dry stone walls that criss cross the countryside) should not be used in new constructions. So the ruins remain all over the place.
After returning to our car in Doolin, we drove back to our hotel, passing many ruins and old castles on the way. This was the view from the road of Adare Desmond Castle. I'm sure many of the larger ruins and castles are named, but so many are just little huts or barns on private properties. Such a fascinating culture.
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