Kerry Way - May 15, 2025 Day 1 Killarney to Bridia Valley

Hillwalk Tours Overview Today’s hike starts with a walk through the grounds of Muckross House & Gardens, the centrepiece of the Killarney National Park. Continue past scenic Torc Waterfall and follow paths along the quiet Old Kenmare Road up into the mountains and through the remote Esknamucky Glen, where you may even spot some Irish Red Deer. A lakeshore path leads you to a café at Lord Brandon’s Cottage from where you enter the Black Valley at the edge of Ireland’s highest mountains. The climb into Bridia Valley will get your leg muscles working overtime but the fantastic views are more than worth it.  Daily Information  Distance:   32.4 Kms   [32.4 Kms] Walking time:   7h 28m [7h 28m] Avg walking speed:   4.3 Kms/hr  [4.3 Kms/hr] Elevation G/L meters: 804:(785)  [804:(785)] Total Daily Steps: 43,405 [43,405] Words fail on a day like this…I am knackered! First it was an outstanding day of walking…however the Hillwalk Tours description above is simply lacking in describing the Bridia Valley walking. “ Get’s your legs working”…sure I almost died! Ok maybe exaggerating a bit however consider this: - 32.4kms when taking into account elevation gains/losses converts to an adjusted walking on flat surface of 39.1kms. That’s serious stuff! - As mentioned in yesterday’s blogpost John suggested we start past Torc waterfall or 6.7 kms up the road as we will be doing this way in reverse on Day 8. Hillwalk  Tours GPS tracks showed a walk of  31.4 kms so basic math we have a walk of 24.7 kms. SO how come we walked 32.4kms? - We did not get lost at all!!!  - Wikilocs beeped congratulations at 25kms YOU HAVE FINISHED THE TRAIL - Final answer Hillwalk Tours GPS tracks would have had us stop in the middle of nowhere almost 8kms short of our destination. A wee little mistake on their part 🤪 Ok after that little rant “did I really enjoy the day?” Absolutely as it finished this way 🥰 Apple 🍎 Cider was Outstanding! Back to the start of the day where I had a few issues: - John showered first and assured me shower contraption was easy! NO!! I get in…at that point no clothes on…two levers left I can see increased red dots so must be hot! Then right side must be cold…so I try right side…nothing. Then I start pushing non existent buttons…nothing…now what? How do I get John in here to help…I will look major stupid and that won’t do! Then I notice the sign…right side opens water flow…left is for both hot and cold. All good…geez…there could have been additional signs elsewhere! 😉 - Go to brush teeth. Two tubes in my kit both small and same size. Hydrocortisone Acetate Cream…the other toothpaste. Guess which one goes one the toothbrush? 😋  Breakfast…superb! We met Thomas from Chamonix France 🇫🇷 early in the walk. Nice young fellow who spent 3 years in Vancouver Canada. Had a nice chat and the two old codgers moved on. We just met another young fellow Terry (every one is younger these days even John!) who hails from Scotland here at the Rowan Tree Inn for supper. Had a delightful chat he is working on Diversity Equity programs…then we veered into “can you believe..?” talk for a while! Supper was incredibly good! Getting back to today’s walk…I guess I am jumping around a bit 😂 hmm wonder why! The walk through the Bridia Valley was very challenging in a number of areas as we had 3 significant up/down climbs which were very rocky. Downhill picking your way through small boulder fields when tired is really really tough mentally mostly. One poor plant of the foot could lead to a BIG problem ie twisted or worse ankle issue. However we persisted through these challenges…bend but not break type walking. John is a very strong walker and his leadership skills were most important. - I ran out of water…John had a filter and we used a trickling hill stream - While I did not have a meltdown John recognized that I was starting to flag. Basically I was tiring somewhat…ok gutting it out…at 24+kms AND it was know very clear that Hillside Tours GPS distances were simply 💩. - So John called me over “Guy come over here in the shade…get some water.” Oh that was good and then John pulled a Greg “Here have this Twix chocolate bar!”“Oh no I really can’t as I wolfed down the last bite 😊” Did wonders! A few other encouraging words were most welcome and after another Everest type climb was waltzing the last 2 kms on a FLAT road where a car was waiting to take us to the Rowan Tree Inn 👍 Today’s leçon from master sheep farmer John 🤔. The colour on the ewe (female sheep) represents the ram with whom she was mated with. Other colour(s) represent the owner of ewe. I have no choice but to believe John so I am admitting that I bought his explanation 😊 If anyone knows better please contact me pdq. Tomorrow a much easier day…estimated 🤔😉🤪to be 22kms. Late news flash John has just figured out Hillwalk Tour distances are off again…this time in our favour! So TBD! Finally here are some pictures from the day…essentially no pictures of rougher parts of the walk…I am going to 😴. Very late breaking news!!! This morning John was taking a closer look at the Hillwalk Tours information. Fessing up time! It appears in one area of the received notes the intended pickup point was at the 25 km point as per YOU HAVE FINISHED THE TRAIL! However another instruction…which we followed…had us going up and over Mt Everest to our rendezvous. If this is confusing 🫤 well that is ok. Final thought is we and Hillside share some responsibility in this amazing additional adventure 😊. This morning it makes for a good story. John and I are committing to reading instructions a little more carefully and asking questions to clarify.