Challenge: To hike from Dublin to Galway in a week... 207km...
Difficulty: It's hiking from Dublin to Galway... how hard could it be?
Overview: While sitting over a delicious Indian meal with Conor Sweetman (above) I mentioned the whole 52 weeks - 52 challenges thing... I then let slip about the idea of hiking from Dublin to Galway. Conor, for reasons only known to himself, thought this sounded like a brilliant idea and asked if he could tag along. I was initially skeptical- surely I should attempt this challenges alone? Like a hermit? Or kermit? But then loneliness is tough, the toughest role I ever played, Hollywood created a superstar... sorry- got sidetracked...
So the night before we were due to set out me and Conor met in his to discuss the route ('root' according to Conor- 'rowt' according to me... this would be a continuous disagreement throughout the trip) we'd be taking... I could discuss the ridiculousness of this route (root) but it would take too long to describe... suffice to say it was stupid as f**k.
Day 1 - The Spire to Kilcock (giggle)
Early morning train to Dublin Connelly. The hike was to begin at the Spire and finish at Eyre Square in Galway. Todays desitination was Kilcock (giggle) - which didn't get old at any point during the journey. We hiked through an old dilapidated part of Dublin I'd never seen before- we watched the markets getting set up by the scariest Dublin folk in existence. We then hiked through Phoenix Park where there was a 5mile run on- we also passed the house of the president and felt extremely patriotic...
We hiked out of Dublin, through Lucan and then onto the canal walk. 7 hours of hiking later we arrived in Kilcock (giggle).
We stayed in Ashford House B&B where there was a mistake in the booking and there wasn't a twin room available. So instead we got UPGRADED to a room each with ensuite and our own tea making facilities! After a chat with the lovely owner (whose sons names were also Conor and Steve) and a nap we decided to order in a sexy chinese (food- not an actual person). Our muscles were in a lot of pain and we were fairly wrecked- although we did stay up and watch The Fantastic Four... mmm... Jessica Alba...
Day 2 - Kilcock (giggle) to Kinnegad
"IT'S CLOBBERING TIME!"
Up early for breakfast, the lovely owner Angela offered to make us sandwiches for our hike (we love this woman). So we began our hike from Kilcock (giggle) to Kinnegan- the sleep had cured our weary muscles and everything seemed grand. The canal offered a treasure trove of wonders- most importantly it gave us a boat...
After about 4 hours of hiking along the canal- and becoming truly sick of it- we stopped at Furey's Bar for a pot of tea and a break...
Back on the road- our intention to hike the N4 from Moyvalley to Kinnegad... at this point it began to rain... heavily... and it was ascertained that there was a serious flaw with my waterproofs...
This was one of the most miserable parts of the journey in my mind. Chaffing became a serious issue as the wet clothes stuck to my legs as I walked. I found that singing "I can go the distance" from Hercules was really the only thing that could lighten my mood. Eventually we arrived in Kinnegad and the irony of the poster upon our arrival was not lost...
We stayed with the O'Rourkes that night who provided us with shelter, food and a nice comfy bed where me and Conor slept head to tail... naughty bits still in the middle though... they also provided me with sexy new WORKING waterproofs... thanks guys...
Day 3 - Kinnegad to Kilbeggan
This was just roads and fields... but the weather was good... and so we took photos...
Arrived in Kilbeggan... sunburnt... had another chinese- delish...
Day 4 - Kilbeggan to Athlone
Left Kilbeggan nice and early. Weather today wasn't too bad except both myself and Conor were sun burnt from the day before. The hike today wasn't half as interesting as the night we had. We arrived in Mary's gaff in Athlone (friend of the fanily) We decided that we'd walk 65km the next day. In order to celebrate this massive undertaking we decided to have a glass of wine...
Three bottles of wine later we decided to walk to Aughrim the next day instead...
Day 5 - Athlone to Aughrim
Hungover and feeling pretty rough we left the at about 2pm... we arrived in Aughrim at about 9pm. Not much to report except that our legs were definetly screwed up. Also we were hitting double digits, each, when it came to blisters (at the time of writing this- 2 weeks late [as usual] I still have 2 blisters remaining).
Day 6 - Aughrim to Galway
Today was the toughest and stupidest day of all. We got up at 3am, I made eggs and beans, and we left the lovely hostel around 4am. We then hiked, in agony, for kilometres... and kilometres... a cute dog came to greet us along the way... but he proved to be both annoying and stupid. He followed us for about 5km then we called his owner (it was now 8am) to come and collect him. We took a few Difene (best drug ever) and continued on our way.
Misery is the word than only begins to describe how we felt... we found a garden to sleep in around noon for an hour. We also realised a very funny dynamic to our duo; when we were walking I was miserable and unhappy, but Conor was grand. When we stopped though- Conor became miserable because he got the feeling that "oh dear god we have to start again"... thus Conor spent the time 'walking' cheering me up and I spent the time 'resting' cheering Conor up... also- these geese cheered us both up...
We decided to avoid moaning or complaining on the last day so instead we had to turn everything into a postitive statement... this lead to statements like: "Stephen- I have a blister on my right little toe that feels so f**king good..." and "Conor- Mmmhmm... gotta love this stabbing sensation in my leg..."
We walked a minor section on the motorway... and got stopped by the guards where he explained to us that 'blue' signs are for motorways... to which Conor responded: "Well- next time we hike from Dublin to Galway we'll keep that in mind..."
15 hours later- a couple of kilometers outside Galway city- well over 200km of hiking we realized the following... we hadn't drank anything in the last 5 hours, we were in agony and we were walking so slowly that by the time we'd arrive in Galway (only about 4km at this stage) it'd be getting dark. We mutually agreed that we'd walked the distance from Dublin to Galway and proceeded to dial a taxi to take us the remainder of the journey.
I would go into the epicness of Galway and how it was legendary... but what happens in Galway stays in Galway....
And yeah... we got the bus home... screw walking...
Conclusion: One of the hardest, yet rewarding, things I've ever done. If you ever need to 'find yourself' or 'get in touch with your inner chi' then I recommend hiking from Dublin to Galway. I also recommend that you hike with someone who is a legend as it will make the journey that much more worthwhile. I recommend bringing vaseline (for chaffing), waterproofs and GPS. Also- make sure you're bag doesn't weight 18kg like mine did... that was just stupid.
Special Thanks: Brendan O'Rourke and family for their hospitality. All the hostels and B&B's where we stayed- the service was brilliant. Thanks to Mary in Athlone for putting us up and making us breakfast! Thanks to Conor for being a fucking legend.
And most importantly... thanks to these guys who always kept a lookout for us along the way...
