Beara Way : Adrigole to Castletownbere
Day 2 : Wednesday, 8th August.
We walk from Adrigole to Castletownbere; distance 25kms and a maximum ascent of 400 meters. Early in the morning we are taken to Adrigole by car to start our second adventurous day on the Beara Way. We will be walking along the southern flanks of Hungry Hill into a desolate valley, crossing boggy ridges, streams, heading for the busy fishing port of Castletownbere where we will stay overnight in B&B Sea Breeze.
At Reenbridge today’s track leads us gently uphill. On this very day we almost got lost already. In some way or another we missed a marker and searched for about one hour between the bulbous outcrops of bedrock, covered with rhododendrons and gorse, to find the right way through the Irish wilderness. We worked ourselves to the bone, by all this "mountain-up, mountain-down stuff", going back to the last marker we did see and try it all over again. Don’t tell anyone that we, a group of three more or less experienced walkers, lost our way on the first day already (what a let-down). Nevertheless after quite some time we got down to a tarmac track (R572) and continued our journey, enjoying the beautiful views over Bantry Bay.
Some time later a marker directs us off the tarmac road, uphill where the track turns onto grassy holly lined boreen and finally onto the open rocky hillside. At a high point we get a splendid view out over Bantry Bay and a group of islands to the south, including Bere Island, where we will walk tomorrow. The track now seems to be an ancient road, looks like it is carved out of the bulging bedrock that makes its way uphill between enormous boulders. It is a nice view, all these huge boulders, thatched with ivy and holly. The route now gets less clear and follows paths and boreens. A marker directs us downhill towards a lake and the track beside it. Next the track climbs steeply uphill into the heart of the foothills towards Hungry Hill, again an impressive bump in the breathtaking landscape.
In Comnagapple Glen we decide to heave a lunch break. This valley really looks mysterious and I get a feeling as if leprechauns could emerge any moment. On the valley floor are bog cuttings, which have revealed the roots of pine trees that grew here a couple of thousand years ago. For a great part the track offers a desolate landscape of wet peat bogs. This peat has been used for centuries to provide warmth in winter to the population of Castletownbere.
From the flanks of the Slieve Miskish Mountains great views are disclosed down to Bantry Bay and Bere Island. This very island, separated from the main land by Bear Haven, has played an important role in the Napoleonic Wars. The signalling towers on the island date from that boisterous period. The Beara Way leads us past several megalithic tombs and now almost at the end of the way, loops around past again a megalithic tomb and leads us through the valley of the Ahakista river into the lovely looking town of Castletownbere also known as Castletown Bearhaven, which is a lively fishing port. Here we will spend the night at the B&B Sea Breeze of Noralene McGurn.
Her guesthouse was in a final stage of major renovation. An entire floor has been placed upon the existing one storey house as you can see from the pictures. The house had still to be painted; a job, which still has to be done as I did understand from some acquaintances, which stayed there this year (2002).
Mr. and Mrs. McGurn seem to have a slight difference of opinion about the colour. Well if it were up to me I would opt for vanilla yellow for the walls and bottle-green for the window frames. From Bere Island you can see the house very well and in yellow it would be a real eye catcher.
Original Source : Shamrock Memories
