Day 79
December 21, 2021:
Cycled up Clew Bay. It’s got dozens of islands in it. Wonder how they formed. Passed Westport House and golf club. Went out to Rosmoney Pier. Ate bread with blackcurrant jam there. It was good. Way back, saw farmer. Asked him about spray painted sheep. He said they’re a brand that allows farmers to identify their sheep with binoculars from a distance. Each farmer uses their own colors. Each sheep is separately branded on the ears.
Followed bike path next to N59 to Newport. Path deviated from highway at a hill. Appeared like a Greenway that might turn east. I went off bikepath back to highway, and followed it north at the side of the road, later rejoining another bike path. They might be the same one, but I’m not sure how much of a detour it would have been.
In Newport, I remembered to call the computer shop in Clifden for an update. Backup SD card had nothing on it, would now begin scan for deliberately deleted files on old gopro card. Newport looks nice, but I didn’t stay long, eager to make progress towards Achill Island. Trail wound through farms a bit north of the highway along the foothills of some hills to the north. Weird S-shaped bridges. Some closed cafes because of the offseason. An interesting bridge across the river.
Mallaranny is small. It’s got a food shop. A nice beach. The road north towards Wild Nephin Ballycroy NP looks cool. I looked forward to doing that tomorrow. I identified several campsites along the Greenway that looked ideal. Sheltered from the wind by the hill on Achill Beg, good view over the bay, and along public land of the Greenway, with a bike rack to lock my bike to and a bench to use to relax on. Ideal campsite.
Realized I had left my shaving razor behind in Westport at The Quays. I called them, and sure enough, they had found it. I said I’d call them back when I figured out what I wanted them to do with it. My thought was that they could either mail it to London so I could pick it up when I reached there, or they could send it to a B&B or Warmshowers host along my way there, but I’d need to arrange that first. I’d send them the money somehow to send it via mail.
Continued to Achill Sound. Stopped for food. Bought some very questionable sausage rolls and fried fish balls (which I had thought were fried cheese balls). Ate the fish, couldn’t finish the sausage rolls. (That bad!). Considered options. Sunset was in half an hour or so. Could continue out onto Achill Island, but would have to find a new campsite fast. Looked at map. Saw Achill-Henge on a hillside. If that lines up with the sun, it might be really cool to go there on the solstice. It’s got a fun story behind it too. The guy who built it did so without a building permit, and did not comply with a cease & desist order, so was jailed for a few days for having done it. But it still stands to this day. Thing is, it’s just concrete. Photos of it didn’t look super cool, but the story, plus it aligning with the solstice… that’d be a magic story. I had to go - right? And yet… the campsite I had passed about an hour back was SO good.
I started cycling back. On the way, called brother. Bro recommended I see Achill-Henge. He agreed that it was a match made in heaven. But I was already on my way back. With the sun having set and darkness falling quickly, I was committed. Bro asked about Christmas plans. Maybe we could meet in Sligo? He had to go for a bit since he had another incoming call. But we agreed to talk more later. I cycled fast, covering about five miles in less than half an hour. I went back over the weird arch bridge. I set up the tent, and got everything inside. Called bro back. He was impressed at how much I had done in the time between calls.
Discussed Sligo, flights, train, logistics. Bro decided it was too complicated. Plus, I’d need to turn around immediately and do some 300 km or so in four to five days to make it happen. That’s definitely possible, but is pushing it for my pace, especially were something to go wrong, like have multiple flat tires or something. It might also limit my time at Achill Island and Wild Nephin. We decided against it.
Went back to thinking of my plans. Checked my Wild Atlantic Way card and saw that Keem Strand at the tip of Achill Island is a 'Scenic Point of Interest’ on the trail. I’m a bit of a completionist. Even though I have already deviated from the trail in a couple places - namely on the Kerry peninsula to do the mountain passes, and skipped Doolin to get to a Warmshowers host and do Burren NP, I still wanted to see all the key discovery points. That would include Keem Strand. Had I known that when I was at the Super Valu in Achill Sound earlier, I would definitely have continued on onto Achill Island. Going back to this spot just didn’t make any sense. Considering how far back Keem Strand now was, there was no way I’d be able to continue north to Wild Nephin for at least another day, possibly two days.
Entertained myself by listening to my audio book Words of Radiance all evening.
