The day started out dismally, with me sitting in the Westport Golf Club carpark at 6:30 a.m. waiting for some brief showers to pass so I might get a quick 6/9/13 holes in without my wish to play some golf dominating our day. The brief shower turned into sheeting rain, so I headed back up to the cottage - and back into bed - to plan a different day. We hate to sit around all day, but it didn't seem that our hope to stay active would be supported by the weather today.
We've been wanting to bike a bit on the
Greenway. Candee has a bike on loan from our lovely landlady Carole and I purchased one at good value from a friend of Darren Madden's, Travis who owns Clew Bay Bike Hire. We've been very interested in getting out on the bikes and getting some fitness activities in, but instead we got in the car and headed northwest up towards
Ballycroy National Park to see if there'd be some clearing up that way that would allow us to hike the path near the visitors center. And indeed we got lucky, as the pictures might attest. Although there were still quite a few clouds, vivid blue sky pierced through the clouds and the brilliant light turned the gray clouds a beautiful puffy white. We were rewarded for our righteousness as the day turned from wintery to a more typical June Irish day - fresh and fair - and we got to traverse the wilderness path at an energetic pace, well justifying the expansive dinner I have planned for us at our favorite Italian haunt - Il Vulcano.
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| At Ballycroy |
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| A primitive land and a "Dark Sky" internationally recognized site. |
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| From Ballycroy, looking westward toward Achill Island |
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| Looking south toward Croagh Patrick from across Clew Bay at Mulranny |
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| Miscellaneous tourist in winter garb |
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| A church in derelict state |
