Today was amazing, guys. Amazing. I’ll get to why, but I have to say that up front because I feel like it’s been a long time since I have felt and fully expressed the Holy Shit Wowness of this journey the way I did today and that seems worth calling out. I mean, as a crude but revealing metric, I took over 200 pictures today. I feel like the last time I did that was somewhere back in Cork.
Where to even start? I’ll take the Mary Poppins route, I suppose.
So about the whole ???Sligo??? thing – if y’all are curious, the actual location I ended yesterday and began today can be seen on a map at this link: (https://goo.gl/maps/mybVVbBjPE12) Its distinguishing feature (beyond being an intersection somewhere along my route) was a sign to something called Wynne’s View, which unfortunately was in the opposite direction as I was going and therefore remains a mystery to me.
I mellowly strolled through the last bits of the Lung/Lough Gara Way, in its undefined, unlabeled, and yet not unpleasant fashion. The weather went with the un-theme, contemplating unpleasant and landing on undecided (other than ‘grey’)
Birch tree with pale bark to match the pale sky
See what I mean about not unpleasant? It’s road but it is not bad road really
Soon enough though, I moved into the territory of the Miner’s Way & Historical Trail, the 10th section of my journey. This would be the final section for going to Leitrim, and there are only two more after it (one of them very short) for going all the way to Blacklion.
Some slopes waiting ahead of me
I had the distinct and fascinating experience of standing on a section of road which was dry, and seeing ahead where it became wet, and then walking over the line into the rain. Today included several notable experiences with the weather, this being only the first
Lamb of the day is ba-a-a-ack and cuter than ever
My new trail
Which ascended fairly rapidly to reveal some lovely views of Lough Arrow, which we would look down on at various times today (it is a big lake)
There goes my trail up and away
Microflora
Three kinds of sky one of which is probably about to dump a load of rain on my head
I was walking along this section of trail when I saw some clouds approaching through the draw up ahead…
And then the sky. Opened. Up. Rain was suddenly hurtling into my face at velocities better reserved for baseballs and motor vehicles, and I hustled my way to the next tree a the path and huddled behind it, using it as a windbreak.
Zoom in on this pic and you can see the huge fat raindrops.
I considered moving on, as I had my rain jacket and pack cover AND rain pants all on, but the storm was intense enough I hesitated to leave the shelter of my hawthorn tree. Yes, it was that bad.
Eventually the rain died down, however, and I continued forward.
Ahead lay the cliffs along the draw I had spotted in the distance. I now understood why someone could decide they did not want to live in this particular location anymore
Maurice and I decided to perch on a section of stone wall and rest a little after the deluge, hoping maybe the grasses ahead would dry off somewhat while we relaxed
And I sat and stared at the clouds. They moved and changed, flowing by at different rates, and I savored the ability to see which were closer, which were farther, to perceive their depth and curvature. It was hyponotic. 40 minutes flew by as I stared, without me fully realizing it. I don’t think I have ever appreciated clouds as much as I have during this journey.
Finally I pried my eyes back to earth and continued.
The path led into the draw that had funneled the rainstorm earlier, and I picked my way carefully down the side
The steep sides rose up around me as I reached the bottom
After I had climbed back up out the other side, I glimpsed back to catch a bit of sunlight illuminating one of the far cliffs
The path led up to a green mountain road, kept shockingly tidy
Maybe the sheep act like mobile lawn trimmers here? Anyway sheep twins!
The road wound on until once again steep cliffs rose up to either side, forming one of the most astonishingly gorgeous road segments I have ever seen
The road was leading down into the valley below, which began to open up as I walked
It was here I came to this sign, which offered a potential diversion from my path… (continued in next post)
The Single Step Journeywoman 