Really, You Would Think I Would Know Better By Now...

I went on a hiking excursion around the Burren with the Mountaineering Club on Sunday. Gorgeous area, eclectic group of people. I checked the forecast on Saturday: pouring and cold all day. But I've hiked in worse, what could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing, actually... at least concerning the weather. I awoke to a lightly cloudy morning in Galway, and with Burren just across the bay things were looking dandy. Better than dandy when we stepped off the bus (well, I got a ride in someone's car, but that's irrelevant). There were some rather ominous looking clouds looming to the south, but our guides said not to worry, and how can you not trust that Irish accent?? I soon discovered why they didn't seem too distraught by the certain impending rain. We began the trek with a pretty steep accent, and before we were halfway up the wind had picked up immensely.

By the time we'd hit our first plateau I'm pretty certain that had I jumped I would have been carried over the side of the cliff that was a good hundred yards away. I made a point of keeping at least one foot on the ground at all times; no skipping through the Burren for me. :-(

But that meant that the massive black mass in the sky that had been threatening for the first hour or so blew over us in, oh, twenty minutes. And the rain was surprisingly light. Our expedition moved at a pretty leisurely pace, which was fine as it meant ample time for photographs (like this one!):

There were all sorts of ruins to be seen, monuments to times past. We stopped for a bit in a ringfort, a clearing surrounded by trees (or in this case a rock wall) used for cattle shelter and herding, protection from any invading forces, and sometimes more sacred rituals.

All in all a good hike, very worthwhile, etc. My feet didn't fare too well, though. I had to purchase new hiking boots because the Mountaineering Club has a strict policy about that... Well, I didn't bother until the day before, and I didn't wear them around that afternoon at all, so I have a blister or two to remind me of Sunday. I've only been hiking for seven years now, I mean, how can one really expect me to know that breaking in boots on a hike isn't a good idea?? But we (and by "we" I mean the privileged four of us who got to ride in the car) stopped at an awesome pub in something I wouldn't even classify as a village on the way home, so all was good.

A few more pictures from the day:

(I couldn't help it...)