Walking A Line – To Errigal

I ‘Walked The Line’ and I proudly get to wear the T-shirt, and raise the mug – thanks for a brilliant workout from Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue.  Their mega annual fundraiser had two challenges, a navigational chase and a straightforward 25k hike for those who were willing to follow the signs!  I chose the latter, but the physical demands were no joke.  It was a tough, long day out and I came home delighted in just over 6 hours.  To be honest, I had a secret weapon, the latter part of the hike was down through Spinc – my favourite mountain. I was actually heard to say ‘this is my patch’ as I trotted down the stones towards the Miners’ Village – and you know I meant it.  Yep I guess I’m declaring it.  Spinc is MY mountain – so there!  (I’m not actually being facetious – that mountain rescued me from being 23 stone and stuck in a cell of my own skin, and my own making. I owe a lot to that mountain).  The other benefit from ‘Walk the Line’ was accidentally turning up just 2-minutes before registration closed, and ending up ‘walking the line’ on my own, which I hadn’t really planned.  It left me picking out way-paths and finding my way around the hills in a way I hadn’t done before – and I learned a lot – lessons that came in handy later in the week….

A trip to Lough Sheelin cooled my heels after Wicklow – when I turned up to provide boat cover for my brave ‘Get Off The Couch’ colleague Karen Bowers, who swam her first 1k ‘wild swim’ in the beautiful County Cavan lake, surrounded by master swimmers and the fantastic long-distance swimmer, Fergal Somerville, who turned up to coach her, after recently adding an elusive North Channel Crossing to his previous English Channel crossing.  That man is inspiration in a set of speedos, and I have permission from his wonderful wife Margaret to say so. (Incidentally that woman is the best power-bar chef this side of either channel!).

A couple of days later I was back in the water again – this time in Donegal.  In bright sunshine, myself and buddy Vera Baker ‘Girls on Tour’ headed north with kayaks strapped to the roof of her heroic Jaguar and two bikes jammed inside, along with wetsuits, paddles, running gear, hiking gear, and high heels.  What other way to travel?  Well as Vera’s son commented wryly as he saw us reverse out –  “it wasn’t that we couldn’t do it – but probably that we shouldn’t“!

We hit the ground running when we arrived in Donegal in bright sunshine and instead of heading for shelter and our lovely home for the next three days, we made straight for the beach and launched the boats.  It was a good call too; we woke up to winter conditions the following morning, with the mist so thick we could hardly see our boots as we made our way towards Errigal.  That solo-navigation stuff in Wicklow helped with my confidence, as we strolled back down the mountain on a bearing and walked straight into the car park to our absolute delight.  Boasting to my Mountain Rescue buddies may have been a calculated error however – I’ve been told I’m navigating next time out!

Lots of thanks are due to lots of people after my last set of adventures.  Love you all and hugs will be distributed in due course. x

• Saturday June 22nd – 25kilometre hike ‘Walk The Line’ fundraiser for Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue
• Sunday June 23rd – kayak boat cover for Get Off The Couch at Lough Sheelin long-distance swim event
• Monday June 24th – Kayak training with Wild Water Kayak Club
• Tuesday June 25th – 40″min gym ‘strength & conditioning’
• Wednesday June 26th – paddling with adventure buddy Vera Baker in Donegal
• Thursday June 27th – climbing Mount Errigal, Donegal’s highest mountain, and navigating through thick mist
• Friday June 28th – 15k cycle with hill-climbs (or thereabouts) and paddling in a choppy sea 🙂
• Saturday June 29th – rest day (Get Off The Couch finale and wrap party)
• Sunday June 30th – sea swim in Malahide & climbing Spinc Mountain in Wicklow