DAY 9 - LEENANE TO DRUMMIN

The next leg on the Western way was a really beautiful walk.  It took us first along the Erriff River Valley and then up and over some hills into an area in the vicinity of Croagh Patrick.  This walk was another one where "gentle" gave us an advantage as we were to phone ahead to ensure that we would be picked up and taken to the B and B and it also allowed us to order an evening meal in a region with no other easy opportunity to eat.

You can see a larger version of any photograph by simply clicking the mouse once on the image. Another click outside the image returns you to the text  

The walk had us on two different maps and you need three parts to follow the route

Leenane to Aasleagh Falls and beyond plus two short sections at the top right hand corner of the map

The section from Houston's Bridge to Drummin

Drummin to the B and B

Our taxi man from the previous day took us a few kilometres down the road to Aasleagh Falls which was the start for the day's walk.  This reduced the day's walk to a more manageable 17 kilometres. 

At the start of the day with Aasleagh Falls in the background

Aasleagh Falls

Downstream on the River Erriff

A smaller falls en route

The River Erriff

The river, the mountains and more rhododendrons

We walked by the river all the way to Houston's Bridge and the map 1 above is inaccurate as it shows the Western Way on the road.  The real Western Way was so much nicer.  Just before we left the river valley we ran into a brief rain storm notwithstanding the cloudy blue skies in the photos.  Leaving the valley we climbed up and into a forest and there we had a lunch break and it rained quite heavily again for a while.  However, it was a changeable day and we were soon dry again.  It was on this leg that we came across a very nice Nike hat.  It turned out that it belonged to one of the European group and we were fortunately able to re-unite with with the owner at the end of our journey. We climbed up a long drawn out hill to be greeted at the top with a splendid view along a new valley and journey's end was somewhere out there according to the map.

The view at the top of the climb

Every good climb up deserves a hill down and we descended into the valley floor at Barnaderg.

Downhill to Barnaderg

The last leg wasn't particularly interesting, just along the road to Drummin where we were to stop our walk for the day at Breslin's pub. We made our phone call to the B and B .  Unfortunately the pub was closed!

Breslin's pub - closed on our arrival

The B and B owner collected us for the 5 or so kilometres left and she took us down the road to Moher House B and B where we again we were given a cup of tea and, this time, a jam scone.  It had been a really nice day.

Moher House B and B

The beautiful garden at the B and B

We enjoyed our meal which ended with an Irish coffee and a Bailey's coffee on the house!  We also heard that the wiry Albertan had also stayed at Moher House on his way through and was currently staying with the sister of the B and B owner further up the Western Way.