Another year of adventures is coming to a close! And even though I haven’t had a chance to write about it all yet, I thought I’d make a follow up to last years post and write about our top 9 instagram images of 2019.
Photo 1: Our finish line of the Wicklow Way (and our 4,000km journey!)
Well, I guess it makes sense for this to have come out No. 1!
Here’s a photo of us crossing the finish line of the Wicklow Way into Marlay Park in Dublin. We walked the trail from south to North, walking back into Dublin on the 29th of July, two and a half years after walking out of it. It was an amazing day that almost didn’t seem real at the time, but since then has sunk in as one of the happiest moments of our lives. My face ached from smiling for a long time.
Photo 2: Ellie on day 3 of the Wicklow Way
The Wicklow Way being our last trail of this series, we really relished every moment on it. On Day 3 we passed the half way point of the trail, and walked through Glendalough, a beautiful glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains. We’d both visited it before, and yet it still took our breath away - there was a lot of up and down hills. Possibly one of my favourite days of walking.
Photo 3: Dinner with Our Little Hiker
As we said at the time, I think one of the things that will stick with us the most out of the whole project, is all the amazing friends we’ve made through this. This photo was taken the night before we started the Wicklow Way, as we ate the most incredible dinner while staying with the family of Our Little Hiker (an amazing couple who are doing the county high points with two fabulous little girls!). We wouldn’t have met Gina and Paul if it wasn’t for this project, and they helped us so much - not only when this photo was taken, but months earlier as well when we were on the South Leinster Way. It really shows just how kind and loving we can all be, and I hope to get out in the hills some day with them!
Photo 4: Map update - 5 trails left …
A map update we shared after we completed the South Leinster Way, with 5 trails left to do, and about 699km! Colouring in this map to mark our progress (green trails are completed trails), was a very simple way of logging our progress, and it really helped on the low motivation days - no matter how you felt, you were making progress.
Photo 5: 3 For the Sea
“3 for the sea” is a simple idea that whenever you visit, you try and take 3 pieces of plastic or rubbish away with you. We saw this sign in Bray while out working with Leave No Trace Ireland, and while walking on the beach we really had to search to find any plastic to pick up! Hopefully with more simple changes and ideas we can make our environment a cleaner and more natural place again.
Photo 6: Arriving to Lahinch, Co. Clare
Took this photo when we made it to Co. Clare to start our 38th trail, the Burren Way. This trail takes you from the coastal town of Lahinch up along the cliffs of Moher, through Doolin and on around the headland.
Photo 7: Day 1, 2017.
On the 17th April 2017, we started this whole walking project, and as we handed back our apartment keys that fateful morning we thought we were only setting out on a 6 month project! Two years later, as we were getting ready to walk the final 7 trails and final 1000km, we shared this photo of us on our start line. Sitting here now at the end of 2019, having walked all 4,000km, I still can’t quite find the words to describe just how much more the project became than we thought it would be when we started.
Photo 8: Outsider Awards 2019
A slightly different picture than what we usually post - we went to an awards night! At the beginning of 2019 we were nominated for the Outsider Awards in the Breakthrough Achievement Category - even though we hadn’t yet finished our project. It was a really cool event to go to, and we got to meet so many amazing outdoor people there!
Photo 9: Trail 40, Day 4: The East Clare Way
Out in the sunshine and over half way around the East Clare Way! One of the longest trails we had left on our list to do this year (c. 180km), we were nervous that this trail would be a bit like the Mid Clare Way (aka, all road). However, we were happily surprised and met some great people along the way, including the guys at the Ecolodge in Feakle. This trail also brought us to now one of our favourite campsites: the lakeside holiday park in Mountshannon.
And that’s our quick wrap-up of some of the highlight moments of 2019. I have a lot of writing over the next few months to catch up on for the tough soles blog, so I’ll talk to you all soon! Wishing you all a happy and peaceful new year ✨
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