Ireland photos - Killarney and environs, day 2
Day two of hiking was a bit more intense - after cabbing on over to my new B&B, I headed on out around 11:15 and didn't get back until 7:30ish, and was on my feet almost the entire time. In fact, my hips still kind of hurt (that's aging for you, I guess). This day was a bit more misty, 
but this made walking through the forests just that much more evocative. For some reason I hadn't expected pine forests, but there they were, carpeted with ferns 
or with mossed-over rocks.
The ground cover was incredibly lush and green, and also quite shamrocky. This I should have expected, but somehow surprised me anyway.
Less surprising was the appearance of a couple of red deer - this part of the national park is adjacent to a wilidlife preserve that's part of a red deer range.
By day two I had learned to expect the wild hollyhocks as well.
After visiting a waterfall,
I headed out through a different forest onto the Kerry Way. The trees here were kind of eerie - mossed over, with twisted branches that often had little ferns growing out of them. 
As the forest ended, the trail (which is on walking paths that are thousands of years old) emerged into a long river valley ringed by mountains that were shrouded in mist. 
I decided to climb the only mountain without mist on the top. It was covered in heather, which seemed to bloom in both the standard puple and in yellow (although maybe this kind was some other plant?).
The view from the mountain, called Torc Mountain, included lakes to the north, west, and south.
Even though the sun didn't set until around 10:30, I wanted to be back around dinner time, so after my descent decided to head back home. The river was so pretty, 
and so filled with leaping fish that just hurled themselves out of the water, that I decided to sit on a rock in the middle for a while.
My route home took me by yet another lake (this one, luckily, without deadly swans), 
and by some more placid cows.
The last aesthetic treat of the day was this florist's window in town - nothing says "flowers" like a ceramic dog in a purple bonnet...
but this made walking through the forests just that much more evocative. For some reason I hadn't expected pine forests, but there they were, carpeted with ferns 
or with mossed-over rocks. 
The ground cover was incredibly lush and green, and also quite shamrocky. This I should have expected, but somehow surprised me anyway.
Less surprising was the appearance of a couple of red deer - this part of the national park is adjacent to a wilidlife preserve that's part of a red deer range.
By day two I had learned to expect the wild hollyhocks as well.
After visiting a waterfall, 
I headed out through a different forest onto the Kerry Way. The trees here were kind of eerie - mossed over, with twisted branches that often had little ferns growing out of them. 
As the forest ended, the trail (which is on walking paths that are thousands of years old) emerged into a long river valley ringed by mountains that were shrouded in mist. 
I decided to climb the only mountain without mist on the top. It was covered in heather, which seemed to bloom in both the standard puple and in yellow (although maybe this kind was some other plant?).
The view from the mountain, called Torc Mountain, included lakes to the north, west, and south. 
Even though the sun didn't set until around 10:30, I wanted to be back around dinner time, so after my descent decided to head back home. The river was so pretty, 
and so filled with leaping fish that just hurled themselves out of the water, that I decided to sit on a rock in the middle for a while. 
My route home took me by yet another lake (this one, luckily, without deadly swans), 
and by some more placid cows.
The last aesthetic treat of the day was this florist's window in town - nothing says "flowers" like a ceramic dog in a purple bonnet...
posted by Pangea at 11:12 AM
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