A peaceful night once the rain died away. My neighbours had all long gone by the time I got my act together for a late 11am ish departure.
Just round the corner, apparently a five hour or so hike along the ridges for those that are keen is Slieve League. These sea edge cliffs are the highest in Europe with the highest over 600m.
I took the lazy option and drove round to the Sliabh Liag Visitor Centre. At this time there was plenty of parking space, no charge, albeit no dedicated motorhome bays which would be a challenge peak season. A shuttle bus (weekend only in June) for €6 return, with brief comments from the driver got you to the top viewing area which has a few trader vans for coffee, snacks and tourist gifts. Only in winter might you drive to the top yourself. The alternative was parking for €5 for two hours in lower car park with a 2km uphill walk to the top.
In practice the top viewing area isn't. There is plenty of scope to be energetic and chamber up uneven stone steps to get further up. I didn't make it to the really high one with a ridge known as one man's gap being less than 50cm wide which allows hikers to go 5km or so towards my previous stopover at Malin Beg. The phone's camera seems to flatten it.
Some great views made it worthwhile, even if it was a little hazy. Vistas towards Donegal Bay, Sligo and back to Malin Beg. There was even a rainbow.
Once back on the road I found the countryside flattened out and villages became more frequent as I closed on Donegal. The WAW now followed the faster N road network and I started to make progress.
Donegal proved quite small. The centre was tiny, but very busy and with no easy parking I drove on.
The roads were now much faster and easier. But also with little geographic interest. Sligo came and went with the route bypassing the centre. There were glimpses of coast to one side and signs of low mountains on the other, but no real places to stop as viewpoints on the main road. I travelled on.
Only once I reached West Sligo County did the Wild Atlantic Way start to leave the N road network. Even so these were still mostly good R rated routes and speed was maintained. I was now thinking of where to stop for the night and interesting towns such as Ballena were passed.
Around 7pm, a long day, I found my latest FLT spot, Downpatrick Head to the north of County Mayo. This will warrant more exploration tomorrow.
Just round the corner, apparently a five hour or so hike along the ridges for those that are keen is Slieve League. These sea edge cliffs are the highest in Europe with the highest over 600m.
I took the lazy option and drove round to the Sliabh Liag Visitor Centre. At this time there was plenty of parking space, no charge, albeit no dedicated motorhome bays which would be a challenge peak season. A shuttle bus (weekend only in June) for €6 return, with brief comments from the driver got you to the top viewing area which has a few trader vans for coffee, snacks and tourist gifts. Only in winter might you drive to the top yourself. The alternative was parking for €5 for two hours in lower car park with a 2km uphill walk to the top.
In practice the top viewing area isn't. There is plenty of scope to be energetic and chamber up uneven stone steps to get further up. I didn't make it to the really high one with a ridge known as one man's gap being less than 50cm wide which allows hikers to go 5km or so towards my previous stopover at Malin Beg. The phone's camera seems to flatten it.
Some great views made it worthwhile, even if it was a little hazy. Vistas towards Donegal Bay, Sligo and back to Malin Beg. There was even a rainbow.
Once back on the road I found the countryside flattened out and villages became more frequent as I closed on Donegal. The WAW now followed the faster N road network and I started to make progress.
Donegal proved quite small. The centre was tiny, but very busy and with no easy parking I drove on.
The roads were now much faster and easier. But also with little geographic interest. Sligo came and went with the route bypassing the centre. There were glimpses of coast to one side and signs of low mountains on the other, but no real places to stop as viewpoints on the main road. I travelled on.
Only once I reached West Sligo County did the Wild Atlantic Way start to leave the N road network. Even so these were still mostly good R rated routes and speed was maintained. I was now thinking of where to stop for the night and interesting towns such as Ballena were passed.
Around 7pm, a long day, I found my latest FLT spot, Downpatrick Head to the north of County Mayo. This will warrant more exploration tomorrow.
