Advice re: hiking Kerry Way or Dingle Way

Dave!

Hey folks,

Myself and a couple of friends are looking for a route to hike during the summer. We're both young and will probably be unemployed once we finish college So we're planning on taking a good few days and having a long hike.

We did half of the Wicklow Way (Glendalough back to Marlay Park), so about 50 or 60km. None of us are experienced hikers, so felt that was quite an accomplishment (especially me, the most unhealthy person in the world ). We do have a big interest in the outdoors, etc., however.

Anyways,
For that hike we took a ridiculous amount of baggage, and it made the whole trek ridiculously hard, going up mountains etc. carrying huge bags on our backs. This time we want to take as little as possible, so we'd be hoping to minimize everything without leaving ourselves vulnerable.

What kind of food should we take for a walk that will take over a week?

Last time we took sausages and other sh*t that we fried (on a ridiculously cumbersome stove which we will be hoping to ditch this time around), but maybe it'd be a better idea to just take the most portable food possible -- and food that doesn't need to be cooked, also, since that would eliminate the need for the cooker. Any thoughts?


Also,
which of the 2 walks mentioned -- Kerry Way and Dingle Way -- would ye lot recommend? The Kerry Way looks nice and doesn't seem to be beside too many main roads (the Dingle Way is right next to a national road all the way to Dingle, though it gets quieter later).

For the Kerry way, does anyone know if there's a smart way to get from Dublin to (say) Waterville or Caherdaniel, so that we could walk from there back to Killarney, and then bus it home? Because we're considering whether we should do the whole thing or just a portion, because the whole thing would be 4 times as long as we walked last time!



Anyways, any thoughts would be welcome and we'll take on board anything ye say !

Cheers

Mickeroo

Dave! wrote: »

Hey folks,

Myself and a couple of friends are looking for a route to hike during the summer. We're both young and will probably be unemployed once we finish college So we're planning on taking a good few days and having a long hike.

We did half of the Wicklow Way (Glendalough back to Marlay Park), so about 50 or 60km. None of us are experienced hikers, so felt that was quite an accomplishment (especially me, the most unhealthy person in the world ). We do have a big interest in the outdoors, etc., however.

Anyways,
For that hike we took a ridiculous amount of baggage, and it made the whole trek ridiculously hard, going up mountains etc. carrying huge bags on our backs. This time we want to take as little as possible, so we'd be hoping to minimize everything without leaving ourselves vulnerable.

What kind of food should we take for a walk that will take over a week?

Last time we took sausages and other sh*t that we fried (on a ridiculously cumbersome stove which we will be hoping to ditch this time around), but maybe it'd be a better idea to just take the most portable food possible -- and food that doesn't need to be cooked, also, since that would eliminate the need for the cooker. Any thoughts?


Also,
which of the 2 walks mentioned -- Kerry Way and Dingle Way -- would ye lot recommend? The Kerry Way looks nice and doesn't seem to be beside too many main roads (the Dingle Way is right next to a national road all the way to Dingle, though it gets quieter later).

For the Kerry way, does anyone know if there's a smart way to get from Dublin to (say) Waterville or Caherdaniel, so that we could walk from there back to Killarney, and then bus it home? Because we're considering whether we should do the whole thing or just a portion, because the whole thing would be 4 times as long as we walked last time!



Anyways, any thoughts would be welcome and we'll take on board anything ye say !

Cheers

Hi Dave!

Yea if your going for a week then ruck sacks will probably necessary,but only take stuff you need, two sets of clothes minimum( one for walking in and one to keep dry and wear in the evenings in yer tent or whatever, You'll be a smelly bastard at the end but thats part of the fun :P),rain gear,a couple of fleeces in case it gets cold,maps,compass,torch etc. For food If you want compact you cant go wrong with rice/noodles for dinner,porridge for breakfast,and energy bars/chocolate/nuts to keep you going during the day. For cooking get yourself a nice compact light stove like this and it wont cause you any bother: http://www.backcountry.com/store/SNO0093/Snow-Peak-GigaPower-Micro-Max-Stove-Titanium.html

hope this helps

EDIT: Tea & coffee are good idea too,and goes withhout saying lots of water!

Dave!

Mickeroo wrote: »

Hi Dave!

Yea if your going for a week then ruck sacks will probably necessary,but only take stuff you need, two sets of clothes minimum( one for walking in and one to keep dry and wear in the evenings in yer tent or whatever, You'll be a smelly bastard at the end but thats part of the fun :P),rain gear,a couple of fleeces in case it gets cold,maps,compass,torch etc. For food If you want compact you cant go wrong with rice/noodles for dinner,porridge for breakfast,and energy bars/chocolate/nuts to keep you going during the day. For cooking get yourself a nice compact light stove like this and it wont cause you any bother: http://www.backcountry.com/store/SNO0093/Snow-Peak-GigaPower-Micro-Max-Stove-Titanium.html

hope this helps

EDIT: Tea & coffee are good idea too,and goes withhout saying lots of water!

Cheers Mick!

Have you done either of those walks? Any thoughts on them?

We're looking for something with nice scenery etc as opposed to 70 degree slopes

Mickeroo

Dave! wrote: »

Cheers Mick!

Have you done either of those walks? Any thoughts on them?

We're looking for something with nice scenery etc as opposed to 70 degree slopes

I haven't done them unfortunatley, was up carrauntohil and mt. brandon last week though. Usually the 'Way' walks around the country dont go up too high as far as i know,so you should get plenty of nice scenery without killing yoursleves slogging uphill

I'm sure someone else on here will have waked the routes before.

Lovely scenery.

I live about a mile off the Kerry Way, and can drop you up a sandwich on your travels. Don't worry about change, I'll charge an even tenner for each one to make it simple...;)

Dave!

You're a gent I'll have the steak sandwich!

How much for a pint?

Dave!

Dave! wrote: »

How much for a pint?

Well now you say it, I have been trying to pawn off bottles of Stella for ages, they might be a bit off, so we'll just say a fiver a bottle...

breadmonkey

How much weight do you think you'd need to carry per person for a walk like this?

Mickeroo

breadmonkey wrote: »

How much weight do you think you'd need to carry per person for a walk like this?

somewhere between 10 and 20kg i would think,thats without a tent.

NathanKingerlee

I think the Kerry Way is a little better than the Dingle Way. If you got a train into Killarney there's a bus to Caherciveen. Good hostels; Killarney - Railway Hostel; Caherciveen - Sive Hostel.
If you had eight or nine days you could do the whole thing without killing yourselves! Otherwise your idea of starting in Caherciveen is good, or even better start in Caherdaniel.
The section from Sneem to Kenmare isn't up to the standard of the rest of the Way, too much road walking.
I'd take dry pasta meals for dinner, to cook on an MSR Pocket Rocket stove and buy bread and cheese for breakfast and lunch every couple of days.
You can link up with hostels or B&Bs along the way or most farmers would be happy to let you camp in their fields.
The Kells/Glenbeigh/Glencar and Glencar/Brida Valley/Black Valley sections are fantastic!

breadmonkey

Mickeroo wrote: »

somewhere between 10 and 20kg i would think,thats without a tent.

Indeed but there's a big difference between 10kg and 20kg!

Dave!

Just thought I'd bump this to get more thoughts We'll hopefully be going in mid-May!

Dave!

Hey folks,

Just wanna bump this to get any more thoughts

Found another good site that gives an outline of the walk, and some pictures
http://www.kerry-ireland.com/kerryway/

I'm thinkin we could take a look at Skellig Michael while we're out that direction, it looks quality! :eek: Actually is it possible to camp there? That would be sweet

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Skellig_Michael.jpg

It actually looks scary as f*ck. Saw a news story the other day that an American tourist fell and died there