The Wicklow Way was the first long distance trail in Ireland spanning a 132 km / 82 miles with a total ascent of 3,770 m / 12,370 feet. The trail was first conceived by JB Malone a writer for the newspaper the Evening Herald but it was not until 1981 before it was officially opened. The majority of the trail is in the county of Wicklow, however it does start in the county of Dublin and finishes in the county of Carlow, following a relatively straight route between Marlay Park in South Dublin to Clonegal.
(Please help the channel to grow by donating a coffee here }
[ Ссылка ]
This video is part one of a two part series and covers the first two days of a five day hike. In this video we wild camp for the first two nights, the first night we camp along the river that eventually tumbles over the Powerscourt waterfall and the following night finds us on the mountain top of Mullacor.
Although, there is an official start place within Marlay Park we are unable to gain access to this spot as a festival has boarded up the official start. We are therefore, restricted to walking the outskirts of the park but none the less enjoy the parts of the park we can experience.
Next we are on the moors passing the frog zone and then moving through the spruce fir woods. Eventually, we arrive at the Knockree Youth Hostel to discover that it is closed. However, we meet a person cutting the lawn who offers to fill our water bottles. Sufficiently refreshed, we push on to Crone Car Park where we are able to gain coffee and cake before we read the notice board. This notice alerts us to the fact that wild camping is permitted in the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
We now arrive at the stream that feeds the Powerscourt Waterfall and decide to join the other tents alongside the stream for our first wild cam p of the trip.
We meet some bike packers and admire the set up they have for their wild camping trip. The following morning we head across the lee of the highest mountain on the route and witness others who have based their camp higher in the hills than we had done. Eventually, we come across the memorial to JB Malone overlooking Lough Tay.
Eventually, down from the mountains we are walking through open land and spot a wild deer bounding across our path. Further along the trail we come across a sign for Oldbridge and we note the increase in traffic on the route which we recognise as festival traffic which we believe has come from the festival ' Beyond the Pale'.
There is only one official camp site on the route and not surprising this is call ed 'Wicklow Way Camping'. as it's only mid day we decide to push on. Along one of the next tracks we come across a fairy garden with lots of figurines placed around the flowers of the garden. But better news for us is the nearby tap for drinking water. On the sign for the water, we discover lots of thanks and praise for the availability of water including a Canadian flag badge.
One of the unique features of the Wicklow Way the availability of Mountain Huts in the forest. So we discover our first hut, Brushers Gap Hut. However, the time of day dictates we move along the trail as we have time to cover more Irish miles.
We arrive at the village of Glendalough and partake of lovely food at the local cafe. Then we move on to one of Irelands most famous tourist places, The Monastic City. ~This was founded in the 6th century by St Kevin and contains a 100 foot high round tower built in the 10/11 th centuries.
Following our tourist endeavour, we now head away from the crowds up into the mountains and finally settle on the mountain of Mullacor for our next wild camp adventure. here we are blessed with a glorious rad and orange sky as the setting sun displays all it's charms mixed in with a cloud inversion.
This provides a beautiful conclusion to this part of the journey and a calming conclusion to the video.
