Monday, January 01, 2007

Croagh Patrick (2)

I just scanned a couple more photos from my day climbing Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo, Ireland, as I have made a webpage on my homepages about the day. This first photo shows the view of Croagh Patrick that I got from my hostel bedroom in Westport the day before I climbed.
This is one of the last views I got of the mountain before the mist descended on it, hiding the dome from then on.
This plaque is set into what was a huge cairn of stones. I imagine, though I don't know, that the cairn gets bigger as summer goes on. (Maybe they remove some stones at the end of a season?)
This last photo was a view over nearby hills from the saddle you reach before you climb the dome proper. It must be an amazing view on a clear day. As it was, I am glad I took this photo on the way up, as you could see nothing in the terrible weather conditions on the way down!

3 comments:

  1. Just browsing through your site instead of waiting until you post something on Maalie's.
    When you were in Ireland and around Croagh Patrick, did you go over to Clare Island? I was there about eighteen months ago, doing a very intense yoga course. I loved the area, and amazingly it was the first time I had been to Ireland.
    Lorenzo.

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  2. No, I never went to Clare Island, though a couple of people from the hostel I was in moved onto there. (I was running out of time a bit by this stage of my trip.)

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  3. Clare Island is really lovely. The only cars on the island are real wrecks, as the ones that don't pass the MOT test on the mainland are shipped across for use on the Island.
    Last year I went to Holy Island, just off the Isle of Arran in Scotland. Again it was a yoga retreat, but also included meditation. This island is owned by the Buddhists and the retreat centre was covered with Tibetan prayer flags, had stupas, and shrines and that sort of thing. All the animals on the island are completely wild, horses, sheep, goats etc. Lovely atmosphere. If you are ever in that region I recommend a visit.

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