Walking far from home

We have just returned from a truly hardcore walk! We took two cars, parked one at Gougane Barra then returned to Kealkil where we left the other. We then walked the old pilgrim route across the mountain. This took about 6 hours!!!!! We've squelched through bog, scrambled up a mountain, squidged through dense forestry, clung to wire fences and usefully placed handrails in odd places and gasped at some amazing views.
We saw:
a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle - no fence but fortunately they were totally uninterested
3 very curious horses - also unfenced and a spot of horse whispering was required
2 hungry donkeys
2 kestrels
2 choughs
masses of little brown butterflies
a couple of bold dogs
2 skulls of long horned cattle
a peacock (well we heard it not saw it)
a flock of white doves
a very blue house
a windfarm - silent and still, no wind today
tons of wild boggy flowers - asphodel, sundew, bog cotton and every where the scent of bog myrtle...
and the best loo in Ireland - it's won awards and is the most amazing thatched round house type building with stained glass inside.

This view is when we had finally reached the summit of a huge and exhausting mountain - the kind that had lots of mini summits before you reached the main one. You can see Gougan Barra lake below us - still a long way to go and the descent was very boggy and skiddy. Please biggify to get the full effect. The sheep quite rightly are going WTF??
Something refreshing is now required.
I was walking far from home

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