The Road Less Traveled

There are some places you visit where you just feel good, like it’s a place to stay for a while, where things are right, somehow.  The little village of Kilbaha was one of those places for me.  Not only is it near Loop Head, which I had heard was a ‘must see’ if I wanted to enjoy amazing cliffs with birds and random beauty.

Crashing waves erode tunnels through the cliffs

It’s also got one of the most comfortable places to stay I’ve ever experienced.  This was more a feeling I got from the welcome by strangers than plush accommodation.  I stayed at the Lighthouse Inn, which  fit my image of a traditional Irish Inn, a pub downstairs with rooms upstairs, but they were friendlier than one could imagine.  Read more

Here’s a photo from a trip I took several years ago.  At the time it was my first switch to digital, with a Nikon CoolPix 4600 – a small point and shoot digital.  I’ll share more photos from here, later.

Meanwhile, here’s a photo of the fall colors at Daisetsuzan National Park, which is worth the trek.  In fact, for many Japanese, it is a regular tradition for fall.   To go up the mountain one rides a ski lift part of the way up the mountain, then hikes the final several hundred meters to the top.   When I did this, I was in my late 30s – you’d think I’d be relatively fit.  I thought so.  But seniors more than double my age were passing me on the trail, and enjoying their lunch when I arrived at the top, huffing and puffing.

The view, however, as you can see, was worth the effort.

Sunset near Loop Head Lighthouse, west coast of Ireland

A fulmar taking one more cruise across the setting sun, before returning to roost on the cliffs below Loop Head Lighthouse.  This part of Ireland is just one peninsula after the other, with cliffs facing west into the endless Atlantic.  A great place for a walk in the wind.

Quiet morning on Lake Daniells

This was taken on a nice quiet morning after a day spent painting the nearby Manson Nicholls Memorial Hut, a back country hut near Lewis Pass on the South Island of New Zealand.  It’s a good day walk into Lake Daniells for families and those who have simple ambitions when hiking, as it’s a pretty flat walk into the Lake.