Aug16

Stradbally Beach

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Sunday, 08-February-2026


I’d hiked Mt. Brandon the day before… And today, I was a bit tired. So I went on a hike.

I mean, okay. Let’s be honest here – it was a hike, but not like a HIKE, hike. It was a lovely long walk on the beach. A nearby beach that reminded me beautifully of Cannon Beach in Oregon, with the waves of grasses and the infinite sky reflected in the wet sand…

It was just so beautiful, I can’t even.

So I’ll show off photos, and be proud and happy in the memory.

Also, look at me go! Remembering to actually post the hiking tracks from that app that I pay for and barely use!

Aug15

Hiking Mt. Brandon

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Saturday, 07-February-2026

Now, in my previous post I mentioned going camping out in Kerry… but why was I in Kerry, you may reasonably ask?

Well, it’s pretty. So there’s one good reason. But the real reason is that Mt. Brandon is there!

It’s the second highest peak in Ireland, and… Well, between you and I, it seems like a pretty simple ascent. Sure, it’s ranked as hard, but let’s be real with the terrain, elevation, and distance… it’s not the alps, or the cascades, or… really, it’s a pretty simple hike.

I figured that it’d make for a good test hike – I’d go, see how things pass, and iterate on Irish hikes from there. A leader’s recon, so to say.

It went absolutely lovely.

A bit of fog, some marshy terrain, but it was clean, simple, and lovely. Not too tiring, not too steep, not too slippery… just a lovely training hike for a lovely weekend.

Aug14

“Camping” out in Kerry

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Friday and Saturday, 06-February-2026 and 07-February-2026


It’s been absolutely too long since I’ve gone camping.

So I went camping.

Yup, simple story, epz, done and done, right?

Well… honestly, kind of? It’s weird… it’s been so long since I’ve really been able to escape and go camping that I’ve gained this kind of inertia. Partially built from not having gone camping, but mainly from the fact that it’s basically illegal to go tent camping / wild camping anywhere in Ireland. It’s supposedly “accepted”, so long as you stop by the farmhouse that owns the land and ask permission… but that’s not backpacking / camping, that’s just setting up a tent in a field for an evening.



So yeah, I found an AirBnB that’s a small cabin, so I could go do a hike nearby.

It’s not really camping, and it’s a far sight from backpacking.

But you know what? It’s the best that I can do in Ireland, so it’s what I did while here in Ireland.

And yes, Andrea snuck a note into my backpack <3