General – Travel with Goneguru

Paddling to Darien

In an earlier post, we described and illustrated what the flooded Altamaha was like on our Georgia Conservancy paddle trip. This post will take you down the river and through the marshes to Darien. Remember the water is still up.

We left camp headed for Darien, with most of us leaving our gear up to dry knowing that we’d be shuttled back to camp to pick up cars and belongings. On the water, we passed under the abandoned bridge that had threatened to be a boat magnet on the day before. Once we were safely downstream from the bridge our expert leaders from the Georgia Paddlers Association and the Georgia Conservancy gathered us up for the paddle to Darien.

The Altamaha is a big river and on our day on the river it was moving fast so we could easily spread out to an unmanageable degree. To prevent this, the lead boat stopped our forward progress occasionally, however the few stops did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the group

Experienced paddlers and novices both found their stroke and let the mighty river roll them along. Of course, the Altamaha doesn’t actually flow through Darien so one of the concerns of the leaders was making sure that the flotilla didn’t lose any members because they missed the cut off into the creek. The creek, Stud Horse Creek, had a great name and served to provide passage over to Lewis Creek.

The creek wasn’t that small but if you didn’t know where to turn you would certainly have a problem. We all made it safely down the Altamaha to the creek where one of our safety guides was paddling in place and pointing us in the direction to go. A mile or too into the creek and you began to realize the diversity of the lowland river. We had seen the wide Altamaha with the water out of the banks and now we entered an area of reeds and water grass. A place where we keep a sharp eye for alligators but saw none. You’ll have to wait for the post on the Georgia Conservancy trip to the Okefenoke to hear the alligator stories.

The Altamaha and the river system around it was once a bustling timber industry river route with log rafts built upstream and floated down the river to Darien. Someone decided that the winding river channels weren’t meant for that so, before the Civil War, slave labor was used to build a canal. Our venture through Stud Horse Creek served to put us in position to re-enter the Altamaha just upstream of the Rifle Cut.

This hand dug canal stretches for a mile across the lowlands and provided us with a short-cut to Darien. Called the “rifle cut” because of its straightness, it is now only a curiosity. The canal doesn’t seem large enough to have been able to handle rafts of logs and indeed the thinking was that erosion would make the canal larger and therefore useable. It didn’t happen. However, because you are in the low lands near the ocean you do need to know about your tides because the water in the rifle cut is greatly influenced by the tide and you might find yourself paddling a little harder than you anticipated if you judge the tides incorrectly. You don’t really want to paddle against the tide for a mile.

You probably know that the trees along the banks of a body of water such a river or stream lend to lean over the channel, but that seemed extreme as we were going through the rifle cut. As you see in the next picture some of these trees seem to have defying gravity for quite a while.

The rifle cut takes you into the Darien River above its confluence with Cathead Creek and on the west side of I-95. It is a bit disconcerting to arrive back at civilization coming under a concrete and steel overpass where thousands of cars pass every day, with almost none of their occupants ever getting the chance to see what we got to see on this trip to Darien. Of course, the trip had to end so we pulled our kayaks up to the boat ramp near Skipper’s Fish Camp. We came to lunch at Skipper’s on this trip and then returned to Skipper’s later in the year when the Bike Ride Across Georgia ended in Darien.

Of course, tied up by the board walk along the river, are all the fishing and shrimping boats that are still in use in Darien. Nearby stand the ruins of the buildings from two hundred years ago when lumber ruled. We’d never been to Darien before, yet we wound up going there twice in one year. Because of that, I had to tell you about getting there and invite you to come paddle along with the great people at the Georgia Conservancy.

Grand Tetons BackCountry Vacation on a Budget

In an earlier post we promised to tell you how to do a Grand Teton backpacking vacation on a budget even though Jackson Hole is one of the highest per capita income places in the USA. Here’s how you do it.

First, fly into Jackson, Wyoming airport. We used our credit card reward program miles to get there, so the cost was the redemption fee and giving up using the miles for another trip. Then, take a taxi to the Jenny Lake Ranger Station.

You have to go to the ranger station to get your backcountry permits, so while you are there get the permit and check into the backpackers campground. The campground for one night should run you about $8.00. The permit will cost you $35.00 regardless of how many nights you spend on the trail, so plan your trip to start with a walk up the Paintbrush from Jenny Lake. Your first night you’ll need a permit in the camping zones just east of Paintbrush Divide. This day hike should get you acclimated to the altitude because you’ll go over Paintbrush Divide at over 10000 feet into the North Fork of Cascade Canyon the next day, passing Lake Solitude.

Put the North Fork of Cascade Canyon on your permit for the second night and rest up to cross Hurricane Pass, also over 10,000 in elevation on the third day.

The third day will take you into the Alaska Basin where a short day will give you plenty of time to set up camp near Sunset Lake and enjoy the backcountry. No permit is needed to camp in the Alaska Basin as it is not in the Grand Teton National Park. Accordingly, you may have a number of campers around you instead of the solitude you get in the Park.

Leaving the Alaska Basin spend a day and a night on the Death Canyon Shelf or at Marion Lake, or if you don’t have time to relax on the trip, skip the night in the Basin and spend the third night on the Shelf.

Looking toward Mt. Meek from Death Canyon Shelf

From the Shelf, you’ll go down past Marion Lake and pick up the trail up Rendezvous Mountain to the top of the TRAM, also above 10,000 feet. The Tram will take you down to Teton Village and there is no charge for the ride down. They only check tickets on the way up. If you ride up, it will cost you $35.00.

In the Village you can find low-cost accommodations at the Hostel. You can shower, shave, sleep and get ready to catch a shuttle to the airport, perhaps for as low as $3.

So, there’s your itinerary for the budget trip. Remember that the permits are limited and in short supply so you might want to try to secure them online before you go. This trek should be made in August or early September, so try to get your permits at recreation.gov between the preceding January 1 and March 15. You will still have to pick the permit up at the Jenny Lake Ranger Station when you get to Jackson Hole.

What will the trip cost you? Your airfare or credit card miles, one way taxi fare, $8.00 to camp at Jenny Lake, $35.00 for the backcountry permit, your night at the Hostel, the cost of the shuttle to the Airport and whatever food you eat. For a trip of a lifetime, that is a bargain. Of course, you’ll have to come back on another trip to explore the rest of Jackson Hole.

Altamaha to Darien with the Georgia Conservancy

This is the first of four posts inspired by a phenomenal group of people who are advocates and conservators for our great outdoors and plan and facilitate great outdoor experiences for the rest of us. For this a personal debt of gratitude is owed to the Georgia Conservancy and their Mr. Bryan Schroder who Ramrods their adventure outings. We had gotten to know Bryan a little at one of the presentations he participated in at an REI store when we started kayaking and then again on a kayaking tour of the Okefenokee Swamp which we will highlight in another post on the blog in coming weeks, but this trip on the Altamaha was the turning point on resuming the Goneguru blog and sharing what we saw and encouraging you to meet up with us along a trail or around the bend of a river.

The Altamaha float to Darien is part of the Georgia Conservancy’s Heartland Rivers series of outdoor adventures. Go to their link above and you’ll get full data on this great series of canoe/kayak trips sponsored by the Conservancy and open to anyone. Better yet, go to the site, become a member, make a donation to preserve our waterways, and then take a trip with the Conservancy. We had been signed up for this trip for months and had regularly gotten updates from Brian about what to expect on the trip, accommodations for tent campers, kayak and canoe rentals, and basically any information any level paddler would need to prepare for the trip. However, as the date drew nearer the forecast on the Weather Channel grew more ominous. A huge storm was projected to cross the Altamaha on Saturday as we paddled down to Darien. Being on the wide Altamaha, the largest river in Georgia and one of the largest on the East Coast, in the middle of a violent thunderstorm with high winds wasn’t on any paddler’s bucket list. Brian reported that some paddlers were dropping out due to the weather and that the Saturday paddle had been changed to an out and back across the river into the tributaries with the longer downstream paddle moved to Sunday.

Most of us gathered at the Altamaha Regional Park just inside Glynn County, Georgia on Friday afternoon, with some choosing to join us early Saturday morning. It made little difference as the frontal system provided us with grey skies, cool temperatures and high winds throughout Friday and into Saturday morning. The Altamaha was flooded out of its banks and was roaring toward the ocean. As we enjoyed the low-country boil dinner under a shelter on Friday night, Brian and the other experienced paddlers, many from the magnificent Georgia Canoe Association, began to prepare us for the next morning’s transit across the river.

Looming just below the launch point at the campground is a massive abandoned railroad bridge and midstream island that threatened to act as a boat magnet for those who didn’t judge the current correctly. Brian and representatives from the GCA talked about the crossing and strainers and what our plan was to be. The next morning we had a safety briefing before we could enter the water and once on the water a GCA paddler demonstrated how to cross the river and went to the other side to mark our target channel for entry into the back water.

One we had safely crossed the river, we headed up into one of the creeks that feed into the Altamaha. As noted the river was flooded out of its banks and the storm that had passed the night before had given us a downward temperature shift and grey skies that made the daylight paddle a little surreal.

Looking upstream, we could see that there was a clear channel for the creek as we first entered it, but our hosts and guides had warned us that the seemingly tranquil waters could be dangerous once the channel narrowed and we began to get into areas where water didn’t usually flow.

They explained that strainers are any obstruction that stops an object on top of the water from moving with the water as it flows past. Thus, when the water is out of the banks, overhanging tree limbs and shrubs reach down to and below surface of a water. A paddler who gets into one of these and grabs on will find that the water will take his boat right out from under him and gravity will put him into the water.

I can assure you that we were well-instructed and informed of the dangers, nevertheless, two of our paddlers got to experience the effects of strainers first hand and were ingloriously helped back into their kayaks, wet but un-harmed.

Of course the inhabitants of the wetlands adjacent the river have to move when the river floods and that includes the snakes. This picture isn’t very good, but you get the idea as to why there is another reason not to get caught in the strainers.

We were a cautious but not timid group so we dutifully filed through in single file where needed and kept our eyes on our fellow paddlers in case the need arose.

Sometimes the fog, flood and remnants of bygone days were simply eerie. The railroad had been built across the tributaries and presented a an eerie reminder of man’s abandoned encroachment into the river wilderness. Sometimes it wasn’t an intended abandonment at all but rather the river reclaiming its own property. We came across a fish camp with a canvas and wood hut and a porcelain sink. Of course, you’d be standing in thigh deep water to use it on the day we saw it.

After a few hours of paddling around in the creek and the flooded woods along the Altamaha it was time to head back across the big river to our camp. The GCA paddlers and experienced Georgia Conservancy paddlers, staff and volunteers took great care of the in-experienced paddlers and all the paddlers from novice to gnarly veteran finished up the day on the river with smiles and agreement that we had made a great day out of a day that threatened to be completely unusable.

That night under the big pavilion at the park, we were feed on barbecue with all the “fixin’s” or a vegetarian meal starring portabella mushrooms. Either way you couldn’t go wrong. The campers were as varied as their kayak experience with some in motor home RV’s and some in tents provided by the Georgia Conservancy, but they all agreed the trip was amazing. The weather had begun to clear and we were promised fair skies the next day so each and everyone was ready to get back on the river the next morning to head downstream the fifteen miles to Darien. If you would like to feel what its like to go on one of these amazing trips go to the Georgia Conservancy website and sign up.

Leaving Banff in the Morning

It was time for us to leave Banff.

The Banff city limit sign — Welcome to Banff

So we said good-bye to the city limits of Banff before dawn and headed west on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Early morning veiw along the trans-Canada near Banff — Sunrise near Banff

The sun began to paint the sky and brought the mountains into view.

After dawn we soon encountered this bull on the side of the road.

Bull Elk

We had turned south and were headed toward Radium Springs when we met this fellow.

Grizzley

Banff is definitely a do again for us.

Between Banff and Radium Springs. — On the road to Radium Springs.

Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Triathalon, too!

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA (June 2012) Near this tree on the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene is a commemorative sign telling of the Native Americans who once gathered on the shores of the beautiful lake in northern Idaho. After the Europeans came to America and made their way westward,

On the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene

and the great railroads were built, Couer d’Alene took its spot among the beautiful hideaways of the west. Easily accessible from the Spokane, Washington airport via I-90, Couer d’Alene presents a marked contrast with the sprawling and industrial Spokane. The centerpiece remains the lake with its clear water surrounded by the green hills, but the town of Coeur d’Alene has done a lot to make the visitor welcome.

Lake Coeur d’Alene

The visitors have come and some with star quality names have built homes in the area that we will only read about or fly over and look down on their pools and tennis courts and guest houses.

Along the lake the town proper is a mixture of shops and homes, where walking into the shops gave the impression that the shopkeeper was genuinely pleased to have you in the store, rather than the department store “I just work here” stare. Walking to get about was clearly no problem and a pleasant hike around Tubbs Park will relieve the stress and provide you with some spectacular views of the lake. We will return to Coeur d’Alene for its beauty and charm, and will come back to take our road bikes on the nearby Trail of Coeur d’Alenes rails to trails project nearly spans the Idaho panhandle. But, on this trip we were not brought to the town by any of these.

This trip we came to Coeur d’Alene for the Ironman Triathalon. An Ironman Triathlon is not for everyone. In fact it is only for the fittest of the fit. Ironman competition began in Hawaii more than 25 years ago when several highly fit military men came up with their ultimate test based on swimming, cycling and running events in which they had participated. The challenge they set for themselves was an open water swim covering 2.4 miles, a bicycle ride of 112 miles, and a marathon run, all in one day. From a handful of participants on that day the Ironman has grown into a world wide franchise, with thousands of participants testing themselves in Ironman sponsored events all over the world. We have an Ironman finisher in our family, so we came to watch him participate, see Coeur d’Alene for the first time, and take a side trip to Banff.

The first leg of the contest is the swim. The men and women in their wetsuits lined up along the beach shown in the photo below to dash into the 57 degree F. water where they would swim away from shore 0.6 miles, parallel the shore 0.2 miles, and back to shore where they would re-enter the water and do it again!

The start is awesome. You might see 25 or 30 professionals start half an hour before the age classified amateur participants and it is inspiring to see the pro’s go at it, but the big rush is when the 2500 hit the water at the same time!

Coeur d’Alene swim start

Although it is a difficult spectator sport, as you can see thousands of supporters for the athletes were en masse near the beach and along the seawall yelling and urging their favorite participant on. The water sorts the athletes out by their ability, with swimmers straining stroke after stroke to finish the 2.4 miles before the two and one half hour time limit expires. Then, they run across the sand to the the transition area where they are helped out of their wetsuits, into warming rooms if they need them, and onto their bicycles. Some are unable to continue beyond the swim.

The bike ride is 112 miles. For this part of the race, a lane of US 95 heading south from Coeur d’Alene and major streets in town were closed to trafffic. It is along the streets that you will get the best views of the cyclists.

Ironman Tri-athalon cyclists

Although, the bike ride is also two laps, the laps go so far out of town that each athlete is out of sight for hours, so for a spectator there is plenty of time to grab a bite to eat, see the sights, and get ready for the next time your athlete speeds by. Some say the smart ones take a nap. We chose to walk around the world’s largest floating boardwalk adjacent the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The boardwalk is 3300 feet long and surrounds the marina. If you look at the boats tied up in the Marina, you’ll understand that quite a bit of money is spent on the enjoyment of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA — Looking at the Marina from the Boardwalk

We also took in some of the shops and a couple of miles of trails in Tubbs park before it was time for the marathon part of the competition.

The marathon is grueling. Even the fastest finisher has to run part of his marathon in the heat of the day. 26 + miles in two laps through the city streets of Coeur d’Alene. Although we cheered the athletes on, there is no team in this sport. Each athlete is on his own, testing his or her own willpower to put one foot in front of another.

Punishing afternoon sun

Now they are faced with the final deadline: Be across the finish line by midnight or you are not deemed to have finished the race at all. For some, what started filled with adrenalin at 7:30 in the morning will end in anguish after midnight. But for most, they will hear the crowd cheer and give high-fives as they near the finish line.

The Finish

The finishers are checked by medical personnel, wrapped in thermal reflectors to keep their bodies warm as walk around with family and friends or head to their bed. Many come back to near the finish line or sit where they can hear the music playing and hear the announcer give voice to the name of each finisher. Deep into the night the music plays and the names are called out. Then, at midnight, the music stops, no more names are called, and the crowd leaves. What seemed forever to train for and watch is suddenly over, but the Ironman finisher has a memory and medal that should last a lifetime.

Ironman Finisher’s medal

Lake Louise to Lake Agnes: A vacation hike worth the walk near Banff

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada (June 2012) If Banff is on your bucket list, then you need to fill your bucket up to the brim and drive a few miles northwest of Banff along the Trans Canada Highway to Lake Louise. The modern fascination with Banff and Lake Louise dates back to the late 1800’s when the Canadian Pacific Railroad made it possible for tourists and vacationers to get to the interior of the Canadian Rockies. Banff had and still has its hot springs while Lake Louise has this turquoise glacier feed water encircled by the towering Canadian Rockies.

Along the shore of Lake Louise

One grand chateau has replaced another over the years and today the Chateau offers all the modern conveniences and service one could ask for. But, the Chateau is not why people come here. The natural beauty of the region is surreal, even on a day such as we had when the clouds hung low, obscuring the mountain tops, and rain threatened as we stood by the lake. It was this natural beauty and a chance to walk among these giant mountains while soaking in the unending views that make you think every direction you look is more beautiful than the last that brought us here. We had a choice to make since we only had one day to hike at Lake Louise: would we hike to the Plain of Six Glaciers and visit the tea-house there, or hike up to Lake Agnes with its tea-house and head out to the Beehives? The trail-head for the two is the same, along the shore near the Chateau, however, we decided to do the Lake Agnes hike with a promise that someday we will return to hike other trails in this magical place.

Looking down at the Chateau on Lake Louise

We had read several guidebooks before this trip and the Lake Agnes hike was described as strenuous to difficult, so we anticipated significant elevation gain and potentially rough terrain to cross. Lake Louise sits at about 5600 feet above sea level and the hike is a continuous up hill with no up and down or leveling out as you might have if you were walking a ridge-line so the altitude and the constant up hill do make it strenuous. But, probably because it gets so much use in the winter and summer and probably because it was used by rangers to go to fire stations on the beehives until the late 1970’s, the lower part of the trail was practically a boulevard to walk on.

It is enticing, so we were not surprised when we were soon overtaken by two photographers dressed in street shoes and business casual attire. They smiled as us as they hurried by but three quarters of a mile up the trail, before the first switchback, we passed them panting on the side of the road. They had brought no water and did not ask for any but breathlessly asked how far to the top. We told them that the hike was about 3 miles long and that they were less than a third of the way up. They said they wanted to go to “the top” and take a picture of the lake and chateau. At this, point the lake was obscured by the trees, so when we told them that they were less than 1/3 of the way up they grimaced, looked at each other, and turned around. The image of the chateau above is probably what they wanted in the picture, but as you see a camera couldn’t really capture it. Less than a quarter mile after they turned around we came to the first switch back, which also afforded an opening for a view of the lake. We took pictures of the mountain across the lake and debated on whether we should hurry back down the trail to bring them to this spot.

Looking across Lake Louise

Moving up the trail was serenely peaceful. The trees gave way to the vista’s more often and we saw the lake below frequently. There was practically no one on the trail but us, as we had started the hike early in the morning. WARNING: If you start the hike at midday, you will be among a swarm of people for at least a part of the way up. We only encountered the large groups of tourists when we were near the bottom of the trail in the afternoon after we had made our hike.

A couple of switchbacks brings you to Mirror lake, which is a small glacially fed lake that reflects one of the formations on the way up. The trail splits here with both branches leading up to the tea-house at Lake Agnes, however, the left leads to a junction with a trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers, so be careful if you go left. It is well marked but you have to keep your head up to see the markers. We went to the right and soon encountered the horse trail (unmistakable. Why don’t horse riders carry bags to clean up after their horses? Hikers would appreciate it!) The trail is not as pristine here but is not a scramble and soon leads to a paddock where the horses have to be tied and and a wooden stairwell beside the waterfall feeding out of Lake Agnes.

Of course, we had dressed appropriately for the hike, so I had a small bead of perspiration on my brow as we passed the waterfall and began up the stairwell. As we neared the top of the stair the wall of the tea-house came into view and the wind picked up. The temperature of the air dropped twenty degrees and pellets of sleet and snow started hitting me in the face and bouncing off my rain gear. Then we saw Lake Agnes, beautifully resting partially encrusted in ice and even more surrounded by the mountains.

Lake Agnes in Summer

It was still early in the day, so we decided to press on to one of the Beehives. The Big Beehive is reached by following a path along the shoreline of Lake Agnes and making an assent around the lake. It is about a mile hiking distance and is said to be well worth the walk. We headed up the trail to the right, past the teahouse restrooms, and further up the mountain to the little bee-hive. Before too much longer the trail was covered over by snow and we saw where others had tried to make the passage before us. The problem was the tracks in the snow lead in different directions. We looked around and saw that the snow ended to the right of of us and the trail resumed, so we went to the right for a few hundred yards and cleared the snow. As I mentioned earlier, the Canadian Forest Rangers used a tower on the Little Beehive to watch over the forests and control potential fires up until 1978.

The tower was removed but the base is still there along with a bench for sitting when you’ve expended your time and energy to reach this very peaceful place. There was no snow or rain and it was a beautiful summer day as we sat and enjoyed the view.

The Big Beehive actually has a gazebo like tower on it if you elect to go that route. We came back down the trail, crossed the snow patch again and headed down to the teahouse at Lake Agnes. We began encountering a few more people and when we entered the tea-house at around noon, there were only a couple of seats available. We gladly scooted into them, because as before, the wind was howling off the little lake with sleet and snow mixed in. The effect is similar to the winds in cities between tall buildings. Remember this when you go to the tea-house at Lake Agnes. They only take cash. No checks, no credit cards, no IOU’s. We had spent very little on our trip, but we had used credit cards and only carried a small amount of cash. Scraping together our change, we had enough for one bowl of soup. Fortunately, we had packed along a couple of sandwiches and plenty of water, so the soup and sandwich meal was fabulous!!

The Lake Agnes teahouse

The tea-house is built in a style popularized by the Swiss mountain guides who came to Alberta in the 1800’s to show the tourists how to climb the mountains. Its rustic, homey, and well worth your stop on the mountain.

We crossed a bridge across the stream from the lake that feeds the waterfall and headed down the alternate route mentioned earlier. The snow was a little trickier on this side and by now there were several groups of people who had made it as far as the tea-house and were heading down. The leader of one of the groups made an ignominious landing when he showed them how not to cross a snow pack across the trail. Fortunately, all that was bruised was his ego and his buttocks.

Going down may be more beautiful that coming up. The sun was trying to break through and the clouds were a little higher and the mountains at the end of the valley were spectacular.

On the trail below Lake Agnes

We came back down around Mirror Lake from the side opposite where we left, noting the trail to the Plain of Glaciers and made it back down to the Chateau on Lake Louise without incident other than running into the groups of people making their way up the trail in the early afternoon. Should you desire to go, note that there is a campground within a couple of miles of Lake Louise and if you are making it a day trip from Banff, there is a campground in Banff as well. If you decide to go, let us know, we’d love to go back and join you.

Crosses and Castles and Close Encounters – Ireland

Not everyone in the world has an Irish Heritage, but on St. Patrick’s Day many a lad and lassie believe that somewhere in their ancestral past is the vestige of Éirinn go Brách . My wife is legitimatley part Irish and I can trace my ancestry back to Dublin, but my Dublin is a city in America, not Ireland, however, even in this American town, the celebration of all things Irish is roundly upheld. When the opportunity arose for us to go to Ireland there was certainly no reason not to go. This little article shows a few pictures of a personal Ireland on a trip taken around St. Patrick’s Day and shows a few spots in Ireland from a personal point of view.

The cross above stands in a graveyard in Killarney National Park. I don’t know the identity of the interred, but I am grateful for the beauty of the resting place. To the best of my recollection, this image was taken at Muckross. Nevertheless, it represents crosses we saw all across Ireland on our trip there.

Like many others we started in Galway and ended in Dublin, with too little seen in between. We were there in early spring, so the images you see should reflect the Irish landscape around St. Patrick’s Day. But, don’t take our word for it. Go see for yourself. Even at the early date of our trip, you could none the less tell the beauty of this green island and its well earned lore. I was surprised by the hilliness and the beauty of the lakes resting in the valleys.

The Connamera region of Ireland is full of mountain, lake and bog land, with a rugged beauty that may not fit with the bright image of Ireland that you may have. However, it can bring to mind the potato famine of the mid 1800’s that sent so many Irish to foreign shores that each of us now feel an Irish kinship. In the midst of this ruggedly beautiful land, you will find man made places that are unimaginably beautiful. One of these is Kylemore Castle which is currently inhabited by the Benedictine Order of nuns also known as The Irish Dames of Ypres.

This is a “modern” castle, built in the 1860’s, and purchased by the Benedictine Oder in 1920. Like much of Ireland, its history can be considered tragic or uplifting and I will leave it to you to research and decide which you think it is. Here is a link to a website that will be helpful. http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie/benedictine-community .

Far to the south of Kylemore Castle, you will find a castle that is far more famous and which is on the ‘to do’ list of almost any tourist to Ireland. I am referring to the famous Blarney Castle. According to the legend, if you kiss the Blarney Stone. you will be gifted with the ability to tell a tale with your listener’s being unable to determine whether you are telling the truth or lying. Blarney Castle sits on a beautiful setting but, because it sits right beside a rather mundane road, upon arriving, you may wonder if you’ve arrived at all. None the less, a few feet along the path you realize that you are in a special place, even if you aren’t sure why.

The castle does not look like a “Disney” castle, but was clearly a functional fortress, capable of defending her master’s interests. To kiss the Blarney Stone, one must ascend to the top level of Blarney Castle, find the opening in the parapet that is designated as the “stone”, lie down on your back and extend your face into nothingness until your lips press against the wall.

It take some concentration as well as trust in the one holding your legs. As you can see the person kissing the stone hangs his/her head between heaven and earth. Note also the modern day grip bars installed to allow even the most reticent tourist to kiss the stone. I, for one, think it should be done the old fashioned way with neither grips nor assistance.

Getting around in western Ireland gives you a great appreciation for the skill and courage of the Irish drivers and lorry-men who navigate these roads. The roads can be narrow and closely bordered with the ubiquitous Irish stone fences setting out the fields of one landowner from another. In this photograph,

the two drivers of the oncoming buses, squeezed their buses through a space that left no more than 4 inches separation. No dents, no bumps no bruises. These narrow roads will take you past the traditional Irish fields that you have to say you’ve seen. No trip to this emerald Isle can be complete with out looking out over the patchwork Irish countryside divided by the stone fences,

each set with no mortar and expected to stand forever. Some of these fences are hundreds of years old and hearken back to an earlier time in this place where peat was burned for heat an thatched roofs held sway. In some places, the old ways live on.

Beyond the green fields you come to the land of peat. As you can see, the peat is cut into short logs for burning and it is indeed still burned. Perhaps you will find a village in which some of the houses still have thatched roofs. Blarney Castle, peat bogs and thatched roofs alongside green fields and stone walls were what I expected when I came to Ireland and the land did not disappoint me.

Although the houses above were not the little cottages in the field I had envisioned, they gave me the imagery of the houses I had wanted to see.

From the western shore of Ireland, the Atlantic stretches to America. On that shore you’ll find the Dingle Peninsula, where some of the most scenic stone walls fields and seascapes will be found and to the north you’ll find the Cliff’s of Mohler jutting between sea and sky and providing sanctuary to thousands of birds. Although no one can own the scenery, standing there on the cliffs and looking along the shoreline, you feel as though you belong to it, even if it can’t belong to you. Even when you try to capture it in a photograph, you look back and realize that you couldn’t really show what you see.

Once you’ve seen these cliffs and the images of Ireland will reappear in your memory and even in your dreams, some times in the strangest ways.

From the Celtic Cross to the cliffs of Mohler and back to Dublin, the emerald isle captures your imagination and lets you blend history and fantasy into one, taking part of the tales of Ireland you may have heard and fixing them in places you finally see with your on eyes. Even when you visit Dublin and all of its bustle, there may be time for you to visit the Papal Cross that was erected near the edge of the Fifteen Acres in Phoenix Park and contemplate all that you have seen.

On the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic

Did you know that on the fateful voyage of the Titanic in 1912, the Captain had altered course and was heading for Halifax, Nova Scotia to refuel instead of going straight to New York? We learned that by accident when in Halifax, when I insisted that we should go to the Maritime Museum on the waterfront in Halifax. It was against the wishes of the others in our traveling group, but I insisted that the Titanic exhibit shouldn’t be missed. I was, of course, right and, of course, wrong. The Titanic exhibit is but a small part of a wonderful museum that you should indeed see when you are in Halifax.

Halifax parrot — Parrot in the Pirate exhibit

Also not to be missed when you are in that part of the world is a trip to Peggy’s cove, small fishing village not far from Halifax with an amazing view and beautiful lighthouse that never was seen by the passengers on board the Titanic.

Peggy's Cove lighthouse — Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove

However, there are about 180 of the people who perished on the night the Titanic sank buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetary, there in Halifax. When the word went out that the great vessel was going down, Halifax was the nearest port and ships and boats from the port headed out to give aid and assistance in the rescue effort. The grim affair was of little use to the living, but many of the lost were plucked from the icy water and brought to rest in Halifax. In that day and age, it was not realistic to re-patriate the bodies of many who had been heading to America and a new life. So, their final resting place was in this cemetary.

fairview cemetary — A cemetary in Halifax

Here , the victims are laid out in orderly rows in the form of a ship’s bow. Those who could be identified have their names engraved in uniform stone markers. They lie here together, rich and poor, young and old, made equal in the sea. Even generations after the tragedy some still seek these to find out what happened to a family member or confirm some mystery from a story told somewhere in time. There are some gravestones that bear names we all know such as

j. Dawson — J. Dawson, lost with the Titanic

No. He wasn’t Jack Dawson from the movie Titanic, but he was a real person who lost his life on that April night. So, why did my traveling companions not want to go to the Titanic exhibit and visit the cemetary where these poor souls rest?

We had come into Halifax as the first port of call on a Canada and New England Cruise, so we had to get back on the boat and go back out to sea directly from the cemetary!

Goneguru’s Travel and Recreation Blog

I’m the Traveler at Goneguru.com. My wife is the Seer. Together and separately we have had the great good fortune to have hiked, biked, run, traveled and enjoyed such places and things as: backpacking in the Grand Canyon, the White Mountains, Cumberland Island; hiking along the Appalachian Trail, along the Highline in Glacier National Park, to the top of Mount LeConte in Tennessee, and along the coast from Villa Jovis to Marina Piccolo on the Isle of Capri. One or both of us have traveled to Rome, Venice, Florence, Gibraltar, Madrid the Coast of Spain, Costa Rica, the Riviera Maya, San Diego to Maine, and Alaska to St. Thomas. We’ve swam with Pirranha’s, snorkeled on Caribbean reefs, and ridden our bicycles from border to border. We’ve done tri-athlons, du-athalons, half-marathons and the Peachtree Road Race. All of this requires a great appreciation and love of food and travel and most of all meeting people. We intend to recreate our travels for our readers, to share our experiences from the past and future, and hopefully meet up with you along the way.