I first heard about this hike last winter while browsing a hobby shop in a quaint little town called Blackrock. The sales clerk behind the counter said, “You’re not from around here”, after she heard my unfamiliar accent. This started a whole conversation that centered around the typical question, “If you’re from Hawaii, why would you visit Ireland?” This conversation ended with the recommendation… no, insistence… that Grant and I do the cliff-walk between the coastal towns of Bray and Greystones. This sparked my curiosity, but being that the weather was continuously gray and overcast (and cold), a cliff-walk sounded like an ever-distant idea.
But this suggestion would crop up every time we spoke to a Dubliner. Finally, since being back in Dublin for the summer, our German teacher was also insistent that we go. So, as the urgency had reached its own sort of crescendo, I told Grant we have to go this weekend. We didn’t really know anything else about this hike, or the two towns involved, but the mystery of it grew ever larger as the weekend approached.
We would have had a good start on the day had our insatiable need to sleep-in on this fine Saturday not gotten in our way. By the time we were out the door, had taken the train 30 minutes south to Bray, and eaten an awesome lunch at a cute Italian cafe, we were at the seaside trailhead at 6:30 in the evening. I asked Grant whether it was too late to do the hike but he answered, “It’s is a 2 and a half hour walk but the sun doesn’t set until 10:00. We’ll be fine”. That sounded convincing at the time.
The hike was beautiful, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:
Grant and I really enjoyed this hike. If you ever find yourself in Dublin and want to get away into nature for a few hours, I highly recommend this hike. I even liked this better than the one at Howth Head, I found it easier and the views are fantastic. The trail follows the DART line (the local train) but doesn’t interfere with the experience.
And if anybody was wondering what “cliff hike” is in German, it’s Klippen Wanderung, according to our German teacher.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
I’m curious about Grant’s choice of “Hiking Attire”. Is it typical of Dubliners/Europeans to go for a hike in slacks and a button down shirt or is that simply all he had with him on this leg of the trip? I do recall hearing that the summer weather there is very cool and mild, so maybe this also affected his choice of clothing.
I like these clothes – they are comfortable and make me feel good. No, they aren’t typical “hiking” clothes, but worked well for this type of trip. Besides, I don’t really have many other options . . . My brown “work” shoes were dusty afterwards, does that make them “hiking attire”?
i guess, if you wear it on a hike, then it adopts the function and becomes hiking attire… right?