After every long distance hike, along with the feeling of melancholy that you have to go back to the real world. There’s often a different feeling of regret. Gear you wish you’d brought (Or left behind). Sites you wish you’d stopped to see (Or hadn’t) and maybe even the route itself.
In this weeks article I’m going to share the things I wish I’d done differently on our 5 day thru hike of the Wicklow Way.
5. Carrying less weight.
Partly this was due to what I actually had to take with me at the time. I’d lent two packs and gear to friends and hadn’t chance to pick it up. Most of my hiking is walking out to do camping and bush-craft work and that means I’m lugging heavy weight off the beaten path. The packs I use are therefore rugged and heavy, as is much of the rest of my gear.
The Wicklow Way is all about the hiking. The camping is just having somewhere to rest your head at night, carrying less weight would have made the whole thing more enjoyable. This was particularly hard because we had a heatwave out of the blue. Lugging 15 Kg over 40 Km on one of the days in the beating sun isn’t the most fun I’ve ever had marching up a hill.
12 Kg would have been a really nice weight to carry over 5 days, any more gets a little annoying. This wasn’t a bush-craft or camping trip. Therefore the 20 Kg+ I normally carry for 2-3 days is just different to what you are doing when trying to cover mileage.
As soon as I got back a bunch of ultralight gear got slammed on the credit card including a new pack.
If you want to watch possibly the worlds longest Wicklow Way Gear video – it’s here:
4. Mixing wild camping the Wicklow way with B&B’s.
Again, this is partly due to circumstance. My wife Alex (Happy Hooves) was only with me for the first few days. Whilst she adores the idea of wild camping. The reality is she spends the whole night jumping at every noise in the forest and neither of us get any sleep.
Due to Alex’s camping issues we stayed in a B&B the first night in Enniskerry, Roundwood the 2nd night and then she went home. I then stayed at the Mullacor hut the third night before being in a hotel in Tinahely and then a B&B in Bunclody. This was the worst of both worlds. If you B&B your pack is super light as you don’t have any camping gear with you. When you wild camp you don’t have to detour off the trail every day to the nearest town – those detours added up to 25 Km over the week!
If I could do this over again, I’d wild camp the whole week, happy wife be damned!
3. Better Camera Gear.
Filming the hike was a disaster. I clearly underestimated what it took to vlog a hike like this and the gear I had was all wrong too. Both the equipment and the operator were clearly sub standard. I’ve learned a lot through this (And the equally awful gear review video) and have set myself up with some courses and new gear as a result.
Sony Action Cam: Too small and with no playback I hadn’t realized I was filming at terrible angles all week. The protective cover badly muffled the sound and I kept forgetting to take it off. Should have had a Go Pro.
Landscapes really needed a proper camera or, better yet, a drone. There’s now a DJI Mini 2 sat on my desk for this purpose.
Cables / Battery management. Schoolboy lack of prepping this. My multi lead failed on day 4 which totally trashed filming and the backup battery bank I’d taken with me was also inadequate. Lessons were learned!
2. Shouldn’t have done the whole route.
Day 4 (As I was going southbound) was Tinahely – Clonegal. This is a 35 Km day, 75% of which is roads. It feels so arbitrary and pointless for a thru hike, just so you can say you did border to border of Wicklow County and is the worst thought out part of the route. I get that it’s difficult in Ireland due to the absence of public rights of way but if it were up to me – the hike would be better finishing in Tinahely or down in Shillelagh (Where they make the famous sticks).
Note, past Tinahely you’ve zero wild camping options between there and Clonegal unless you trespass illegally or find a willing farmer.
1. Should have gone northbound, not southbound.
Even if you make the massive long last day under the summer sun to Clonegal, well, you aren’t finished. As you now need to walk another 5 Km to Bunclody. There are no buses or connections back to Dublin from Clonegal so Bunclody is your nearest option. If you instead take the bus down to Bunclody/Tinahely for a Northbound hike. You get up early, ready and fresh early in the morning. At the other end you are arriving into Dublin when you finish which gives you easy transport anywhere when done.
By far the main reason to go northbound is the fact that the route improves. Bunclody/Clonegal to Tinahely is terrible (Except for the Dying Cow pub). Tinahely to Roundwood is a mixed day good/bad. Roundwood all the way back to Dublin is overall excellent scenery, tracks and very little roadwork. Conversely, if you go southbound, the hike get’s gradually worse!
Of course, your mileage may vary – these are just one thru hikers personal thoughts. Happy Trails!