2025 Foray: The Barrow Line

River Slate, Rathangan

My son gave me a North Face tent and my wife a backpack upgrade. But what good are they unless I use them? And so, with my medical condition in mind, I planned a trilogy of hikes in increasing order of challenge: 

(1)  A three and a half day hike along the Barrow Line canal and river and thus on the level;

(2)  A three or four day hike along the Sheep's Head peninsula (from sea level to 300m max.);

(3)  A three week hike along Offa's Dyke (between Wales and England) max. 685m

So far I have attempted (1) and failed. It would of course look better if I redefined my goal as a two day's hike but...  To explain: the Barrow Line is a canal that links the Grand Canal (one of the two canals that link the great and mighty Shannon with Dublin) with the navigable reach of the River Barrow at Athy.  My plan was to follow this "Barrow Way" for the majority of its distance:

Summary distances

Sallins to Lowtown 13km along the Grand canal

Lowtown to Rathangan 12.5km along the Barrow Line canal

Rathangan to Monasterevin* 10.6km

Monasterevin to Athy* 23km the Barrow Line meets the Barrow River

Athy to Carlow* 19km along the Barrow River

Carlow to Bagenalstown* 16km

total 94km = 19 hrs suggest 3 days

* Note - there's a handy rail station at each asterisked town for returning home

Whilst "19hrs" was calculated at a walking pace of 5km/h and spread between three days appears to be reasonable, "94km" divided by 3 is over 30km per day. Which is a considerable distance.  I actually achieved 66km over two days before I decided "enough is enough". Seriously, I think I could have made the whole distance had it not been for this 8.75kg load on my back. But how can you overnight without a tent and sleeping bag, not to mentions the other accoutrements a minimalistic backpacker considers essential, water being the heaviest?

I arrived in Athy in time for the train and bus connection to get me back home at 18:30. And, oh how I slept that night!

What do you do when walking these interminable distances? You muse. You pray for everyone in your immediate circle. You counts strides in tens, then tens in tens. My stride is about 1.2m so ten is 12m and ten of them 120m... just a measly 120m. Not even a kilometre. When praying I habitually ask for some confirmation that there actually is someone listening. Not just hearing about another person's experience - this has to be my experience. Is it too much to ask God to reveal himself to me personably?  But it occurred to me that, maybe, this whole hike and its abortion was God speaking? Perhaps he is saying that 33km per day is too much for me.

OK other people do vastly more challenging challenges like this guy who ran from Perth to Sydney: that's 3,844 km. Maybe he was younger than I am. Maybe he wasn't carrying a 8.75kg back pack?

You can check out my photos here.

I ran

Ever since I can remember I have preferred to run. I get irritated when, in a crowded street, other folk walk oh so slowly and I want to get past and live my life! My sentiments are aptly described in a dream I had and a paper my daughter in law wrote, and here where I wish I were Mowgli. 

Are my running days over?

It started with tightness across my chest when running up a mild incline. My GP sent me to a consultant who interpreted a CT-scan as indicating arterial “plaque, most severe in the mid LAD vessel where there is between 50-69% stenosis” (blockage). Google tells me that LAD is short for a "major coronary artery that supplies blood to the front and left side of the heart. It's considered the largest of the three main coronary arteries and is often referred to as the "widowmaker" due to its significance in fatal heart attacks... usually a blockage of the LAD artery has to be more than 70% to cause significant problems" above which a stent may be advised.

All this is rather scary. They are telling me to "take it easy” and to stop any activity that brings on the tightness (angina). A hard imposition on someone who is used to running everywhere.

I'm now taking a prescribed blood thinner and self-imposed minerals and vitamins. In a few weeks I have an appointment with the consultant who doubtless will impose further drugs which I hate. I'm trying to eat more healthily "no sugar" (well, almost none), reduced carbs, salad and beetroot (can you believe it?). 

Looks like this is going to be a journey. I must cheer up and be more positive. If running (~10km/h) is out, I can still jog slowly (~7km/h) even if not "uphill". And so far walking (~5km/h) seems to be OK, even with a backpack, providing the path is not steep. I'm encouraged by testimonies like that of Mark. 

Older

Growing older. You don't think about it much until it happens to you. The mountain bike boy I met a few weeks back whilst walking in the forestry, tackling scary obstacles on the narrow bike trails carved out of the hillside: we are two generations apart and yet he had the grace to stop and wish me well. I don't even know your name, but I hope that the brakes on your bike are good - please don't fall and hurt yourself because I want you to live life to the full.

Another boy in his early teens: I teach him woodwork - there's such a sparkle in his eyes, such a rejoicing in his new-found skills, so thankful for the time I give him, so outspoken for his age (in a good way, wanting to complete the projects I set by himself without my interference). Again I find myself looking forward and wondering what life has in store for him.

I wish I were young again. Without a care, no aches or pains, with a portion of that youthful vigour that now seems so elusive.

But then there's T, now in his late teens, suffering from leukaemia - I know him only via social media, but have been praying for his "complete healing" for about eight years now. The medical staff have no doubt been wonderful, but I have hoped and asked for so much more. A young life in the balances - why, why O Lord? And how dare I complain about my own aches and pains when he has had to grapple with this condition for so long, in and out of hospital.

I aim to jog four or five miles several times a week (barefoot of course). It used to be that, when it was cold outside, I would start off with a long enough sprint to warm up. But I find I can no longer do this: chest tightness tells me to slow down. I am told this is due to plaque forming in my arteries - not yet life threatening but the doctor wants to put me on all manner of drugs with scary common side effects. I don't want drugs. I want to be young again!

Generally speaking I think I am relatively fit for my age and I am so thankful for that. But there's no getting away from it: I'm not as young as I used to me. Growing older.

Boys a dear!

Boys a dear! An exclamation in norn-iron (Northern Ireland) speak. It's a great phrase because it can be used in so many different situations, like "Boys a dear, it's warm today isn't it?"

Something unusual happened today.  

First the back-story: the townland of Lugnagroagh includes some forestry on a hillside and is just up the road from where we live so is a favourite destination for an afternoon walk. Recently some bike trails have appeared in the forest and I've made it my job to investigate them. Clearly a lot of effort has been put into creating these trails and I wanted to find out more. My first map (courtesy OpenTopoMaps in OruxMaps) shows the general lie of the land, with the bike tracks in red.

My second map zooms in using Google aerial view to which I have added the existing forestry tracks in green and ESB power lines in yellow. Broken red lines are paths that existed before the bike trails appeared.  I have labelled the various bike trails arbitrarily with letters A, B, etc. The blue 'P' is a parking area. Click on the image to enlarge it.

My OruxMaps GPS tracks in red

A few days ago I discovered trail 'A' previously unknown to me up to where it joins an existing path. Whilst ascending this trail I met a trio of boys on BMX bikes. That was no surprise for it was a bike trail on which I was "trespassing": what surprised me was that they chose to stop to talk to me, asking if I often came here, etc. After this brief encounter I continued my upward way, reached the cell-phone tower and, looking for a return path, discovered trail E. Similarly, a few days later I discovered trail D.

These trails are narrow paths peppered with well cambered bends and obstacles sometimes using existing boulders or fallen tree trunks or just man made humps of earth, on what is often quite steep terrain. Certainly exciting, possibly dangerous, but I am so glad that someone has taken the trouble to make these trails and that there are youngsters intrepid enough to enjoy navigating them.

So today I fancied I would complete my reconnoitre and found myself ascending previously undiscovered trail C and met two boys with their BMX's, doubtless the same group. The amazing thing was that, once again, they actually volunteered to stop to talk and wish me well. I asked if they had helped to create the tracks and one of them had, and I indicated my approval. All of which made my day (I am kind of easily pleased by such pleasantries, camaraderie indeed, coming from the younger generation).