Mary Keaveneyand Frank Murphyspend six days tackling part of the walk along the Cork peninsula
Day 1
Glengarriff to Adrigole (16km)
At 4pm, it was far too late to start, but the car exhaust had to be mended, having given up the ghost in Gougane Barra. The Glengarriff Tourist Office had prebooked our BB in Adrigole. We set out on the road looking back at the Blue Pool, where we had a lovely swim and saw the seals at the point.
A couple of miles from the town, the kind people at Magannagan Farm BB in Derryconnery direct us towards the stream between Gowlbeg and the Sugarloaf Mountain. Our enthusiasm gets the better of us and we race past the marker pointing south and head north to an old ruin at the end of the valley.
It is 90 minutes or so before we are back on track and we follow the markers up over the gap.
We leave the track and head down to the road. We come upon an old deserted village and a woman tells us it is about two and a half miles to Adrigole.
It is getting dark and we head along the road for Jane and Denis O'Sullivan's comforting Beachmount BB. Here, we hear the lovely sounds of a Polish lodger practising his music.
Day 2
Adrigole to Castletownbere (21.7km)
Denis O'Sullivan drops us a few miles out the road from Adrigole at the stile where the Beara Way heads up the mountain. We climb up the track, part of which is a very steep incline.
We sit in the glorious sunshine and survey Bere Island across Bearhaven.
We walk up by the side of Hungry Hill, into Comnagapple Glen and get a bird's eye view of a man and his dog gathering his sheep on the rocky mountainside. We swim in a little stream off Rossmackowen River, which is warm in the blazing sunshine.
It is a long, beautiful haul into the town. Several times we think we are heading down, only to find ourselves brought around on another loop.
We finally hit the long descent into Castletownbere and the Hanafin's Island View BB. We plan to head for Bere Island the next day.
Day 3
Bere Island (21.3km)
I don't know if you like fish for breakfast. If you refuse Denis Hanafin's haddock or whiting, pan grilled in butter with the Ballymaloe touch, you may go back to bed and cover your head.
Denis is from Dingle and loves to wear the Kerry football jersey in his adopted Cork. He enjoys taunting this Dub football supporter and even hands the Kerry colours to two American guests. One is from the Boston ballet and the other is a budding Denver attorney.
After breakfast, we take the ferry to Bere Island. Instead of circuiting the island on foot (21.3km), we bum a lift from some lovely folk from Leeds. We swim at Coosavaud and see the Dub football team being slaughtered on the television in the pub in Rerrin. Nobody really cares as Cork are already safely through.
Thankfully, the beauty of Bere Island means we are not too sad about the Dubs defeat and we meander back to the ferry, looking back over to the Slieve Miskish Mountains with Hungry Hill reigning over all. We then take the ferry back to Castletownbere and stay a second night at Hanafin's.
Day 4
Castletownbere to Allihies (13.6km)
Way markings should be much better, particularly when walkers are leaving towns. The markings leaving Castletownbere are poor but we find our way around the Old Bakery in Castletownbere (where the Dover sole is super), and up out of the town, about two miles to the stone circle at Derreenataggart. We go along the quiet road into the bog on the mountainside at Teernahillane, another couple of miles and onto a little ridgeway off Miskish Mountain, where you can see across to Caherdaniel and the Ring of Kerry.
We come back to the road through the forest at Knockoura, where there is a fine goose on the side of the road to welcome us, and the only car to pass us stops to wish us well on our way. The driver says it will take 40 minutes to make it up the next steep mountainside, and it does.
We walk up the side of Knockgour, where the flies take bite-sized chunks out of us in the extraordinary heat. We have our lunch looking towards Allihies and Dursey.
Surely this is the most fantastic arrival into Allihies and we have it all to ourselves. Like the mines under the ground, you keep things quiet around here. We head down to Ballydonegan Beach for a swim and a lie on the copper beach before going into town to the Sea View Guesthouse.
Day 5
Allihies to Dursey: 14.4km
I am woken at 6am by the delivery van radio outside the shop below our BB. It's great to realise we don't have to get up for work.
On Allihies Main Street we post cards before heading down the road and rounding Ballydonegan Bay for Foher. A stile takes us up to the steep side of Knocknahulla and by the side of Lackacroghan. We meet an old track high up on the mountain which takes us down past houses and around into Firkeel Gap, where the road rises up again to Glanarough.
At the top of the road, after the sign saying "Beara Way closed every January 31st", we are brought into a wet, leafy tunnel, through a gate, onto the side of the mountain and up to a little cement hut.
We sit down and have our lunch with the best view in the world, overlooking Dursey Island and the Sound below.
Off again, past Crow Head and down to the road. It is a long road, and there is a deli van providing tea and comfort to all and sundry.
The man who owns the field in front of the van points out a short cut to Garnish Strand, where we have a swim before going to our stop for the night, Windy Point House in Garnish, which is run by Agnes and Paddy Sheehan. Paddy also runs the cable-car service to Dursey Island.
Day 6
Dursey Island: 11.2km
At 9am we take the cable car across to Dursey Island (€4 return). Our only fellow traveller is the local postman.
When we land, the way markers point us straight up the side of Knockaree, by Foilcunnis, and on to the Signal Tower and the "Eire" markings, with Skellig and Blasket views. The trail drops down into the houses at Tilickafinna and out to Dursey Head, where there are the remains of a temporary lighthouse.
We pass the old schoolhouse in Kilmichael, where the children last lined up for class in 1975, and the monastery and burial ground in Ballynacallagh. At 2.30pm we take the cable car back to Garnish and, three lifts later, we are back where we started in Glengarriff.
We only did half of the Beara Way this time, but we plan to be back soon to do the rest.
• Mary Keaveney is a founder member of the Tuesday Evening Hillwalkers Group in south Dublin. Frank Murphy is a long-time Irish Mountain Running Association member
Beara Walk, Co Cork
WhereThere is no official start point for the Beara Way. To start, we drove to Glengarriff and overnighted in the delightful Oakfield BB, overlooking Garnish Island and the harbour. The owners, the Barrons, kindly allowed us to leave our car there while we embarked on our six-day walk.
MapThe Beara Way Map Guide could be improved but the Ordnance Survey Maps 84 and 85 will keep you on your way. Penelope Durell's book Discover Dursey is well worth reading.
DistanceThe Beara Way is 197km (122.3miles). We nearly walked half of the route. For the record, we took a lift from Adrigole and also succumbed and took lifts on Bere Island.
TimeThe whole Beara Way takes around 11 days, depending on your pace. It took us six days to do the Glengarriff to Dursey section. The beauty of the way is you can dip in and out of it as you please.
DangersThis is a hard walk and you need to be fit and properly equipped. We recommend a small pack with the necessary clothes. At the very least, you will need rain gear, worn-in boots, a compass and a map.
Where we stayed
Oakfield BB (Mounteensudder, Glengarriff, 027-63371); Beachmount BB (Trafrask East, Adrigole, 027-60075, www.cork-bed-breakfast-bb.com/BeachmountBB.html); Island View House (Castletownbere, 027-70415, www.islandviewhouse.com); Sea View Guesthouse (Allihies 027-73004, www.seaviewallihies.com); Windy Point House (Garnish, 027-73017, www.windypointhouse.com). They were all wonderful and the hospitality extraordinary.