Can you walk the wicklow way in 6 days?

Beddy

Hey guys

Me and a friend of mine (we are two 18 years old girls) would like to walk the wicklow way, and are wondering if we can do it in 6 days? We have not been hiking before, but we are both in good shape and will of course train for the trip in the weeks up to.

Have any of you walked it?
I hope you can help!

MaxwellsBeard

Are you looking for a companion?
i'm planning on doing the wicklow way at 18th march,i'm 20 and i lost my partner he broke his leg.and you can do the wicklow in 6 days or just walk it for 6 days and stop when you want

FrostyJack

Beddy wrote: »

Hey guys

Me and a friend of mine (we are two 18 years old girls) would like to walk the wicklow way, and are wondering if we can do it in 6 days? We have not been hiking before, but we are both in good shape and will of course train for the trip in the weeks up to.

Have any of you walked it?
I hope you can help!

The Wicklow Way has been done in 1 day I believe, so 6 is definitely possible. According to the official site 7 days plus is the norm. http://www.wicklowway.com/trail-maps/index.php . Depending on how much gear you carry and how fit you are, 6 days is doable. Are you planning to camp along the route or B&B as this would be a factor gear wise, as will the time of year. If you live in Dublin go to Marley Park on a weekend(the start of the route) and gauge how long it takes you to get to a set point then look at map (say Fairy Castle) and see how long it took, this will give you idea how long the whole route would take. The start is probably the hardest accent on the route (the parts I have done) so will be a good test of your fitness.

BarryD

6 days should be OK - it's 132 kilometres, so you'd be doing 20-30 Km a day. You could break it up several ways, depending on your budget for overnight accomm. Maybe

Marlay Park to Glencree
Glencree to Glendalough
Glendalough to Glenmalure
Glenmalure to Tinahely
Tinahely to Shillelagh
Shillelagh to Clonegal

Some of those days are longer than others and you could cover it in 5 days if you combined last two. As Frosty says, the northern end has most of the longer climbs and descents.

I think the record is half a day, or 12 hours 25 mins, by Epin Keith.

Tigerandahalf

What is the terrain like on the WW?

CardinalJ

I did it in 44 hours walking/hiking rather than running, which is where the 12hr kind of times come from.

6 days wouldn't be a problem at all if you have a basic level of fitness.

http://www.wicklowway.com/trail-description/index.php

FrostyJack

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What is the terrain like on the WW?

Mostly walking track and some road walking, especially near the Southern end. You could do it in slippers in the summer but some sections are muddy and recently icy so hiking boots are recommended, or at least trail runners.

Jimbob1977

Hi there....

My friend and I attempted the Wicklow Way over three days (overnights in Laragh and Tinahely) last June.

He is quite athletic (runs during lunch breaks) and I'm more couch potato.

Three days was a mistake. His light frame was punished by low body fat. My stockier frame meant I could plough on.

We walked fourteen hours on Day One. Marlay Park to Laragh. It wasn't particularly hard on the muscles. However our feet were absolutely destroyed. Cut to ribbons after day one.

The second day became a slog. With raw feet, we could only muster about 3 kilometres per hour. Some of the forest trails are energy sapping and monotonous. We realised at 9pm in Moyne that we were three hours short of our Tinahely accommodation and dusk was falling. We had to ask the guesthouse owner to fetch us before dark.

On Day Three, he dropped us back to Moyne and we trudged on in the heat (25c). At this stage, we looked like starved prisoners of war. There is a brutal hill at a pub (called the Dying Lamb or similar) that leads to the wind turbines near Boley. It drains you. However, the final 10 miles is relatively benign forest walks and more tarred roads.

Five or six days would be ideal. You'd only have to walk 7 or 8 hours per day and save your feet.

DOs: Pack light. Doesn't matter if you have to recycle clothes and stink to high heaven. Bring lots of water, fruit and chocolate. Buy the relevant Ordnance Survey Maps. In some cases, the waymarker is ambiguous... i.e does it mean straight ahead or left? A map solves your problem.

Invest in high quality walking boots that have been Broken In. We made that mistake. Take a break every two hours. Bring a whistle, compass and torch. Bring plasters and bandages. Try stay patient with your colleague. Tempers will get frayed if stuff goes wrong.

Don't: Underestimate it. We thought 80 miles in three days was a doddle. We were mistaken. Take your five to six days. Don't use cheap footwear. If the weather forecast is dry and warm, throw out unnecessary raingear and heavy clothes.

Enjoy. I was delighted to walk into Clonegal and complete the trip.

Gillo

Once you are relatively fit, it should be easy enough. Although as you've said you haven't been hiking before you'll want to get a few day in on the hills practice before hand. There's signs and tracks along most of it, but they aren't much use if you get a thick fog or mist coming in.
The only thing I can add to the other posters advice is to have a "back up" plan. IE, what happens happens if something goes wrong?

Roguee

Has anyone ever done it on a bike? and how long did it take.

Pat Mustard

MaxwellsBeard wrote: »

Are you looking for a companion?
i'm planning on doing the wicklow way at 18th march,i'm 20 and i lost my partner he broke his leg.and you can do the wicklow in 6 days or just walk it for 6 days and stop when you want

Mod Warning to OP:

Nobody here knows this poster so if you decide to meet him, you will be meeting an "unknown quantity".

This poster has only one post and does not have any sort of record here.

Nobody can make any sensible recommendation that you should make any arrangement to meet a stranger from the Internet, especially one who has sought you out.

You should be careful about the people that you choose to meet.

I don't want to come across as condescending here but a comment has to be made.

FrostyJack

Roguee wrote:

Has anyone ever done it on a bike? and how long did it take.]Has anyone ever done it on a bike? and how long did it take.

Pretty sure bikes aren't allowed on the trail, but I imagine it could be done in a day or 2. Would be no fun going up the hills though.

Jimbob1977 wrote:

Don't: Underestimate it. We thought 80 miles in three days was a doddle. We were mistaken. Take your five to six days. Don't use cheap footwear. If the weather forecast is dry and warm, throw out unnecessary raingear and heavy clothes.

I know group of guys who brought cans and bottles of wine and heavy jumpers, half way through the first day they dumped them all in the nearest bin :pac: . Foot injury is the biggest danger on a trail like this, good knowledge of how to prevent blisters should be your priority. We have all made that mistake and suffered days of misery. There are loads of youtube videos etc on the subject.

The Mustard wrote: »

Mod Warning to OP:
I don't want to come across as condescending here but a comment has to be made.

I was going to say something but thought it may be a breach or backseat modding. Glad someone did.

Jimbob1977

Another few things I forgot to mention:

Try to have mobile phones from different providers. This will maximise your ability to get a signal. If one company has no signal, the others might. We had O2 and Meteor and were generally contactable.

Put In Case of Emergency (ICE) into your phones. 999 or 112 will hook you up with ANY available signal.... even if you are not a subscriber.

If one person is injured or struggling, think hard about venturing into a remote forest with potential zero signal and no human being for miles or hours.

We undertook the journey in June (peak season you'd think) and encountered very few walkers, except for ramblers in Powerscourt, Glendalough and Tinahely.

Most of the time, we would travel for hours and see nobody in desolate woods. It's like 'The Road' with Viggo Mortensen

CardinalJ

Jimbob1977s reply is pretty much on the money.

Get a good pair of wool socks. They'll help stop you blister.

When I did it we stopped every 5k and changed it down to every hour as we slowed down due to being knackered. You probably won;t need to stop as frequently, but over six days you'll be able to stop to take photo's etc and actually enjoy it.

Also make sure you book accommodation in some places way in advance. Places like the Glenmalure lodge book out weeks in advance for some days over the summer.

Make sure to stop into Osbournes in Clonegal to get your cert type thing. Not really officially but a nice thing to have.

Tigerandahalf

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Put In Case of Emergency (ICE) into your phones.

Just a question on this. How can a person get into the phone if there is a screen lock on it?

EDIT. Figured it out. I think it might be only available on the latest mobiles but handy to have. Also handy if you lost your phone and the finder could ring your ICE number.

Jimbob1977

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Just a question on this. How can a person get into the phone if there is a screen lock on it?

EDIT. Figured it out. I think it might be only available on the latest mobiles but handy to have. Also handy if you lost your phone and the finder could ring your ICE number.

Hi. Samsung Galaxy Emergency Call (at the bottom) will override the screen lock. On the keypad, the bottom left icon (a person's silhouette head) is the ICE contacts.

Not sure about iPhone or other Android devices!

Stitch09

6 days should loads:) Did it a couple of years back with a few mates, just under the 72hrs. We camped, brought our food supplies with us, were pretty well organised overall. Didn't have a huge amount of time for stopping to enjoy it though, we were lucky enough to avoid rain until the last evening when we were coming into Marley park-we did over an Easter weekend from Carlow to Dublin.
I'd echo a couple of the main points above, and some of this may be less relevant if you are staying in B&B as opposed to camping.
Definitely try and get a few training walks in and get used to setting up and taking down your camping gear.
Don't bring anything with you that isn't tried and tested, cooking stove, torches etc.
Make sure your boots are broken in. you might get away with trail runners etc but if the weather breaks you are going to be much better served with a decent pair of boots, your feet will be much drier and warmer for it. Carrying a decent weighted backpack, i'd demo recommend boots. A good fitting backpack-will make all the difference, spend a bit of time setting it up right and it'll spread the weight so much better and save your back and shoulders. One of our guys bought new boots a week before we did it, his feet were absolutely destroyed to the point where i don't actually know how he managed to finish it, so another call for the broken in boots! Carry a decent first aid kit between ye and know how to use it.
Bring your phones and a charger, ideally with different networks, and if you have an old phone at home that you can charge and leave turned off in the bag as a back up, better still.
Doing it with a stranger, apart from the obvious risks as mentioned above, is probably going to spoil the pace that ye want to do it at.
Camping means you need to bring your own food, most of our weight was food to be honest. Ye will also need to bring water purification tablets and/or boil all your water as well. If ye do it with B&Bs ye get to sleep in a bed, pack lighter, get a cooked breakfast and a shower, recharge your phones and refill your water-so mightn't be a bad idea for the first time doing something like this Also means if it decides to pour rain ye can dry out ye'r clothes and kit.
Also if ye have the distances planned out and the B&Bs booked, if anything does go awry and someone hurts themselves or something, at least someone will be expecting ye to raise the alarm.
Other than that its a lovely walk, six days is plenty, scenery is beautiful. theres the odd watering hole along the way as well. Bring a camera, and a set of earphones for when ye just need to get some trudging done, though to be fair i don't think any of us used earphones for the entire walk Enjoy and sure let us know how ye get on

Tigerandahalf

What are the views like along the way? Are you in dense covered forest for much of it? Also is Mt Leinster along the way? I did some of the Dingle Way previously and it was a lovely walk. If you get good weather it would be a great trip.

BarryD

CardinalJ wrote: »

Make sure to stop into Osbournes in Clonegal to get your cert type thing. Not really officially but a nice thing to have.

No harm to add that Osbornes pub in Clonegal, like many rural pubs, has limited opening hours. They wouldn't be getting rich on Wicklow Way walkers!! Evenings best, when the nearby Shah Roe restaurant is open.

Dunne's pub at the top of the village has longer opening hours.

The other pub mentioned near Mullinacuffe is the 'Dying Cow' aka Tallons.

Jimbob1977

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What are the views like along the way? Are you in dense covered forest for much of it? Also is Mt Leinster along the way? I did some of the Dingle Way previously and it was a lovely walk. If you get good weather it would be a great trip.

Hi Tigerandahalf

Mount Leinster is not on the Wicklow Way. I think it's about ten miles off route at the southernmost end.

Good views at Powerscourt, Lough Tay, Lough Dan and Glendalough.

Many hours are spent in Coillte-like forests. They are not particularly dense. Proper logging roads, people out for Sunday walks, etc. Imagine Three Rock Mountain if you are from Dublin.

Some of the mountains (e.g. Djouce) are traversed on wooden boardwalks laid out to conserve the environment. It's a bit like cheating, but the flat boardwalk is a godsend with aching feet.

At the southern end of the way, it's far more populated with paved roads, private homes and farmhouses.

The middle portion is very unpopulated.

Scenery is about 6/10. Excellent in some places.... but forests block out the horizon

Gillo

Not meaning to sound like a dry sh!t, but I wouldn't be recommending drinking too much even in the evening's, after a days walking you'll be somewhat dehydrated, easier to get drunk and wake up with a hangover to ruin the next days walking. Don't get me wrong I love a pint or two after a days walking but watch how much you drink.

For anyone thinking of doing it but with not much experience, try one of the walking groups on Meetup, go out a bit with them and chances are you'll find a few people up for it also. I did ten days walking with a good friend years ago, but living in each others constant company for ten days I was ready to kill him at some stage so with a bigger group at least you'll a variety of company. (Still though pay heed to The Mustards post and know who you are heading out with).

K09

Hi,

Is camping permitted in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains? Or do you have to find accommodation?

Thanks

Niall_daaS

Beddy wrote: »

Hey guys

Me and a friend of mine (we are two 18 years old girls) would like to walk the wicklow way, and are wondering if we can do it in 6 days? We have not been hiking before, but we are both in good shape and will of course train for the trip in the weeks up to.

Have any of you walked it?
I hope you can help!

Make sure you have really good footwear. If you are not a regular walker at all and have new shoes or shoes you don't use every day you will probably get problems with your feet. They just will feel sore after 2- 3 days and that might become an issue.

I could recommend a B & B at Lough Dan which offers to host you during the whole walk and brings you to and back from every single stage. So you don't have to worry about accomodation and the extra weight of a bag. And even more important you could stop when a day becomes to much and don't have to necessarly finish the stage.

Edit: I hope the last part is no unwanted advertisment. If so I'll remove it in a minute.

Jimbob1977

K09 wrote: »

Hi,

Is camping permitted in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains? Or do you have to find accommodation?

Thanks

Hi K09,

Yes, I believe camping is permitted if you follow 'Leave no Trace' guidelines.

Namely.... clean up after camping, don't light unmanageable fires, keep the noise down and respect the environment.

See hyperlink below.

http://www.wicklowway.com/walking-advice/leave-no-trace.php

hmmm

Personally I'd skip everything after Aughavannagh, really boring road walking for the most part.

While the way is ok, it spends a lot of time walking through forests with lovely views available a short detour away - e.g. in particular, you'd be well recommended to detour to head down the "Spink" in Glendalough at the point where the WW disappears into the forest.

BarryD

hmmm wrote: »

Personally I'd skip everything after Aughavannagh, really boring road walking for the most part.

While the way is ok, it spends a lot of time walking through forests with lovely views available a short detour away - e.g. in particular, you'd be well recommended to detour to head down the "Spink" in Glendalough at the point where the WW disappears into the forest.

The Wicklow Way was mostly laid out c 30 years ago and whilst there have been some route changes & additions since, it's still basically the same route - which I guess is part of its attraction. Views change, forests grow and so on, get cut down again, views open up etc.

For myself, I think some of the nicer sections of the WW lie south of Aughavannagh, particularly around Ballycumber Hill and the Muskeagh boreen, though overall there is too much tarmac walking in the southern third of the route.

Gillo

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Hi K09,

Yes, I believe camping is permitted if you follow 'Leave no Trace' guidelines.

Namely.... clean up after camping, don't light unmanageable fires, keep the noise down and respect the environment.

See hyperlink below.

http://www.wicklowway.com/walking-advice/leave-no-trace.php

I'm open to correction but camping isn't allowed in any part of the National Park. I've no idea of the consequences of you get caught by a ranger. If you do decide to camp though, leave the place as your found it.
From the OP's point of view go with hostels / B&B's, it's less weight to carry and you should sleep better. I'm saying that as its your first time hiking for a number of days, while I'm all for camping I'd say take it relatively easy the first time.

FrostyJack

You cannot camp around Glendalough. All other Coilte forests on the Way are fair game is my understanding. But yeah it would be easier to use b&b with regards a good night sleep and less to carry.

Gillo

FrostyJack wrote: »

All other Coilte forests on the Way are fair game is my understanding.

If I'm reading that right, you've worded it the way I wanted to but could't figure out. The bottom line is you aren't allowed to camp in any national park's.
That said once you are away from a popular area (e.g. Glendalough) chances are you won't be caught and once you are a responsible camper I don't think the vast majority of people will have a problem with it.

BarryD

I think the advice on www.wicklowway.com is of a general nature as regards 'Leave No Trace'. As regards the official policy of Coillte towards wild camping on their property, I don't think it's encouraged for reasons of fire hazard & litter. See http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie/index.php?cx=002081102009708133800%3A5qjtdk4nizs&cof=FORID%3A11%3BNB%3A1&id=149&ie=UTF-8&q=camping

or

http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie/index.php?id=246

Then there's the Mountain Meitheal overnight huts put in with assistance from Coillte. There are three of these on the WW and this is there intended purpose.