Wicklow

Tue 25/8/26 

It was 2pm when we left the airport and made our way to our destination today, Wicklow with a stop at Lidl to buy groceries. A woman at the counter randomly asked us how to cook the salmon that we bought. 

We reached our accommodation The Lodge Guesthouse (EUR 90 or RM 436 per night) located at the border between county Dublin and county Wicklow at 4pm and it was raining. Since we were not really hungry, we had dinner of seared salmon with spinach which we cooked and then retired early as we were very sleepy. 

The Lodge Guesthouse

Wed 26/8/26

Wicklow National Park

It was still raining when we woke up in the morning. Partner In Crime prepared breakfast and packed some sandwich for lunch while we go for hiking. We saw wild deer at our house compound. 

We decided to proceed with our hike to Djouce Mountain nearby although it has not stopped raining. I suddenly remembered that we had forgotten to take some of our groceries inside the fridge, so we drove back to the house. Luckily it was just about 20 minutes away. 

We first stopped at the Lough Tay viewing point to take some pictures of the Lough Tay lake but it was very cloudy. Then we parked at J B Malone Car Park (free of charge) to do the Djouce Mountain hike. We read that there were car break in incidents so we made sure that our belongings were not visible. 

Lough Tay lake

It was still raining when we started the hike at 10am, and visibility was very poor. We couldn't see beyond 100m, but we continued on until reaching White Hill after about 30 minutes when we decided to turn back as the weather was still not improving. Along the way we saw sheep grazing. We only covered a distance of 4.61km in 1h 5m with elevation gain of 196m.

low visibility during the Djouce mountain hike

low visibility during the Djouce mountain hike

view from White Hill 

We decided to drive to Wicklow National Park via the Sally Gap and parked at Glendalough Upper Lake car park (EUR 5 for whole day), located about 30 minutes away. Fortunately it has now stopped raining. We first took some pictures at the Glendalough Upper Lake, and then decided to do the Spinc Trail loop since it was still early at 12 noon and we could only check in at our next guesthouse after 4pm.

Glendalough Upper Lake

Glendalough Upper Lake

We did the Spinc Trail clockwise, reaching Poulanass waterfall shortly and continued climbing until we reached several view points of the Glendalough Upper Lake. It was really beautiful so we stopped a lot for pictures. We saw more wild deer here, although there was one who was not afraid of humans and came very near to us looking for food. 

Poulanass waterfall 

wooded area trail

first view of Glendalough Upper Lake

view of pine tree forest

second view point

view point of lake and forest

beautiful views 

boardwalk Glenealo valley

Glenealo valley

stone walk at the valley

a friendly deer spotted down at the valley 

deer up close

stream down at the valley

Miner's village ruins

While we stopped to have lunch, we rescued a tired bee. We couldn't find any flowers with enough nectar nearby so we brought him until the car park to feed him with water diluted with sugar (that we had in the car) to give him energy. Once he was energized, he flew up high like a drone. We hope he made it back to his colony.

not enough nectar

giving glucose water

We completed the Spinc Trail loop in 3h 45 mins including stops with a distance of 11.13 km and elevation gain of 436m.

We then drove shortly to our next guesthouse The Loft near Roundwood (EUR 126 or RM 610 per night) about 17 min away and self checked in. No more further activity for today, so we prepared dinner at the self catering accommodation and then called it a day.

the Loft