Day 1: Starting with snow

Day 1 - Sunday, March 18th 2018: Dublin to Howth 15km, 2°C, snow

First day of walk & first-night outdoor

Equipped with my 18kg bag, I joined the starting point of my trip on O'Connell street: the Spire. For me, it's like a pin on a map, so a good way to mark the starting point. I won't finish my trip until I cross the Liffey River again, and get back to this point.

So, it's with very unexpected snow that I've started my walk. Slowly. Not many people in the street of course, but a man, seeing me with my rain cap to protect myself from the snow, told me I was really well prepared. To be honest, I tried to prepare myself as much as possible, but I was certainly not prepared for snow. Just after Fairview Park, I joined the coast. The sea was grey and unchained. When I turned north just after Clontarf (where there was a battle in 1014, where Brian Boru defeated the Vikings), I had to face strong winds (only 40km/h according to google). Even with such bad weather some people were walking their dog, running, cycling. That made me feel less crazy. In the afternoon it stopped snowing, and I found a coffee shop in Sutton to get lunch and a hot drink. Then I started the Howth Peninsula loop, which was indicated as a "hard trail". Very muddy, but there were some other people so I guessed it was practicable. I finally found a place in the woods to put my tent. I'm not sure it was not private property, but I didn't see any house, and it was well protected against the wind, and flat enough for my tent. Apart from my wet shoes and socks, everything was alright, I got warm thanks to my thermolite liner inside my sleeping bag, and my rain cover above it, which offered me great protection. I felt so good, so relax, like in my own bed. And hopefully, my shoulder, back, legs and foot were not too painful. I guess this time my bag is organised at its best. So I slept well despite the only 3°C inside my tent. I just have to get used to the fact I'm sleeping outside, and that I'm paying attention to every noise I can hear: dogs and cars in the long-distance, planes in the sky, broken woods by the wind.

The hardest is to get out of the sleeping bag in the morning, because it's cold outside, and I had no other choice: I needed to pee! I got up with the "sun", packed my tent and bag, and left around 8h, just in time for the first runners of the day. No more snow, just strong winds, and sun! I had to be very careful to end my walk around the Howth peninsula, cause there were very strong winds on the cliff. But the sea had a beautiful green/grey colour. And guess what, when arriving in Howth village I found a Starbuck Coffee to get a big breakfast with hot tea, use the electricity for my phone, and write some words. So lucky!