Carrick to Glenties

Today was our longest riding day—about 40 miles. But with the e-bike and several stops for photos, the ride passed fairly quickly. Fortunately, after a brief rain shower at the start, the rest of the day was dry. We even got a little sunburnt!

As we stopped for a photo of the landscape, not far out of town, we noticed a court tomb right in front of us. Kind of fun to stumble on one ourselves, rather than being directed to it.

We set off for the remote hamlet of Port, formerly one of Donegal’s centers for fishing. Port has a couple of memorials to fishermen and sailors whose lives were lost at sea. It was chilly and windy there on the northwest coast, so we didn’t stick around. Besides, we had the beautiful ride down through the Granny Valley to look forward to. It really was spectacular!

At the bottom of the valley is the Assaranca waterfall (Eas a' Ranca). It was a popular stopping place for drivers and camper vans, but we took the opportunity to picnic on some Dubliner cheddar, oranges and oatcakes
Also in the area is Maghera Beach and caves. The beach has fine white sand. To reach the beach, we followed a path through grass-covered sand dunes dotted with yellow flowers.

The tide was low, the beach was very wide, and a couple of the caves in the cliffs were accessible. Don’t get caught at high tide! One legend tells of a man and dog who entered one of the caves. The two disappeared, but eventually the dog emerged weeks later in Glencolmcille having lost all of its hair. No trace was ever found of the man.Read more