Killarney National Park

Driving in Ireland, the countryside is quite lovely, but usually very orderly with fields delineated by stone walls or thick hedgerows. It was delightful to spend some time in Killarney National Park, hiking through woods near a lake. The day was overcast and mist hung on the mountains.



There was a freshness to the air.



And a wonderful sense of peace. Although we only hiked for part of an afternoon, the path led through changing scenery.



In this area, trees seems to grow out of rock; there didn't seem to be soil to hold them, yet the trees thrived.



I enjoyed the wild flowers.



We passed swaths of heather.



And areas with a thick coat of moss over everything



A little animal (vole? mouse?) scattered across our path and stopped under some leaves. There it felt protected and nibbled away at something it had found to eat, unperturbed that we were so near.



The hike was near Muckross House, an imposed building. We did not go in, but it served as quite a contrast to the natural woods nearby.