We had a busy day, with photos to prove it...

Lots of photos!

Our first stop was the town of Clifden, but the parking situation on a Sunday morning wasn't the best for motorhomes. We ended up doing a little grocery shopping at the local Lidl, and moving on to Clifden Castle and not really seeing the town at all. 

But, we would rather spend our time walking around the countryside than walking around a town anyhow.

Clifden Castle is a small castle, or manor house, that was only built around 1818. It was unoccupied by 1894, and fell into ruins soon after.

Yes, this looks like it must be the entrance to the castle!

You have to walk about one km along this path.

An ancient "standing stone" along the route to the castle.

Such a shame they let it fall into ruins.

It is privately owned, but open to the public for free.

You can just go in and wander around.

The main entrance.

View from the main entrance.

Back at Max, we decided to carry on around the scenic (and sometimes narrow!) Sky Road...

View of Clifden Castle from the road up above.

Yes, it is scenic!

While it is sunny in this direction,

'It is quite cloudy in this direction!

We are headed up to the mountains in Connemara National Park.

Scenery along the way.

The parking lot was already quite busy when we arrived at about 11:30am. We had an early lunch and then just as we were ready to leave for the popular hike up Diamond Hill, we heard raindrops on Max's roof.

Ruth, watching the rain pour down outside.

It came down pretty heavy for fifteen minutes or so. Anybody already out hiking would have been drenched! Glad we didn't arrive earlier because we might have been drenched as well.

We are headed up there.

They say Diamond Hill is a 3 to 3 1/2 hour hike. The circular route is 7.2 kms (4.5 miles) and they say it's "moderately challenging", which I would probably agree with. It's a slow and steady uphill climb right until the last 1/2 km which then gets fairly steep.

It didn't take long to start to get some views.

The path is easy to follow.

Me, and the views!

Coming up the steep section towards the top.

Fantastic views.

Almost at the top!

We made it!

Ruth is Queen of the castle!

Lots of other people at the top as well.

They say the entire hike is 3 to 3 1/2 hours, but we made it to the top from the parking lot in exactly one hour. We did pass a few people along the way, but I think an average hiker should easily be able to do this hike in two and a half hours.

Great views at the top.

Beuatiful.

We sat at the top for fifteen minutes or so, then came back down.

Including our time at the top, were two hours and ten minutes total. Not that it's a race, I'm just giving perspective for anyone else who wants to do this hike. 

Back at Max, we found a possible overnight spot a half an hour north and headed there.

Looking back at Diamond Hill that we just climbed.

Yep, this will do!

Later on, we were joined by a VW camper van. The woman actually came over and asked if it was okay if they stayed there as well. Which was nice, and of course, that's fine. But they didn't have to park right beside us! Oh well, they were quiet enough.

We're thinking of another mountain climb today, but the weather is looking very changeable. Sun one minute, and showers the next. We'll drive to the trailhead and decide from there.

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