Southwest Ireland: a truly marvelous place to visit with some of the most beautiful hiking trails that you will ever encounter. On one trail, we came upon these ancient stones. My wife Anne Vexler, who was a collegiate All-American gymnast, decided that she would like to try to hold a “scale” on top of this 12 foot rock! With a little help from Con Moriarty, our WT guide and probably the tallest man in Ireland, Anne pulled herself to the top. She slowly moved into the pose and likely became the first person in history to perform a scale atop this stone. A perfect “10.”
Looking out toward Great Blasket Island and the “Sleeping Giant” Island, named for its appearance. The stone walls seen in this photo are found all across the Irish countryside.
Skellig Michael, a mystical mountain island 10 miles off the coast of Ireland and now a World Heritage Site. We traveled here by boat to get a closer look at this, the larger of the two Skellig Islands. Calm seas and beautiful weather combined to make this one of the highlights of our trip.
On a terraced peak of Skellig Michael is an ancient Christian monastic outpost, which dates back more than a thousand years.
Hiking along the Dingle Peninsula, I was able to get this amazing photo on a beautiful sunny day in Ireland! Everything looks so perfect and that is truly what you feel when you encounter this landscape.
-Photos and Text by 5-time WT adventurer Norman Vexler, Spirit of Ireland
To see more of Norm’s incredible photos, visit his website: http://faroutphotos.com/
