Rule Number Nine: Base life on individual strength not individual weakness. Then, when you've become strong, look from the strength of one towards the strength of the many.

Rule Number Seven: Happiness comes from within. So crack a smile, it'll definitely change your mood.

Rule Number Eight: We always condemn the most in others, that which we fear most in ourselves.

Since last time I posted I've been trekking in the Wicklow Mountains National Park in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. It was good to get outdoors for a while again. Luckily, the trek this time wasn't as tough going as the last one I was on two years ago down in the Comeragh's in Co. Waterford. It had been a long time since I was in Glendalough last. Trekking and camping overnight is a much more enjoyable experience than the day trips I've been on before. As always, the scenery in Glendalough was stunning. I'm sure my photo's don't do any justice to it...

Here's the larger of the two lakes (Glendalough roughly translated means 'Valley of the Two Lakes'):



We started off from shortly before that, bypassing the tourist attraction of St. Kevin's monastery and it's Round Tower, and started off up a section of the Wicklow Way. Start time was around 9am, having left Dublin at 7.20am. Heading away from the Wicklow Way, and uphill, we aimed to ascend the first peak which was behind me when I took the next photo.




The first peak had a great view of the coast, and of the wind generators off of the Wicklow coastline. Unfortunately, being the top of the mountain, I was too tired and too cold to take the camera out of my bag to snap some photo's of it. Lying in among the rugged plantlife of the summit of the first peak.

We walked for a total of six hours before setting up camp. It had just started to rain for the night as we pitched tents beside one of the small streams carving their way through the valley. I'm not sure exactly how far away from the campsite the lads had last time we were, because vast swathes of forest had been taken down. It really was a shame to see the forest cut back like that. The beautiful landscape looked scarred with the grey path of clearings. And if that wasn't enough to make a Celt
cry, the muppets (presumably from Coillte) who had done the clearing had left oil barrels and all sorts of waste behind them.

From 4pm till 8am on Sunday morning the routine consisted of eating and keeping ourselves warm. Neil joined us at 10.30pm after doing some night navigation (the lunatic!). It took him about 2.5 hours to take a direct route to us from the carpark. We left the next morning under cover of fog to take a similar route back. Here's the view of the big lake from the opposite side from which we started:




By the time we reached the rocky path down along the lake, the new boots had gotten to my feet and I lagged behind somewhat. Twas a decent enough trip to have broken them in though. Got back to the house in time to have a shower and watch the match (Kerry vs Tyrone in the GAA final). Had a nice muscle soreness going on yesterday (and to a lesser extent) today. Looking forward to the next trip, although
that probably won't happen till February or March of next year...

...and that.

Rule Number Six: You don't have to be ruthless to get on in life, but it helps to know how to be ruthless at certain points.

Rule Number Three: Hospitality isn't about the place, it's about the people

Rule Number Four: There is no such thing as an 'average' human being. If you resign yourself to being 'average', mediocrity will result. So be something starting now!

Rule Number Five: Cherish moments of inner serenity, they are often short lived.