Leaving Dingle for Conor Pass was a bit nerve-wracking. It’s Ireland’s highest mountain pass and I knew it was going to be one tight and twisty turn after another. I admit I’d lost some confidence over the round-a-bout incident and I’d built this Pass up to be a death-defying feat like none I’d faced to date.

With Paul’s gentle encouragement from the day before still whispering persistently in my ear, I set off for the Pass. He was right…of course…I needed to push on and not allow myself to give in to the momentary desire to park the bike for a few days. Conor Pass was gorgeous, twisty, and the very reason I chose a motorbike as my mode of transportation in Ireland! I’d only been on the road for about 10 minutes when I found that strength again and no longer feared the twists, turns and narrow bends I’d dreamed of while I planned this trip.

The view from the top of Conor Pass before I started my descent (the real glory of this ride)

Check out this video from Eugene Murphy to see what I had the pleasure of experiencing on a very sunny day! Yet again I was too caught up in what I was feeling to remember to turn on my helmet cam!

I’m posting this about three weeks after I was on that pass and listening to Ralph McTell sing Clare to Here puts a ginormous lump in my throat. I miss you Ireland and can’t wait to see you again!

After the Pass I enjoyed the ride down to Cloghane village and then on to Brandon Head viewing point.Riding to Brandon Head I was struck by my own sense of courage. I was DOING this!!! I cannot begin to describe the lack of faith I had for those few hours after the lorry passed within inches of me. To feel the wind upon my face again, to feel the joy in my heart as I rode along the coast, and to understand that I had pushed past my fear was exhilarating…it was…empowering!

When I reached Brandon Head and gazed out over the ocean, I felt peace. If you know me at all, you know that’s something I rarely used to take time out for…too many things to finish, too many things to think about. But not this day.

Naturally making friends where ever I may find myself, I learned from Michael how to identify dolphins! Although none were about that day, Michael explained how the gannet will hunt for fish. If you see several of them hunting together, it’s a sure sign dolphins are forcing fish to the surface thereby bringing in the gannets! I saw one or two here and there, but nothing like he described, so no dolphins for Deanna.

That’s ok because chatting with Deirdre about her hitch-hiking escapades from Toronto to Calgary when she was a young twenty-something girl was well worth the trip to Brandon Head!

This was the tale of the Pass…read on for Ferries and Panic :)