OUTDOORS The Western Way – Oughterard to Maum

Entering Grizzly Adams country


Walking
Martin Dillane

Trail Surface: Bog tracks, quiet country roads and forest board walks
Difficulty: Easy but a long trek; bring food and water.
Distance:  24km
Highest point: 130m
Duration: hiking 6 to 8 hours
Dogs: No dogs allowed, as this walk goes through open farmland
Start: The trail begins in Oughterard at the newly erected Map Board beside the town playground
O/S maps 1:50000 numbers 45 and 38

Part 1
The Western Way – Oughterard to Maum

This month I am commencing on an epic trail that will eventually bring me from Oughterard in Co Galway all the way to Bonniconlon on the Sligo/Mayo border some 200 kilometres away. The trail is the Western Way, Ireland’s longest way-marked way. It is currently being upgraded with improved reroutes, clearer signage and 13 new map boards which, when complete, will all combine to improve the experience of recreational users. Logistically when doing the Western Way you must plan for some means of being collected when finishing each stage as it is a linear route as distinct from a looped walk. I recently bribed innocent work colleagues to accompany me for the trek, and so we left one car at Maum Bridge and all bundled into the second car and headed for the start in Oughterard.  
It was late May and changeable weather, but one thing that doesn’t change is the beauty of the Irish countryside at this time of year. Having quickly negotiated our way out of town we were soon walking along quiet country roads shaded in the dappled light breaking through the old oak and birch trees that line much of this part of the route. The whitethorn was particularly resplendent endowed in a coat of bright white blossoms filled with the sound of bees industriously working away collecting pollen.    
This initial part of the trail is all on road and we followed the Lough Corrib shoreline for some 12km heading north westward towards Maum. Lough Corrib is Ireland’s second largest lake at 176km², and in places it is up to 47m deep. The lake contains over 1,000 islands, one of which is Caislean-na-Circe between Maum and Doon, which by now is clearly visible from the viewing platform at Doon Rock. This island is where GrΡinne Uaile’s husband, Donal an Cogadh (Donal of the battles) lived for a time in the 16th century.
The castle still stands defiant to this day, but disappears from view as you cross the footbridge and enter the forestry plantation near Derryherbert. This is the point where walkers along this route will experience a true sensation of remoteness for the first time.
This is the land of pine trees, waterfalls and gushing meadow streams. My colleagues and I  walk for some period of time, each lost in their own thoughts, along a meandering river covered in a profusion of water lilies with their yellow bulbs about to flower. For any child who grew up in the one channel land of the ’80s, this is Grizzly Adams country. At any moment I was expecting Mad Jack to appear from behind the trees with his team of pack mules, but instead we meet Pedro and MariΡ from Spain who ask us, why have the Irish kept the secret of the Western Way from the world?
We travelled onward on roughly 6km of boardwalk before exiting the forestry and meeting the R336, which brought us over the pass and down toward the finish at Maum. Then a well-earned rest and grub in Keane’s of Maum Bridge and Stage 1 complete. Stage 2, Maum to Leenane, bring it on!

Martin Dillane works for South West Mayo Development Company as Rural Recreation Officer. His job includes the design, development and promotion of walking and cycling trails. He can be contacted at living@mayonews.ie. Every month, he will cover a new  section of the 200km Western Way, which starts in Oughterard, Co Galway, and ends in Bonniconlon in north Mayo.