Hiking Brayhead, County Wicklow

This is looking up at Brayhead in County Wicklow. We went up for a hike on a leisurely Saturday this past weekend.

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It's a good day if there is no rain, so we took advantage of the weather while we had it. This has been the driest October in 20 years, so we've been out as much as we can.

.We paused mid-way up for a drink and some pictures.

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The hill side was covered with these yellow flower spiky thistle things. You can see the whole town of Bray in the background.

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Here is a picture of some flowers looking up at Karen.

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There was an odd, sort-of cocoa butter smell to these flowers. It was really an unexpected smell.

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It was a little breezy up top and we had to time our pictures carefully to keep other hikers out of the frame. Because it wasn't raining, there were a good number of people out for a hike.

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We're getting ready now for a cold and wet winter. These last few chances to get in good weather are valuable to us!

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We stopped at the top for a nice snack and warm barley tea. It was such a nice day.

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A couple last pictures from the top before heading down.

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There are not many trees left in Ireland. Ones this big are a rarity.

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This are the ruins of a house that was used to collect a tariff from travelers walking from Bray to Greystones.

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There's a stairway from the house going up toward the path that must connect the cliff walk to the summit of Brayhead. We'll have to go back and hike that sometime soon.