A network of 12 walking routes, called E-paths, spread out across Europe linking its extremities, crossing countries, cultures, languages and landscapes. They were devised by the European Ramblers Association and its member hiking organisations, beginning 50 years ago. Prior to the great Coronavirus pandemic I walked the length of the E4, 10,660 kilometres, 6,662 miles across 11 countries. It took me five years, walking it in four or five week stages. Having finished, basked in the glory of my success, written a book, I began wondering what to do next. For two years the Covid pandemic restricted me to shorter walks, mainly in the UK, but now the clouds of health restrictions are lifting it was time to start the next big project.
Although the Pacific Crest Trail in the USA looked attractive, last year I began suffering from a painful knee, a combination of arthritis and an old operation for an injury, not something that would get much better despite the exercises recommended by a physiotherapist. If it deteriorated, swelling up or accumulating excessive fluid, I would have to stop. Flying back from the states would be expensive so I looked to other European Routes. The E2 attracted my attention. Running from Galway to Nice, it passes through Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland. Should problems occur, returning to my home in the UK would not be too expensive, and the route covers varied scenery (and different types of food and drink). One possible downside was that the Irish section had not been defined, however there was an obvious route from the intended starting point in Galway, following established National Trails to Belfast, with just a few gaps. From Belfast a ferry could carry me to the British section of E2 which starts in Stranraer. Indeed I saw the lack of an official route for the E2 in Ireland as an opportunity as if the trails I selected were subsequently adopted, I would be among the first to walk it! As with the E4 I plan to walk the E2 in sections of four to six weeks. Although the British section was added in on 15 September 1999, opened by the president of the Long Distance Walkers Association, I suspect few people had walked its entire length. In Europe the E2 largely follows the GR5, an established and popular "Grande Randonnée". The last part of the GR5 between Switzerland and Nice is highly mountainous. With YouTube videos with titles such as "GR5....the trail broke me" I wondered if this section with its large ascents and descents would be too much for my knee. However, that would be a challenge for a few years time, the Irish section did not look too difficult apart from the mud and midges.
To avoid midges the advice was to walk across Ireland in April, before they were too numerous, so that is exactly my plan. Although Western Ireland is known for its rain, April also has relatively low rainfall compared with other months, and a good amount of sunshine ....on average. My route through Ireland would involve walking along the "Western Way", "Sligo Way", "Miner's Way", "Cavan Way" and the "Ulster Way", with just a few kilometres separating each trail. I will be using my GPS for navigation and managed to find gpx files for each of these trails on the internet, which defined my route. Having also installed an updated map of Great Britain and Ireland on my GPS, I was ready to go.
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