July 30: At Lock 18

When we got up in the morning at Lock 18, the water level was up about 5 inches. We felt it would be good to wait for it to come up a bit more before venturing out. It was a quiet spot, so we stayed when David and Lisa headed out.

We went for a nice long walk back to get a closer look at the Fairy Tree by Lock 17. Heading out, we waved to a father and sons sitting at the lock eating lunch before heading out to fish.

Lunch Before Fishing

We walked the mile back to Lock 17 and crossed over at the bridge to avoid traffic. The Fairy Tree was just beyond, and turned out to be a beautiful, huge beech tree.

The dogs couldn't resist the water when they found a place to swim.

A Good Day For a Swim

By the afternoon the level had only come up an inch or so, and I decided to call the next lock keeper to find out what the news was. He asked if the water was going over the lock gate yet, and I said no. He said it still had a ways to come up, so we decided to stay another night.

In the evening a group of teenagers came to swim at the lock. We listened to their hip-hop music punctuated by the splashes as they leapt into the lock. When they left, I went to make sure the sluice gates were where they ought to be. While I was doing that, the lock keeper from the day before came up and we chatted. He said that the water looked as good as it was going to get at this time of year, and that we should have gone before the water started going down again. I spent the rest of the night worrying that we would have problems.

Mink

While at lock 18, we had the pleasure one morning of watching two mink play along the bank of the canal. One was brownish black and the other albino. They were playful and agile, both in and out of the water, reminding me of otters. After a bit of research, I discovered that these were American mink, which populated Ireland after escaping fur farms back in the 50s. The American mink are known for being fairly adaptive and aggressive. They have taken to the canal system in Ireland, which provides all their habitat and dietary needs. They are known as somewhat of a pest, but are quite fun to watch.