Safe Spaces Virtual Tour Field Note: Spinc Trail Glendalough National Park – (High Intensity) 1,650 feet

Safe Spaces Virtual Tour Field Note

Place: Glendalough National Park – Spinc Trail (High Intensity)

Date: June 10, 2026

By Troy Alan Cox

The highest point of the White Spinc Trail reaches approximately 1,650 feet (500 meters) above sea level.

One-sentence first impression:

Although listed as a medium-intensity hike, I didn't know whose definition of "medium" they were using. Medium for a Billy goat, not my medium.

It was a wonderful walk at a moderate incline up to the waterfall, and my body was enjoying the shade of the trees. By the time I reached the first summit, it was screaming at me, "What have you done?"

After passing the waterfall, the white trail turned to the right through a metal sheep gate, up a steeper incline, leaving the woods to a second metal gate. After another steeper climb there was a small plateau. You can stop here and see the Upper Lake to your right and the ensuing valley toward the monastic village. This is a great place to turn around and head back down for a shorter experience.

If one continues, the path mostly stays level across the cliff edge with woods on the left and the valley on the right. The path is wide and feels safe. Then suddenly the trail climbs vertically to the top of another peak at approximately a 45-degree angle. Here begins what is considered a boardwalk. However, that term is not defined the same way in America. This mountaintop boardwalk consists of a one-way, wobbly walkway made from metal-studded timber sleepers (what we would commonly call railroad ties). This is where the entire trek becomes an endless endurance test.

The silence of a mountaintop is at one moment breathtaking and solemn and, at another, frightening because of the solitude. The midday light was crisp and bright, making the greens of the grass and trees seem almost luminescent. A soft breeze felt cooling and comforting but was usually followed by a large, unsteadying gust. The smells mixed between boggy earth, muddy hints, greenery, and fear.

For myself, nothing felt safe. My misinterpretation of the terms "boardwalk" and "moderate" caused me to misunderstand the challenge of what lay ahead. I have an extreme fear of heights that I've tried to overcome before, but walking on metal-covered timber sleepers approximately 24 inches wide with other hikers trying to pass and only bog beside me to step into caused me to trigger into a panic attack.

The illusion that the trail was finally going to begin descending, only to discover another 45-degree incline ahead, caused enormous stress. At one section of the balancing act across the timber sleepers, with people coming behind me, I had to step off onto the ground and curl into a ball as I trembled and went into a full-blown panic attack. I hugged my knees into my chest, tucked my head between them, occasionally blowing my running nose into my handkerchief while trying to remember my yoga breathing as the occasional pair of hiking boots tiptoed past me at eye level. No one asked if I was okay, which somehow made it worse. I was too far to turn around and couldn't face walking back past some of the cliffs again.

Tight, constrictive, and stressful spaces need a retreat or designated safe place for a triggered person to recover if they become overwhelmed.

After completing the four-hour circuit, which I've lovingly renamed the "Glendalough Sphincter Circle," I felt a mixture of extreme accomplishment accompanied by extreme pain and physical exhaustion.

If a designed space or highly triggering environment, such as a heavy-traffic area, is known to be overstimulating, it should incorporate a well-marked escape route or a nearby neurologically calming refuge.

The only thing that made me feel safe was that I was wearing heavy-duty ankle-support hiking boots with proper hiking socks. Had I accidentally completed the Sphincter Circle in trainers, I would probably still be sitting on the mountain or at the hospital with a broken ankle. The descent travels through some of the rockiest, harshest, and least foot-friendly terrain I have ever hiked, and I'm an experienced hiker.

An actual boardwalk—which to me means wide, flat wooden planks rather than narrow timber sleepers—or making the entire timber walkway as wide as the few wider sections would have made me feel much safer. Some hikers were also very rude and unwilling to move aside, meaning every time I had to step down into the mud to let them pass, except for one individual.

I would never recommend this trail for highly sensitive or neurologically challenged individuals.

Unless photography is your mission or you are a highly experienced mountain hiker, I would choose one of the many other beautiful walks in Glendalough instead.

— Troy Cox

The Safe Spaces Project

Utilizing Heritage Refuge Design

Heritage Refuge Design identifies spaces where historic materials, preserved craftsmanship, protective massing, natural light, and elevated spatial separation create a felt sense of continuity, shelter, and nervous-system safety.

Heritage Refuge Design

Old bones. Warm materials. Protective elevation. Restored history. Sanctuary for the nervous system.