Errigal Multi-Cache

The Derryveagh Mountains are the major mountain range in County Donegal. They make up much of the landmass of Donegal, and are the area of Ireland with the lowest population density. They separate the coastal parts of Donegal such as Dungloe and Glenties from the inland centres such as Ballybofey and Letterkenny.

The Derrveagh Mountain range includes the Aghlas, Dooish, Slieve Snaght and of course Errigal. At 751m Errigal is the highest peak in Co. Donegal, the 2nd highest in Ulster and the 76th highest in Ireland.

Getting There

The best approach is from the R251 Churchill to Dunlewy road. The usual driving route is from Letterkenny vai Kilmacrennan and Termon but you can come from Letterkenny via Churchill also.

The best place to park is at the car park at N55°01.500 W8°05.389. If you walk along the R251 you will pick up a rough bog-track that will take you safely across Altan Farm towards the shores of Lough Altan. You can cut-off from this track towards the summit of Breaghy or continue on to Lough Altan and GCVOPT - "Altan Towers" before climbing to Breaghy.

It's worth bearing in mind that this is mountain terrain and that the weather is prone to change quite rapidly. It's advisable to come prepared for all eventualities with approriate walking and safety gear. Mobile phone reception in the area is quite poor so make sure someone knows where you will be and what time you expect to return.

This link will take you to a website that gives specialist mountain weather forecasts for Ireland and the UK. Please use it and plan ahead.

Combining this cache with Altan Towers will give a total distance of 11.5km. A GPSr track of this walk is available via email through my profile.

If you click the map below it will take you to a Mapquest map of the area.

Mapquest.com

The Cache

This is a 3 stage Multi-cache with the final cache located close to the summit of Errigal. The first two stages are on the smaller peaks, Breaghy and Mackoght close to Errigal.

The cache coords are for the Breaghy cache. Inside this cache there is a keyring with a playing card inside it. Use this keyring to calculate the coords for Mackoght. You will need to perform a similar calculation on Mackoght to determine the coords for the final Errigal cache.

Use this table to help in your calculations:

Stage 1 - Breaghy : To Find Mackoght Coords:

N 55^o 02.ABC W 008^o 05.XYZ

A = Face Value of N Card
B = 1st Letter of Suit - 3rd Letter of Suit
C = 2nd Letter of Suit - 3rd Letter of Suit

X = Face Value of W Card
Y = 1st Letter of Suit
Z = 3rd Letter of Suit

Stage 2 - Mackoght: To Find Errigal Coords:

N 55^o 01.ABC W 008^o 06.XYZ

A = Face Value of N Card
B = 3rd Letter of Suit + 5th Letter of Suit
C = 3rd Letter of Suit

X = Face Value of W Card
Y = Face Value - 3rd Letter of Suit - 5th Letter of Suit
Z = 1st Letter of Suit + 3rd Letter of Suit - 2nd Letter of Suit

The caches on Breaghy and Errigal are small green containers that won't hold swaps. However, the container on Mackoght is a 1.4l tab-lock box and has loads of space for swaps. Errigal is a popular spot, especially in the summer and a large container would be too difficult to hide. Mackoght is much safer from muggles.

The log-book and FTF prize are inside the final cache on Errigal so you still need to find all 3 caches in order to log your find.

Good Luck and I hope you get good weather!

PLEASE ONLY TRADE UP OR EVEN.

TBs MOVE BETWEEN CACHES AND REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE PERSON THAT RELEASED THEM. I DO NOT COUNT THEM AS TRADE ITEMS.

IF YOU WISH TO TAKE SOMETHING FROM THIS CACHE PLEASE DON'T LEAVE A TB IN IT'S PLACE. THANK YOU.

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