Background
The cache has been placed on one of my favourite short circular
walks in the western mournes. The complete round trip should take
no more than two hours walking time, but allow a lot longer, on a
fine day, to soak in the atmosphere and views. Pierces Castle is
not a man made structure but an outcrop of granite overlooking the
Rocky Water valley with spectacular views out over Hilltown and
beyond.
Safety
Please remember that this is an upland walk, so equip and prepare
correctly. The weather in the Mournes is prone to changing very
quickly so ensure you have boots, water proofs, map, compass and
never rely on your GPS as your sole means of navigation in this
type of landscape.
Outward Journey
You should plan to start your walk from Letriem Lodge car park, not
suitable for cars higher than 2 meters i.e. motorhomes. Leave the
car park by the obvious path, down to the gate and out onto the
open hillside. Here you will find a cart track which will take you
most of the way to the cache. After 300m bear left at the ford and
keep to the main path as it winds its way up the hill for the next
2Km. As you approach Pierces Castle remain on the path until you
reach flat ground, the shortcut across the valley will not save you
time in the long run, honest. Once up at Castle Bog take a little
time out of your journey to explore the bog, once a major source of
turf (peat) for the local community.
The Cache
For the next section you are on your own – the GPS should bring you
to the cache with little problems. When I placed the cache I could
make my way from castle bog up to the cache site by a series of
sheep tracks. The cache is a standard sized tab-locked box,
complete with a few swaps. From the cache site it’s an easy
scramble up on to the top of Pierces Castle, but once there, beware
there are some steep drops from the summit.
Return Trip
If you are not comfortable walking in open country you should
return by the way you came up. Otherwise, head north for Tornamrock
and if you’re lucky you should find a series of sheep paths heading
in the correct direction. Once up onto the next ridge the path is
better defined and the going is quite easy to Tornamrock. On the
final stage, head down onto the saddle between Tornamrock and Rocky
Mountain where you should pick up a path, on the Rocky side of the
valley. It is now a straight forward walk back down the valley to
the car park.
Other Caches
When back at the ford why not head down the Rostrevor valley to
another nearby cache
GCN1Y9 - Plugs and Feathers by Wuthering.