Mt. Arroo Traditional Cache

In Connacht, north of Sligo (Sligeach), near the village of Kinlough (Cionn Locha) at Lough Melvin the Mount Arroo is situated.
It is not as famous as the nearby Ben Bulben (Binn Ghulbain) or the Knocknarea (Cnoc na Rí), in some physical maps you will not even find the name, but it is really worth to visit and to climb on it.

Mt. Arroo lies in the northernmost part of the Dartry Mountains and so you got a fantastic view to the Donegal (Dún na nGall) County, the Atlantic Ocean and the rest of the countryside north of Sligo.
It was formed, like the Ben Bulben, during the last Ice age when glaciers sliped over a big large ridge and cut it to the formations and single mountains you can find now. The northern side ist characterized by heigh precipices, where you can see lost of cascades after heavy rain, whereas the south consists of wavy marchlands. The steeper sides are composed of large amounts of Dartry limestone on top of smaller amounts of Glencar limestone. The smoother sides are composed of shale. These rocks formed in the area approximately 320 million years ago. A small lake, Arroo Lough, is situated there a few hundred meters south of the cache.
You can find many rare arctic-alpine plants, wich were deposited in the time of the glaciers. The marchland mainly consists of turf with the typical heath fouling. At the upper parts, were the water could not retain, big areas are coverd with gras.
The mountain is inhabited by small birds, insects and wild hares. If you are really lucky you can discover sheeps, caged in the omnipresent fences, too. 

On the top of the mountain, at the height of 523 metres, is a landmark with a cairn next to it. Thats also the place where the cache is hidden. Please behave carefull. You do not need to move the whole pile, just one stone covers the container in the north-eastern corner, as you can see at a picture below. Put it back there after logging.

View from the mountain top to the north. You can see Lough Melvin in the foreground, Bundoran and Ballyshannon at the Atlantic Ocean on the left, Lough Erne on the right side and Donegal Mountains in the backround.

To find the cache container itself may not be the most difficult part, rather to get there is not that easy. The best way to get up on Mt. Arroo, is from the southwest or from the souteast side. There is no street, no path or other track you can use to move on. By car you can get near the mountain, by ATV maybe a few meters up, then you have to use your feet. The award is that no one will disturb you up there.
I recommend adequate footwear and remember to have additional clothing and equipment with you. The weather can change rapidly. It might be windy and or rainy.
If your are familiar with the place and trained it will take you at least about 1,5 hours one way, otherwise 2 hours or more. Plan carefully and especially if you only visiting, you should go on pairs.

- manholes and muddy trenches
- crumbly stones if you walk the north side
- steping near the precipices
- heavy and changing weather

If you successfully climbed up and found the cache, take your time to enjoy the view, the loneliness and tranquility.

Precipices on the northern side.	View from the top to Lough Arroo in the south.
Gras growing south of the mountian top.	Muddy marchlands on the south side.
The cache-container in the NE-corner of the cairn.