47 A Walk in the Garden-Corriebracks Traditional Cache
47 A Walk in the Garden-Corriebracks
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Visit The Geocaching Ireland discussion
forum HERE
Visit The Geocaching Ireland
discussion
forum "_blank">HERE
Once, on the far blue hills,
Alone with the pine and the cloud, in those high still
places;
Alone with a whisper of ferns and a chuckle of rills,
And the peat-brown pools that mirrored the angels’
faces,
Pools that mirrored the wood-pigeon’s grey-blue
feather,
And all my thistledown dreams as they drifted along;
Once, oh, once, on the hills, thro’ the red-bloomed
heather
I followed an elfin song.
(Alfred Noyes)
This cache forms one five placed in a lovely area of West Wicklow,
between the small villages of Hollywood and Donard, that is
somewhat off the beaten hiking track. The areas approaching these
local caches and Donard itself boast a number of Ogham Stones,
Bullaun Stones, Mottes, Moated Sites, Holy Wells and Megalithic
Tombs so keep an eye on the OS maps for references to these while
in the area.
This and its neighbouring cache on Church Mountain form a most
pleasant walk on rolling hills and bog tracks from the parking
coordinates given. Of course you are free to approach any of these
caches from many other directions. The two should be completed in
under two hours from parking spot B which I used. Incidentally,
there are Standing Stones clearly seen close the the farmhouse at
Parking B.
The hike indicated above is about 8K long with a total ascent of
just 380m. Church Mountain is a little climb but Corriebracks is
really quite short and low. Some of the terrain is rough and boggy
but mostly on well defined stoney tracks and bog paths. We did it
on a beautiful Summer evening and the views of the distant
Blessington Lakes were superb. We also viewed a number of the
Wicklow mountains from angles that were completely new to us.
Parking A is outside land which appears to be private but there is
a road going through a gate to Parking B which we used. We parked
close to a farm house at Parking B which has room for one or two
cars and we asked at the farmhouse and they had no problem at all
with us and even showed us the best route to the mountain. From
Parking B you pass through a gate and follow the sandy stone track
through another two gates (please make sure to close!) till it
leaves the forestry and goes out on to open ground. The track
continues to a T junction (waypoint N53 03.042 W006 34.359). To the
right is Church Mountain and to the left is Corriebracks. Follow
the stoney track and your GPSr and the track will wind its way on
to Corriebracks where it fizzles out near the summit and you have
to pick your way across a short section of low peat banks to the
cache.
It is possible to reach all 5 local mountain caches in one hike
from this or the other end but be aware that it would be over 20K
in total with approx 800m of ascent in total. This would probably
take at least 6 hours. To do this you would have to do Church
Mountain first, then Corriebracks and on to the others as
required.
A much better plan would be to have a car at either end of the
mountains and simply zig zag to each cache along the way.
From Mountain Views:
Corriebracks Mountain Wicklow County Coire Breac A name in Irish
(Language) (Ir. Coire Breac [PNCW], 'speckled hollow') Height: 531
metres OS 1/50k Mapsheet: 56 for top Grid Ref: N96738 00268 Amend
Latitude: 53.044625 Longitude: -6.558385 ITM: 696666 700301
Prominence: 116m Isolation: 2.1km Rating graphic. Knocknaboley is
the name of a townland, though obviously it originally applied to a
hill, and indeed may have referred to the same peak as
Corriebracks. Corriebracks is the 392nd highest summit in
Ireland.
Do not start the trek without
all the proper mountain rain gear, waterproof boots and the
guidance material, compass, map, GPSr with mapping etc.
Please note that all parts of this cache are hiked at your own
risk. The cache owner takes no responsibility of any sort for any
reason including accidents or
mishaps.
Please be aware that cars parked
in areas close to walking trails are vulnerable and they can be
vandalised or stolen. Unfortunately this is an ongoing problem
which is extremely difficult to solve, so there is a risk involved.
I have heard recently that many hiker groups are parking at the
nearest population centres and getting taxis to and from the start
points at very little expense.
Please observe the country code to the best of your ability. Local
landowners often generously allow access to upland areas across or
through parts of their private property. Please, please be
conscious of this and return the courtesy by keeping all gates
closed, immediately and not on your way back!. Please use the gates
where appropriate but if you have to climb over them then use the
hinged side ONLY.
Please do not cause any damage of any sort to fences or barriers
along the way.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ghpxrq vagb ubyybj va fznyy crng onax.