The Cache
The cache is a small tablock box, it contains a log and pencil and a few swaps(not the pencil).
The best approach is to follow the forestry track from the turnstile at the back of the car park area.
Don’t waste this one on a bad day, the views from Craig-Na-Shoke, (Carraig na Seabhac - the rock of the hawk), locally known as Eagle's Rock, are worth the climb. A pair of binoculars and a map would add to the experience of the views. From here you can pick out one of my other caches and if you have the time or the energy why not give it a go Me Da's white stone GC2P72X
Underfoot its all forestry tracks, with the exception of the cache site as its on open mountain. Wear walking boots and suitable clothing for the weather conditions also bring light refreshments.
It’s no cache and dash. A very fit and experienced hillwalker could get to the cache site in 35 minutes, everyone else should allow an hour for the climb up, add to that whatever time you spend at the top taking in the views. It is possible to climb up the grassy side of the rock for more panoramic views, but you do this at your own risk. Please do not go climbing on the actual basalt rock face as the surface rock is quite loose in places.
This is a popular place to walk to, therefore I have hid the cache a short distance away from the foot of the rock which should be out of sight of most muggles, although please tuck the cache well in after you find it, Craig-Na-Shoke gets the worst of the weather.
A Bit Of History
Extract from the Ordnance Survey Memoirs Of Ireland 1836
"A large portion of Craignashoke fell on August 10th 1829. It alarmed the inhabitants of its neighbourhood and quaked the surface for a considerable distance round it."
This portion is the grass covered hummock at the foot of the rock. Atop this hummock is a good spot to sit and take your refeshment whilst enjoying the views.
Craig-Na-Shoke is the reputed site of the legendary local man Hudy McGuigan's attempt at flying.
"Hudy was one of a rare breed born many years before his time . His numerous and varied exploits show a great inventive genius, yet, in his day he was considered by some as a "Quater-Clift", (a half wit). His equipment for flying was very much in the experimental stage.....a large tail fan made from the wings of 24 geese and bound together by tough slivers of bog oak together with two half-doors strapped to his body was his sole gear. Small wonder when he tried to take off form a cliff top he plummeted to the ground among boulders..." (extract from The Life And Adventures of Hudy McGuigan, ISBN 0-9511759-8-X)
At the parking area there is a picnic table and also from here you can find Frostbitex's Hudy's Rest cache.
Hudy's Rest GC2P72X