Annesley's Ice House Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A walk through the forest to the foot of Slieve Donard, in County Down. Some steep gradients, 3.5Km (round trip) by the shortest route.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, this forest was part of the Annesley Demesne. A summer lodge, the "Marine House" (now demolished) stood here, overlooking the town of Newcastle. Near the cache site, one of the best-preserved examples of a 19thC ice house can be seen. It is now in the care of the National Trust.
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Directions: From the centre of Newcastle, follow the one-way system to the traffic lights at South Promenade. Turn right, and immediately left, entering Donard Park (N54º12.314 W5º53.736) and park here.
There are two viable routes to the cache:
1) Follow the Glen River westwards towards the co-ordinates. NOTE: This route is steep and uneven, coming close to the unprotected river bank in several places. Unaccompanied children should not use this path.
2) Cut across the park to N54º12.259 W5º53.964 and take the winding but well-graded forest roads towards the cache.
There are several excellent viewpoints along this route, and another cache "Slipes and Bogies" is nearby.
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The forest is a stronghold of the Red Squirrel sciurus vulgaris. These increasingly rare creatures are wary of humans, and spend most of their time high in the tree canopy. If you are lucky (and quiet), you may catch a glimpse of one... Click the picture below for more information on red squirrels. 
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The cache is 224m asl, and a walk of more than two miles is involved, so stout footwear is advisable and the cache may not be suitable for young children. GPS reception is patchy in the denser parts of the forest, so keep a track of where you are, at all times.
Please take care on the open hillside, where temperatures will be several degrees lower than at sea level. Do not attempt the cache in low cloud, such that you can't see the upper treeline from the town centre.
In good weather, it is possible to limb higher on the mountain, and eventually reach a neighbouring cache: GCKAEZ at the summit of Slieve Donard.
Please respect the forest environment and wildlife, and avoid undue disturbance to either.
The cache is a 15x10cm plastic tab-lock box, containing GC.com goodies and other swap items.
The cache was adopted from wildlifewriter
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre na bireunatvat ebpx, arne gur ubyyl gerr. N erq fgbar uvqrf gur pnpur.