Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => Meets, places, trips and reviews => Topic started by: Glenn B on September 30, 2013
-
As the weather forecast was to be good over the weekend we decided to head out to Annalong wood to test out some new gear and hopefully find Percy Bysshe cave..
My new cheap and cheerful cooking system which will be used in all forests from now on providing I will be lighting a camp fire a lot lighter and more compact than my usual trangia stove ;D ;D
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/10009217294_d2f0c64d06.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009217294/)
012 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009217294/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
Another bit of new kit for me the Vango Sherpa 60+10 ruc Main reason for this pack was size (always seem to carry more gear than I need) and the price was in my range £75
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7386/10009475493_ddf41f9818.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009475493/)
089 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009475493/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
Not a great start on this though its going back to the shop on Monday for a new one or my money back as its popped a seam already (bad times) but it was packed so I went ahead and took it with me anyway. >:( >:(
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5530/10009482963_50977243cc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009482963/)
090 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009482963/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
So that was that and off we went we parked the cars at Carrick plant £5 for an overnight stay and headed up the Annalong track destination hotel Annalong..
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/10009223764_5c0012d9d3.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009223764/)
017 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009223764/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2845/10009278035_740bcc0f4f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009278035/)
016 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009278035/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
The weather was great not to much wind and a nice temp you wouldn't have thought we were coming to the end of September at all. Its a nice easy dander up to the campsite and about 35-40mins see's you up there. It was tents pitched and straight into wood cutting and gathering for the night we got straight into this as we had planned to go for a wee explore on up the track to try and find Percy Bysshe cave (second time around)
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2813/10009352766_2d2f43b739.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009352766/)
047 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009352766/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/10009358496_7366e2b23b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009358496/)
048 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009358496/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
We knew the rough location of the cave that is we knew it was up there somewhere so off we went stopping and taking in the views along the way.
On up the track it splits and heads off up towards Cove it was here we got chatting to a couple who told us that if we found the "Diving Board" a large overhanging slab of rock then al we had to do was head left and up and we would find the cave entrance.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3825/10009365303_5ee56ae191.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009365303/)
020 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009365303/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
Found it and next the cave. Its quite a small entrance but gets a lot bigger as soon as you get in..
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5453/10009379643_88443c677a.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009379643/)
029 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009379643/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/10009348875_5982e0e1c9.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009348875/)
031 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009348875/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/10009358883_3e48876754.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009358883/)
026 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009358883/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7307/10009229724_9ff3e1469a.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009229724/)
024 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009229724/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
A few more pics outside the cave of some of the rock formations and the views from our vantage point..
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3825/10009416833_de001e5f88.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009416833/)
036 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009416833/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/10009263514_caf5249596.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009263514/)
040 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009263514/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3824/10009371116_a4de65c988.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009371116/)
034 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009371116/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
By now it was getting near dinner time so it was a quick hop back down to the campsite to get the fire going and get a bite to eat and maybe even a wee drink or two..
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7434/10009276314_5f53feb98d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009276314/)
054 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009276314/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/10009392243_3c85b20730.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009392243/)
069 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/92173554@N04/10009392243/) by Glenn B119 (http://www.flickr.com/people/92173554@N04/), on Flickr
All in all a great day we were really pleased that we found the cave it only a quick scoot up from the campsite and if you walk on over you will come across a wee lake also a great way to put in an hour or so with the kids. The weather held up well with only a couple of light showers later on in the night so it was up with a tarp and no worries at all.. nice to stay dry when your having a few we talked late into the small hours and all had a good lie on in the morning.. A great wee trip.....
Glenn.
-
Great write up Glenn,thanks for sharing
-
Brilliant Glenn. Looks like a top night. Can't beat a grill for fire cooking either, makes life much easier. Even if you're not cooking meat directly on it you can still use it to keep pots much more stable.
I've never managed to make it to Percy Bysshe caves yet, only Cove. Were they hard to find?
-
Hi Glenn, looks like you picked the weather for it, thanks for the write up.
Did you go far into the cave, theres three chambers in it, when you go into the first section you climb up to your right and that leads on to the next section.
RB.
-
Brilliant Glenn. Looks like a top night. Can't beat a grill for fire cooking either, makes life much easier. Even if you're not cooking meat directly on it you can still use it to keep pots much more stable.
I've never managed to make it to Percy Bysshe caves yet, only Cove. Were they hard to find?
No RedLeader its handy enough to find you just need to head up to the top rock face as you look at it from the main path, once you are at the bottom of the rock face stay left and you will find the diving board, keep going left and up when you can and the cave sits at the bottom of a large internal corner once you're up there you can't miss it. If I had of thought I should have taken a wee photie from the path and marked its location but as I say left then up after the diving board.....
-
Hi Glenn, looks like you picked the weather for it, thanks for the write up.
Did you go far into the cave, theres three chambers in it, when you go into the first section you climb up to your right and that leads on to the next section.
RB.
Hi Rumblebum yeah we made it into the second chamber but it was heads only for a wee look maybe climb in next time if we are feelinga bit braver lol... :o :o
-
And once again the owner of another new Vango Sherpa lets see how this one goes ;D ;D
-
This excellent writeup has been immortalized for all time in the NI-Wild Blog.
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/blog/2013/10/new-gear-and-finding-percy-bysshe-cave/
Please give it a share on Facebook / Twitter or your social media network of choice so as a wide an audience as possible can appreciate it's genius!
Anyone can get their musings into the blog, just post something interesting on NI-Wild with at least some text and if possible, pictures and the blog fairy will do the rest. Anything is admissible - trip reports, advice and gear reviews are especially welcome.
Please contact if you would like any changes or a login for the Blog