Ulster's First (Redux) Ulster, Ireland
By sgtzara on 12-Sep-13. Waypoint GC4N6Y4

I was quite excited to get a chance to do a cache with such history behind it and tramped up to the coordinates full of hope. As it turns out I did see the box (just) but was unable to get it out of its hiding place. I think it may have slipped down a lot further than planned or a rabbit has taken off with it.

Something of a mission. Dig deep is accurate!

12 hours door-to-door today. It started with an alarm at the usual work-time of 615am, leaving at 655 with my first target being Castlebellingham North for coffee/cake! Lady Dixons Event was my aim for the day, but my one caching target was the incredibly rare Jasmer Date provided by Lukes Last Cache (GCKFBA). That was my first stop.... I'd passed the area so often but never made the trip in. I enjoyed a lovely 2km walk along the Lagan towpath before making a few DNFs on some other local stuff. Any other plans I had made went out the window as I went to Willis Lake, then parked at Shaws Bridge for an interesting ramble through Clement Wilson Park and along the canal all the way to the edge of Belvoir forest at Ulsters First. Shaws Bridge cache was my last hit on this stage... I relocated to Sainsburys at Forestside, nabbing a nano nearby, and after spending too much money on stuff for both myself and the folks in Cork, I did one more cache... a Church Micro, before heading to Lady Dixons Musical Event. The music was far away but a nice background, and thank goodness we had the cover as the heavens finally opened. I'd come up early in the day to get the best of the weather and true to form, the Short Term Forecast was right as at precisely 3pm the weather turned for the worse. We all had a great chat... I met folks old and new, discovered one of the first trackables in Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed myself for a good hour. After the group disbanded, I turned for home with no plans for rain-time caching... but couldn't resist a drive-by and a Church Micro on the way. Or a Double Whopper at Castlebellingham South, which is repeating on me as I write this. Arrived home at 655. PM this time. 12 hours door to door, 384km on the clock... 13 finds plus one event.

Now I couldn't resist this, now could I? Only a few hundred meters from where I was? Turned into a bit of a challenge this. I wandered over to GZ which is now the only standing tree in a big sea of devastation and couldn't find the cache. A few recent logs were read and I tried to reach in... not a hope! Put on the ole mobile phone flashlight and stuck it inside... spotting the cache well down inside. More than an arms length by far. I set-to looking for a suitable stick, finding one just left there. Wonder who could have put that there, eh? It proved its worth, and after a good few minutes of faffing, nudging and accidentally pushing it deeper, the cache was in hand. Delighted to sign this one today... the "Brucey Bonus" as these have tended to be called recently.

Popped the cache back just as deep as I'd found it and left the stick where it was. You'll know it when you see it. Its now the Ulsters First Calibrated Extraction Device (UFCED). TFTC!

Dig deep! Find a big stick to help

Continuing on from the multi I headed for this one. I stayed on the track until about 70m from GZ and then swung a hard left on the obvious trail. Most of the trees in the vicinity of GZ have been felled, I presume in response to the infection that has taken hold in the woods.

I had to use some forest materials to reach and retrieve the container which is a good distance in. Replace as found so dig deep.

TNLN TFTC