G4YSS Activation Report G/NP-032 & G/NP-031 on 22-01-15
Draft-2
GX0OOO/P on:
G/NP-032 /2 Cracoe Fell
G/NP-031 /4 Birks Fell.
2m-FM only. QRO.
All times UTC.
G4YSS - unaccompanied.
Equipment:
Kenwood TM702-T; 25 Watt 2m/ 70cm Mobile.
One 6Ah Li-Po Battery.
Home-brew vertical J-Pole for 2m.
Two-section short aluminium mast.
Icom IC-E90 4 Band, 5W H/H in reserve.
Pack wt: 8.3kg (18.3 pounds) inc 250ml water.
INTRO:
Until recently, it has been a rather windy January which has put many UK activators off including myself; though I continue the daily 4.5 miles walk home from Scarborough in an attempt to keep fit. Again the WX in Scarborough has not been bad and we have had no snow whatsoever. Not so the Pennines unfortunately. Snow is all very nice but it makes driving hazardous and walking difficult which in turn cuts down the number of summits you can fit into the short days.
I was hoping to do the easiest summits first but they are only easy because of their high ASL access roads. NP15 from the 1,700 foot Coal Road; NP16 from 1,900 foot Cam Houses road; NP6 from Buttertubs Pass, NP10 and NP17 etc but these byways can easily be impassable after snowfall and can be hazardous at other times in the winter. Better to wait.
In winter, I am never really satisfied with two summits but at least it gets you home for tea, especially if HF is dispensed with.
EXECUTION:
I left Scarborough for the 84 mile drive at 06:16, arriving via York and Skipton, at Fell Lane, Cracoe by 08:27. Mine were the only tyre tracks up this roughly surfaced and snow covered lane but I managed to get all the way to the gate quite easily, though turning around was tricky. The vehicle can be left out of the way at SD 9828 5988 a distance gain of 500m from the main B6265 road.
While I was preparing, a young farmer turned up on a quad, enquiring if I was stuck in the verge. ‘I’m here to climb Cracoe Fell,’ said I. I suppose I do look a bit old for these antics these days and with slightly raised eyebrows he replied that the snow was quite deep on the lower slopes and would be still deeper up high. This made me think if the new snow shoes I had in the car boot that I’d bought last year but never used. We had a brief chat but I found his parting comment mildly discouraging, ‘I suppose they’ll find your car if you don’t come back!’ By 08:49 I was booted up with snowshoes strapped on and walking, though in a somewhat ungainly fashion, up the remainder of Fell Lane.
Route to NP32:
The upper part of Fell Lane gives way to the open fell via a second gate at SD 98713 59825. Today I cut through the sheep enclosure as its gate was open. A usually distinct path goes initially east from here but I couldn’t find it owing to snow cover which was 4 to 6 inches deep. A reed bed slowed me down significantly but after a couple of hundred metres the path, boggy in places, was located mainly by GPS and the fact that despite snow cover there was a distinct passage through the protruding reeds. The path continues via SD 98763 59815; SD 98974 59833 and SD 99258 59788 at which point it turns to a more agreeable southeast and begins to climb more steeply.
I’m not sure that I found it exactly today but under normal circumstances, the higher reaches of the path can be followed via SD 99302 59739 and SD 99331 59678 to a small cairn located at SD 99351 59621. After that it seems to peter out giving way to a series of gullies and grass tussocks (lurking menacingly under snow today) to the summit ridge at SD 99578 59146.
A ridge path then parallels the wall giving easy access to the obelisk at SD 99316 58839 but I didn’t continue there today. The going had been hard enough and it had taken me over an hour to climb this far through the snow, which in places was over a foot deep. The aneroid equipped GPS told me that I was well within the 25m activation zone so walking over to the snow-plastered wall, I erected the 2m-FM vertical in its top copings, removed the snowshoes and kicked a platform in the drift to sit down on.
CRACOE FELL, G/NP-032, 508m, 2pts, 09:50 to 10:49, Minus 1 Deg.C, 2 mph wind. Mist/ 50m viz. Lying snow 4 to 6 inches, powdery with drifts to 3 feet by walls. (LOC: IO84XA – WAB: SD09). Orange (EE) mobile phone coverage from all parts of the route.
145.350 FM - 10 QSO’s:
The preferred 145.400 channel was in use, so before calling on S20 I checked the apparently quiet frequency of 145.350. G4YER - David came straight back with a report of 59 from the well known amateur radio supplier Lamco in Barnsley. ‘Great’ I thought; my starter for ten from just a ‘QRL.’
A 145.500 CQ with 25 Watts to the half-wave vertical brought in G8VNW Nick, 5km to the north in Threshfield and just the man to know about local road conditions. Nick informed me that being a school bus route, the road to Litton would most likely be ploughed and gritted. With NP31 Birks Fell pencilled in for the PM activation, that news lifted my spirits. Nick also spotted me which helped a lot.
After Nick came G6HMN Ray near Colne; G4MYU Art at Briarfield (QTH at 650ft ASL; a friend of Ray’s and also knows G4BLH Mike); M0MDA Mick in Leeds; G6XBF Walt also in Leeds; G0HRT Rob in Southport; M6PXP Chris in Settle; G6LKB Dave in Ulverston and finally M3RDZ Roy in Burnley.
Incoming reports were in the range 54 to 59 with 52’s from Ray and Chris. At least two people told me that Mark was out mobile and trying to get in but sadly no amount of calling G0VOF/M resulted in a QSO. To me, he just wasn’t there and after all the trouble he apparently went to that was a shame.
Descent of NP32:
Thinking I would manage without on the way down, I tried to fasten the snowshoes to my rucksack. They were too big and unwieldy so I had no choice than to use them again. The walk back to the car along the identical route, apart from finding the early part of the path, took 36 minutes to 11:25 so they can’t have been too much of a problem.
Drive around to Litton:
The 11 mile drive took 30 minutes to 12:08 but I called at the garage near Threshfield for some supplies; in fact crisps to help restore the salt level after the strenuous climb. I looked at all the house roofs on the way through the village in case I should see G8VNW Nick’s antenna but he later told me it was in the loft. Nick turned out to be correct. The road around to Litton was completely free of snow and it looked so beyond that. However, he later pointed out that the council often plough as far as Halton Gill but no further.
NP31 ROUTE:
The route is via a well used Bridle Path which I had GPS marked in the past. Bear left onto the bridleway from the pub and through the farm yard, which was dirty underfoot today. At SD 9093 7411 leave the concrete farm road and go straight on through Gate 1. Going downhill on grass (losing about 7m) pass between walls to a slippery footbridge at SD 9114 7409 then up to Gate 2 at SD 91289 74064. Gate 3 is at SD 91455 73966. Continue to follow the path where it bends sharply left at SD 91707 73888. The next point is Gate 4 at SD 92041 74383. Gate 5 is set in the spine wall at SD 92450 74920 and it’s also well within the 25m zone.
Today I turned right to activate near the trig point and was greeted there by a noisy Red Grouse perched on the nearby cairn. Going left gets you to the summit stipulated in the SOTA database; a point more easily reached by starting at Redmire. Either way, the rules are met but now we have the WAB trig point award to consider and I was hoping to offer this one to Dave G6LKB.
The walk up took from 12:15 to 13:19 and was quite strenuous through snow, averaging 4 to 6 but 12 inches deep in places. I didn’t use the snow shoes on this hill but at least there was a bridleway and later a path to follow; if you could see evidence of it that is. One clue was in the many rabbit tracks. The animals were evidently regular users of ‘our’ paths and didn’t let snow cover stop them.
G/NP-031: BIRKS FELL, 610m, 4Pts, 13:19 to 14:14. 0 deg.C. 3 mph wind. Mist/ 50m viz. Lying snow 4 to 6 inches: 3 foot deep drifts along many parts of wall and more at the top gate. Orange (EE) mobile phone coverage (absent last time). LOC: IO84WE, WAB: SD97.
After some head scratching as to where the operating point might be, I stuck the mast and half-wave vertical in the small summit cairn a few metres from the trig point. I was half expecting a WAB enthusiast or two to call for a QSO towards the new WAB Trig Point award. Dave G6LKB had expressed interest when we exchanged from NP32 in the morning. The wall was probably less than 30m away from the trig but at its closest approach the snow drifts made it impossible to get close enough for it to act as a windbreak. Not that there was much wind but if there had been I would have had to accept exposure to it if the 30m WAB rule was to be upheld.
145.400 FM - 9 QSO`s:
In contrast to my last time on NP31, there was phone coverage so I asked Roy G4SSH for a spot. A call on S20 rapidly put Nick G8VNW in the log. ‘You made it to Litton then?’ The exchange was 58/ 53 to his loft G/P antenna in Threshfield, with my rig was set to 25 Watts.
Further QSO’s: G1OHH Sue in Lancaster; G6HMN Ray near Colne; M0XLT Kevin in Gargrave telling me that Yorkshire Dales 2m band activity has dramatically decreased in the past few years; G3PUO Les in Accrington IO83TS; G6XBF Walt - north Leeds; G0HRT Rob in Southport; M3RDZ Roy in Burnley and G6ODU Bob in Ormskirk. Incoming reports were 52 to 59 with a 45 from G0HRT. I didn’t hear Dave G6LKB chasing his trig point after all. I shouldn’t think he would be able to hear me in Ulverston from NP31 with NP4 Whernside blocking the path.
70.450 FM - Nil:
I asked Roy M3RDZ if he would like to try a 4m QSO but though I could hear him calling at around 57, he was getting nothing from my IC-E90 with 3 Watts to an extended 2m band rubber duck. I would have expected something. Our exchange on 2m, admittedly with more power and a better antenna, had been 59++ both ways. I tried a CQ afterwards but there was no answer. NP31 is not well known for 4m band QRP success.
Final descent:
It took 38 minutes to get back down to the car at the early time of 14:52. Very often I would have been up for a third activation at this point but not today. The going over snow had been quite tiring and I was unsure whether I could get to the top of Wharfedale and up to Bishopdale for NP9 Buckden Pike. Nick G8VNW hadn’t been too hopeful about getting past Halton Gill to give access to Fountains Fell either so I decided to call it a day at two summits.
The 86 mile drive home (15:02 to 17:23) was via Pateley Bridge, Ripon, A168, Sutton Bank where I gave a call on 145.400 in the hope Roy G4SSH might be on. For the second time today after calling on an empty channel (not S20) I was rewarded with a QSO. This time it was a difficult contact with G4IUF Mike in Harrogate but try as we may, he faded out before Helmsley.
Walking:
(NP32 to Obelisk & back: 270m (886ft) ascent, 4.5 km (2.8 miles)).
NP32 to 25m Zone today: 253m (830ft) ascent, 4 km (2.5 miles). 61U, 36D.
NP31: 371m ascent, 5.5 km (3.4 miles). 64U, 38D (Litton-Trig.)
Totals: 624m (2,047ft) ascent, 9.5 km (5.9 miles walked).
Distance driven: 181 miles.
QSO’s:
19 on 2m-FM.
0 on 4m-FM.
12 SOTA points.
Observations:
Despite 13 years of SOTA activating mainly in winter, this was my first experience of snow shoes. These QUECHUA INUIT 450 ones cost £51 inc P&P last year, which when you look at them seems a bit expensive. Nevertheless they are certainly at the lower end of he market.
Having no experience on which to base a judgement, I don’t really know but I would say that the snow was too light and powdery to justify snowshoes. Also, when I stepped in snow overlying a bog, they immediately picked up slush, increasing weight significantly. Perhaps the conclusion is not too dry and not too wet. On a narrow path you tend to tread on your own feet and on steep ground it can be more difficult than boots despite an adjuster which tilts the foot forward slightly.
Perhaps more benefit could be obtained when using them on frozen snow with a weak sandpaper finish crust like the stuff I remember having to put up with on NP’s, throughout March 2005 and on other occasions. Repeatedly breaking through this type of surface makes for exhausting walking to say nothing of a real danger of stress injury.
I didn’t use the snowshoes on the second summit and I can’t say I missed them. I sunk into the powdery snow and underlying grass with or without them but obviously to differing degrees. I found manoeuvring, for example to pass through a gate, very much more difficult with them on.
There were no other walkers on either summit or the approaches and trail had to be broken on both. Fortunately NP’s are relatively easy to activate because they can mostly be done singly which means few supplies need to be carried up, keeping pack weight low.
The WX was benign; around freezing, a light breeze but overcast and quite dull much of the time. Views were poor due to a mist which thickened very gradually with height. At the summits visibility had dropped to around 50m but this was different to low-cloud because of the lack of a well defined base.
It’s asking a lot to get contacts from west of the Pennines to these two fells. They are not that high and quite easterly. It does seem surprisingly easy to reach some areas however. Leeds, Barnsley, Southport, Lancaster, Burnley, Nelson etc. I was sorry not to work or even hear Mark G0VOF who could apparently hear me at his work QTH.
My son Phil, G0UUU managed to record some of the NP31 activation on a remote receiver in Nantwich. It was weak but I could hear myself working three or four stations. G3PUO Les was the only one of these who could be heard returning my overs.
Without much snow at valley levels, worry about road conditions turned out to be unfounded but walking through a depth of snow is significantly harder than on grass & rock. The use of 2m-FM and no HF balanced some of the hardship out but I suffered leg cramps after sitting to activate NP31. Walking around one’s home town is certainly beneficial but it doesn’t maintain your fitness for SOTA.
Arriving home in time for tea was a real pleasure but care must be taken with routes at rush hour. It’s best to avoid the York Bypass.
Well, that’s another two knocked off. 10 down - 14 to go.
Thanks to ALL STATIONS WORKED; for the friendly conversations and to the spotters: G8VNW and G4SSH. Let’s hope some of the snow melts soon.
73, John G4YSS.
(Using GX0OOO/P; Scarborough Special Events Group Club Call)
Fell G/NP-032 - View from footpath nr top of Fell Lane
