Hi All,
Gerald and myself will be in GM from Sunday 24th to Saturday 30th August, based in Inverness.
Unusually for us, we have decided to keep our itinerary flexible this time to allow for uncertainty in the weather, and will post alerts as far ahead as possible.
I will be using 80/60/40 as usual, and Gerald will be mainly on 10MHz, 18MHz and will try 144MHz where appropriate.
Looking forward to working as many of you as possible 
73 de Paul G4MD and Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4MD:
Save some summits for me. I`ll be up there in a couple of weeks if I survive the 471 mile drive each way.
In reply to G1INK:
Hi Steve,
I am sure will survive 
Will listen out.
Cheers
Mike
In reply to G4MD:
I hope you get better WX than me and better propagation. Although Iāve bagged 50% of my list. If you have Achility Tor on your list youāre brave people.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Will drive past within 1km of it but no plans to activate, however thinks may change. It sounds like a relentless scramble from the dam.
In reply to G1INK:
You canāt cross the dam anymoreā¦ dirty big iron gates and railings. All done in the name of health and safety. You have to come the long way round then scale the horrible ground. Itās no longer a smash and grab summit. 
I can recommend Cnoc Mor. Itās done all the time but should detract from how pleasant it is. I might snaffle it on my way home, heavens permitting. Mount Eagle is a doddle too, 2.5km walk, 40m ascent Points should be awarded for finding the trig rather than getting 4 QSOS Not sure about Hill of Nigg. Maybe on a nice day. But I feel itās a tick and forget summit.
Thereās plenty of NS summitsā¦ some are big long walks and proper climbs, some are big long walks and only 1pt and thereās everything in between. Some even have paths!
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Torr Achilty, do we have that listed, or is it under a different name?
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
GM/WS-342
In reply to G1INK:
Thatās the chap! I thought Achility Tor didnāt sound quite right
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G1INK:
Thanks, I`d forgotten where it was!
For something different I can recommend Ben Wyvis via an Cabar and the Glas Leathad Mor - a nice walk.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G1INK:
Hi Steve plenty for all up there! We chose Inverness because of the wide variety of summits on the doorstep. Everything from full-blown mountains for the good days to sheltered pimples for those so bad you wouldnāt even send your mother down the offlicenceā¦
Good luck with the journey, its 541 miles for Gerald!
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to MM0FMF:
Thanks Andy, Iāve been keeping an eye on what the weatherās been doing to you and you certainly seem to have drawn the short straw this time Great pity given the amount of planning and preparation that goes into these long-distance expeditions to parts exotic. Still you are in the most wonderful part of the country and I hope the glimpses between the storms have provided some compensation. And you have managed some mighty fine summits despite the poor hand the sky has dealt you!
Torr Achilty is on our B list - handy because itās close but too hard work to be a preferenceā¦
Hope you have a good day tomorrow
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to MM0FMF:
You canāt cross the dam any moreā¦
Quite right Andy. Plenty of advice on Hill-Bagging and other websites:
āParked near the quarry entrance at NH 45216 56605, then walked along the track. Just past the first house went though the gate and followed the path alongside the fence above the second house, then picked my way through the pleasant woodland up to the summit - good views all roundā.
It seems there has been a certain level of misinformation out there which has now been dispelled. As for any summit, it is worthwhile doing the research. I had to laugh at this comment:
āNot sure why so much swearing about this pretty wooded hill. If you accept the dam crossing is closed, start from the Contin end, avoid the blasted quarry, there is just a bit of sodden wet bracken and heatherā.
I guess what is a bit of bracken and heather to one person is an impenetrable jungle to another. 
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
I guess what is a bit of bracken and heather to one person is an
impenetrable jungle to another.
Tee hee, some people donāt find Galloway Ground hard going!
I think there was more annoyance with a right of way (the dam crossing) because closed off with no notice and the reason for the closure being best described as āa load of spheroidsā!
Andy
MM0FMF/p A9 near Dingwall
In reply to MM0FMF:
Andy
MM0FMF/p A9 near Dingwall
Not headed for Torr Achilty are youā¦ just round the corner 
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to G4MD:
No! Fort George to try to see some dolphins .Bit wet though.
Andy
MM0FMF/P
In reply to MM0FMF:
Hi Andy et al,
Sri for the interjection of CW on your SSB activation on NS-096 yesterday but your sigs were QSBāy like the proverbial yo-yo so I thought Iād take my chance when you were on a high in case I lost you later?
I was indeed out portable but just on one of my favourite circuit walks close to my home QTH - Kirkfieldbank/Bonnington Falls (then onwards via New Lanark back to Kirkfieldbank)) where sitting with my back against my usual mid-way rest/coffee break tree, I listened out for you using my HB1A + T1 and only about 3M of wire (thought I had a longer length in my T1 case - thatāll teach me! - hanging over a branch in the tree) loaded against the adjacent field fence wire (although the good āolā T1 tuned down to a āworkableā SWR although it was a bit pernickety ((hardly surprising try to make 3M work into 40M (:>)) so much so I had to add additional capacity/inductance? by holding the HB1A whilst trying to send to you with the paddle. A fine balancing act - hi! But great to have a contact with you - whilst out&about - though not S2S (;>(
And Gerald/Paul,
Great to see you are heading back up to GM again - Iāll be keeping and eye/ear out as to what you trying for - with a possible contact and even S2S though next week pretty busy with work commitments.
Lets hope the wx improves for you both though I usually find July/August is a bit ādodgyā in GM with September a better bet and even sometimes and āIndian Summerā though if such a phenomenon arises all you have to do is avoid any end of summer midge carrying bow & arrows (;>)
73
Jack(;>J
GM4COX
In reply to MM0FMF:
Fort George to try to see some dolphins .Bit wet though.
Ooo thatās nice! Hope it wasnāt too wet for them
In reply to GM4COX:
Thanks Jack, no expedition would be complete without a goodly number of contacts with yourself in the log! Weāre keeping it fairly flexible this time to give us a chance to work round any bad weather, but weāll try to alert as far ahead as possible.
May has served us well weatherwise in the past, but this year other personal commitments dictated the dates for our expedition. Better late than never though
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to G4MD:
Funny drive back, all the flat bits were dry and sunny (yes there are flat bits in Scotland), all the non-SOTA mountains were dry. But go anywhere near a SOTA summit and it persisted down. Almost like the weather knewā¦
Iām sure you boys know your parsnips from your onions when it comes to these expeditions but the ground is a little moist, can I suggest you bring some spare boots if you have them. Or a boot drying machine!
I didnāt see any dolphins. Lots of feathered birds I didnāt recogise. I didnāt know Fort George was a still an active army base. The platoons were on the ranges so the tranquility was pierced regularly by a shrill whistle blast followed by the sound of lots of SA80s getting fired.
If you looked towards the Kessock Bridge the WX was dire, look inland and it was sunny. Until you drove towards the sun of course.
Andy
MM0FMF