What a fantastic day and a great hill!
SOTAwise, not quite so great. I forgot my aerial mast, so was considering trying HF with the aerial just lying on the ground 
. 2m was a bit of a struggle, so sincere thanks who helped me get to 4!
Definitely a hill to return to (no Sighty Crag here)
And the hill was ? 
73’s
David
LD-023
Indeed, a knotty problem solved David 
I don’t know if anyone has tried the aerial flat on the ground? I didn’t have to resort to it in the end but it was close (my wife’s patience/resilience to the cold wind was wearing out).
Hi
Also liked the hill. Car parking at the end of Mosedale can be a challenge - took the (old) Defender but any “normal” car might have struggled!
… and the sun shined!
73
She looks as though she was enjoying her day out Paul! I managed to get parked at the top (NY327326), room for one car just before the bridge (4wd Volvo). I think it might have been a bit drier underfoot than your trip from the look of your first photo (though my wife managed to find a couple of mud holes 
).
The only drawbacks I can think of were no shelter from the wind and screened from some of the usual SOTA chasers on VHF. Otherwise, lovely - nice and quiet for the Lakes on a sunny Sunday!
Sorry to hear you forgot the pole Andy - it is so easy to forget something with the amount of stuff we need to carry for a successful activation, but glad you qualified Knott.
Without an aerial pole on Lamington Hill SS-172 in Scotland in 2017, this was the best I could do with two walking poles fastened together:
Height about 7 feet above ground I would say - 22 QSOs in 25 minutes from the KX2 and a low link dipole (no end feds for me!) … what would I have worked with the antenna on the ground is anybodys guess?
My log below , which even included some DX by working NE4TN
73 de Phil
I suppose I could have asked my wife to hold a walking pole up with the centre of the dipole aloft! I wonder how long she would have lasted 
I might try the ground based antenna one day just out of interest. Certainly covert.
An HF antenna lying on the ground will still radiate, although not as efficiently as an aerial mounted on a mast. Some countries have been known to use buried aerials for HF, in order to disguise them and the direction they point. If you bury them they are less efficient, and need a lot more power to have a similar effect as a mast mounted aerial.
So the moral is, give it a go.
By the way, your youngest looks quite keen in the photo.
73’s
David
Phil is right, it is easy to forget something - I’ve forgotten my pole once before now.
I make a check list so I don’t forget anything, but I find the list gets longer and longer .
73’s
David
