After a glorious week of weather, where I was super busy at work (yes, I do work 
), and didn’t go out at all; this week is rain rain rain - great buckets of it.
The radar forecast suggested going south would avoid the worst of it, so I decided upon the Ben Vorlich (GM/SS-008) and Stuc a’Chroin (GM/SS-010) pair. This would also be my first big trip in the new to me EV, supposedly up to 320 mile range - it said 333 when at 100%.
I parked up about 8am and the parking was virtually empty - not the case when I got back to the car. There was a slight drizzle, no breeze and very humid.
The route is pretty standard for these two Munros, with the only real option being what path you take up Stuc. It’s a steady uphill the whole way, and soon the drizzle turned to rain, which continued until nearly the top.
The top of Ben Vorlich isn’t that big, there is another cairn further along from the trig which offers nice views so could be hard to keep out the way. That, plus my desire to keep moving meant I just did 2m with HT and whip. In between calls the clouds did occasionally part and I’d get a glimpse of the views, and a small line of other walkers coming up.
Off to the next one. Thankfully the rain had stopped, although I arrived at the top in the cloud.
This time it was HF first. A bit slow and a mix of reports, but enough for 20 minutes of activity. As I swapped over to 2m, the clouds parted again and offered nice views of Ben Vorlich and the way I came.
Whilst my first CQ on 2m brought in a few callers, I struggled as my transmissions kept cutting out. I didn’t notice until the other side started talking over me, and suggesting my PTT needed pressing harder. It was only when I looked at the screen whilst transmitting that I realised the HT was powering off and on again. It had said 2/3 bars when I started, but it went to zero on Tx.
A few very abrupt, and intermittent (from my side) QSOs were made - I could say SS or 010 or 59 before it would restart. Definitely a test of patience for my chasers!
It’s a long walk back, and the side of Ben Vorlich is fairly boggy. Quite a few others were just starting out and heading up as I was nearly back at the road.
The roads back to the A9 were very flooded, and I had several 10 minutes of absolutely torrential rain. Where I realised I could’ve had a very wet walk! Arriving home with 15% remaining made me glad for the improved battery estimation of the car compared to the HT!
