Oi, who turned the visibility off? More rain overnight. Now deciding whether to put boots on or waders. Just hope that our signals are not weak and watery.
73, Gerald G4OIG
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Maybe the pair of you should sneak over the border wearing balaclavas so the weather gods donāt know it is you.
A sledge would have been handy today to slid back down the slippery slopes. More tomorrow me thinks.
73 Neil
Weāve tried that but they unfortunately seem to be omniscient 
Yes it was somewhat squidgy today compared to the previous days when the ground was positively crunchy!
Yes so do we :-s Alerts are on, weāre going prepared for the worst but times are approx, and bands may be restricted if we get there at allā¦
73 de Paul G4MD
Weather held off today in fact this afternoon was positively pleasant on Spienne Mor - a very nice summit with fantastic views, well worth the 5km trek through bog and slime 
Radio conditions were very mixed, with much QSB. Particularly bad on 40m this afternoon, when at times it was difficult to tell whom I was actually working when :-s Apologies if anyone who thinks they worked me doesnāt appear in my log when I get it onā¦
73 de Paul G4MD
From M6BWA
Thanks for the S2S today from Arran SI-027. Hope you recover from the sunburn, we didnāt have this problem as we were in cloud for the last 250m of ascent and thus saw none of the views - but it didnāt actually rain. Both 2m fm (13 contacts) and 70cm fm (5 - including one in NI!) were doing well and I reached the Isle of Man and Maryport in Cumbria along with NI and GM.
Not identified an eagle yet but plenty of deer, cuckoos, waterfalls, primroses and bluebells and those wee flying things which werenāt supposed to have arrived yet!! Forecast for our last 3 days here is dire and we are discussing what (if anything) we fancy doing in the rain but we will try to alert. Sorry we couldnāt let anyone know about Holy Isle yesterday but we had to run for the ferry and then couldnāt find a decent signal on the island which is a magical place - especially as the rain just held off until we arrived back in Lamlash.
73 Viki M6BWA
We stayed at a lovely cottage (in fact weāre going to the same place in August!) just out of Salen on the Glen Aros to Dervaig road. GM/SI-167 was just a bit further along the same road, so it was an obvious target.
Tom Nam Fitheach was the only summit I managed to do during my stay on Mull, my XYL dropped me off and continued to Tobermory to take our boys for an ice cream and some retail therapy.
Unfortunately, Iād misread the map and I started off from the wrong cattle grid ending up on Crion LĆ rach instead of the intended summit. The forest was extremely hard work to get through and later it transpired that Iād picked up a deer tick (I actually found it when I was back home in Yorkshire!). Be aware of ticks - itās probably prime season!
In the end I found the summit but propagation was rubbish and the wind was so fierce that it snapped my pole 
. I taped up the broken pole section with some fabric plaster strip from my first aid kit. I made some contacts, but not many!
On my descent, I found a good clearing which lead all the way down to the road, I think it would also be the easiest way up. I ended up at the road by a dwelling - looking at the map, my map is marked āAchnacraigā where I think the dwelling is. If I recall correctly, the hill is fairly steep from the road, but the clearing is obvious and leads nicely up. The summit would then be across to the left at the point that the trees finish.
In my case, Iād agreed to meet my wife at the same place sheād dropped me off and as I wasnāt sure if sheād already driven past, I had to trudge along the road a fair way back to my starting point. My XYL hadnāt driven past yet!
Would be nice to get a SOTA complete - Iāll see what I can arrange!
73, GL
Colin
Sorry but weāve knocked this afternoonsā planned activation of GM/SI-167 on the head due to the somewhat āantisocialā weather 
Going soft I amā¦
Currently deliberating over tomorrowās plans, will post alerts later.
73 de Paul G4MD
Hi Colin,
Sounds like you had an āinterestingā time on GM/SI-167ā¦ well done on qualifying it in the face of adversity! There are several ways up this one described in the usual sources, weād alighted on your descent route as probably the best access so very glad to have another confirmation of itās suitability. Donāt know whether weāll get the chance to try it out this trip now though
Iāve caught three so far this trip the place is over-run with themā¦
Despite the ticks and the weather weāve had a great time, hope you enjoy your stay as much 
73 de Paul G4MD
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Really enjoyed my 500th SOTA Activation / 500th Unique summit this morning on Cruachan Min GM/SI-124 despite rain arriving at the end of the activation. Nothing much to see on the way up as visibility was around 50 metres, but the rain partially cleared the mist to allow me to get some photos looking back at the hill as we were making our descent.
Many thanks to Bruno HB9CBR/P for kicking off the activation with an S2S which made it extra special.
Many thanks to Paul for letting me take the āfirst activatedā spot.
73, Gerald G4OIG
P.S. Although not spotted, I did try 2m SSB/CW between 09:08 and 09:18 but nothing heardā¦ seems to be standard for this outing.
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Congratulations Gerald on achieving 500 activator uniques. Will you do Paul be activating the 2 remaining un-activated summits on Mull or will you be leaving these for another activator to give these 2 hills their first activation in the future?
Jimmy M0HGY
Hi Jimmy,
We have put alerts on for our last two summits on this trip. We will be activating SI-085 as it close to our accommodation, but will leave the other unactivated summit until another trip when we plan to do some other summits as well. Unfortunately the weather has limited what we have been able to do and virtually all the routes we planned have turned out to be somewhat longer on the ground.
Many thanks for the congratulations. It has been a little over 10 years since I started out in SOTAā¦ I doubt I will make another 500 summits. In theory it is possible, but will I still be able to get up the hills at the age of 74 - who knows?
73, Gerald G4OIG
Thanks to Paul for the persistence on ā167ā this morning, managed to get you through my local noise on 5MHz. You were stronger with me on 80m - but so were the continentals. I could hear you fine when they paused for breath, sadly that wasnāt often enough!
No problem Dave, thanks for sticking with it - making contacts is what itās all about
Sorry about the QRM on 80, the frequency was clear when I started but the continental stations came up with me towards the end of the activation.
Despite the QRM, 80m was a bit of a life saver - I subsequently spent 20 mins calling on 40 with no response whatsoever - couldnāt here a single G station on the band mind you.
73 de Paul G4MD
Well, thatās it for this trip - last summit activated and weāre packing up now ready for the long journey home tomorrow.
We had a target of 14 summits planned, and managed to do ten - a couple scuppered by the weather, and we also found that the ground conditions on some summits were a lot more severe than we had allowed for.
Just like to say a big thank you to all you chasers who have followed us round despite the poor propagation conditions - be assured that we are just as frustrated at not being able to make the contacts as you are :-s
Now planning the return with the eventual intention of āactivating all Mullā
73 de Paul G4MD
Yes, we achieved 10 summits out of the 14 planned. In hindsight, 12 would have been more realistic and that would depend upon excellent weather all the time. However we have had a couple of dire periods of heavy rain and high winds, so we are happy with 10.
One thing we found out on the summits on the southern part of the Island is that the ground is very awkward. Lots of Galloway-esk tussocks. Then there is the regular requirement to make detours to avoid boggy parts, rock outcrops and unbelievably deep slow running streams. The wildlife has been spectacular and the flora and fauna delightful. More on this when I get a report written.
Many thanks to all the chssers worked. Frans PA0INA and Mariusz SP9AMH worked me on all 10 summits and several others almost all summits. 2m was very limited as the Devon beacon was on holiday in Cornwall, but I had a nice couple of double S2S with Viki and Rod on Arran, even making it with Viki on 70cm FM both times.
73, Gerald G4OIG
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Hallo Gerald
At the beginning of august we will spend a few days on Mull.
Perhaps I can convince my wife for a nice walk to one of the Mull-summits.
Which one could you recomend us?
I am looking for one with an easy "lady-acces"
Thanks for some advice!
vy 73 de JĆ¼rg / HB9BAB
Hi Jurg,
I can recommend 'S Airde Beinn GM/SI-153 for an XYL friendly summit. My wife accompanied us on that one and enjoyed the walk. We ascended on the track from the ruin (boggy a short distance from the start) that goes around the right side of the hill near a wall. The ascent distance was around 1.85km. We descended the quick way - 1.2km. Parking is in a small lay-by next to a ruined house at grid NM475527. If your XYL is looking for a longer walk, you might try Carn Ban GM/SI-180, but we didnāt manage that one this trip. If you want more information on the hills we have activated this week, then drop me an email (QRZ.com).
73, Gerald G4OIG
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One not-so-delightful representative of the local fauna is the ticks 
Most of the summits seem to be crawling with the little blighters, and I consider myself fortunate to have only picked up three this week. Well three that Iāve found so farā¦
Have enjoyed following your adventures!
Gutted for you that the WX has not been very nice. I think you ought to be proud about putting 10 summits on the air during such dire conditions.
Yes, the wildlife is just simply amazing! I was watching an eagle whilst I was activating GM/SI-167 last April.
Another thing - the night sky is just fantastic isnāt it? The ISS happened to have to very good passes as I was there and it was superb to watch it in the complete darkness without light pollution.
Iām guessing that you will have been past this sign a few times!
Best eagle picture I got - theyāre a bit fast for the auto focus on my point-&-shoot!
Thanks for the reports, 73
Colin
Had a Goldie circle us on Beinn Bhuidhe GM/SI-106, but I was mid-QSO, so the only shots I got were at a greater distance. Heard birds of prey on several occasions, but only two birds actually seen.
Mull has more Cuckoos than a Swiss Clock factory. Heard at least one on every summit.
Thankfully I am tick free. Probably donāt like Nottinghamshire meatā¦ certainly the midges do like me, but they only appeared one morning.
73, Gerald G4OIG