Having postponed these activations from the previous day due to an adverse wx forecast, I was keen to get out. I left Scarborough at 0505. The journey was perfect , travelling through the Dales in glorious sunshine. I just had to stop off at the Ribblehead viaduct for another photo, then through Horton-in-Ribblesdale and to my suggested starting point by the cattle grid near Dale Head Farm (SD 8426 7145) arriving at 0857 with almost 110 miles on the clock.
After my usual pre start refreshments, I left the car at 0857. The summit did look a bit daunting from the road and I remembered M1EYP’s account mentioning a scramble but as I got closer it didn’t look so bad, probably because I had lost sight of the summit. I made slow progress having stopped to talk a few snaps and I eventually, after a couple of small scrambles, arrived at the summit trig point at 1009. What a luxury to have two semi-circular seats to choose from and a convenient signpost to secure my fibre glass pole.
After setting up I managed a quick phone call to G4SSH and I was off on 7.032-cw bringing in G4SSH, G0NUP, PA0WDG, ON4CAP, G4WSX, F6CEL, F6CXJ, HB9AGH, EI2CL, DL8YR, F5PLC, DL3KUM, DL3JPN, OE7PHI, ON5QRP, OK2EC, DL2HWI & S2S with OK7CM/P. A qsy to 10.118-cw brought in zero, I just couldn’t get the swr down with the tuner. 145-fm brought in M0TUB, G1OHH, G4ZRP, G4RQJ, M3CTW, G6MZX, G4BLH, G4UXH, G0GNU, G0HRT, 2E0NVJ, M0ABT/MM, 2E0CRZ, M6AOS/P and MW3WZQ. I noticed that short skip around the UK wasn’t that good on 40m. This was my third of the Yorkshire Three Peaks and then as I wondered if I could do them all, approximately 24 miles within the 12 hours to complete the Three Peaks Challenge. As I wondered, out of the blue a fell runner appeared and announced he was hoping to complete his Three Peaks run in 5 and a quarter hours! Needless to say he didn’t hang around the summit for long. I left the summit at 1220 at a much more leisurely pace, I found it more awkward going down as my poles were sometimes catching on overhanging rocks. Just past the second buttress or crag, my rucksack adjustable ladder broke and this caused the whole bag to drop to my hip. Fortunately there wasn’t too far to go and I stopped frequently to carry out minor adjustments. I past a sort of pot hole near the Pennine Way junction, where three men were sliding down ropes, quite fascinating to watch, then I saw the yellow rescue helicopter hovering around Pen-y-ghent. I guessed that they were taking part in some sort of training exercise.
I arrived back at the car at 1323 then drove further along the same road to the Blishmire cattle grid (SD 8531 7233). Fortunately I had listened to the xyl who had suggested I took our daughters old rucksack (last used in 1998) as a spare. I reluctantly loaded everything into it and after coffee and sandwiches and put it on - it is bright pink! I set off at 1410 along the Pennine Way towards Fountains Fell. By now I was a little tired but progress was steady and I arrived at the summit cairn at 1512. Once again there was a convenient post to utilise for the affixing the mast. I had intermittent phone coverage but I did manage a call to G4SSH for a spot and I was off again on 7.032-cw bringing in G4SSH, G4WSX, PA0WDG, HB9BIN, DL6UNF, DL1FU, LA1ENA, DL7DAX, G3YMC, OK1FMG, DL3FT, DF5WA, DL8FL, S2S with LA8BCA/P, HB9AGO, DL8OK, DL2DXA, DJ5AV, G4WSX, MW0BBU, G6ICG, HB9AGH, S51ZG, OK1CZ, DL8YR, EA5YI, HB9AAQ, F5SQA, OE8SPW and F2LG. 145-fm brought in M3LCZ, 2E0NLG/P, G6ODU, G4OBK, 2E0EEY, MW3ZXQ, G1KLZ, G1OHH, G4UXH, G6NFR, 2E0GHQ, G1HAK and M6AOS. I left the summit at 1655 and had a most enjoyable walk back down with fantastic views of Pen-y-ghent.
Thanks to all the chasers that helped me get my second solo double activation.
73
Nick G4OOE