Planned to activate Pen y Fan (GW/SW-001) and Waun Rydd (GW/SW-004) on a Beacons round trip and a weather window over the weekend of 18th and 19th January 2025 gave the go ahead. I got the the Neuadd reservoir car park at 08:20 and it was almost full. Headed off to the reservoir and then up the steep
bank to Graig Fan Ddu and north east to the saddle joining the Beacons way. It had been clagged in all the way up with visibility about 40m but as I neared the saddle, it was getting lighter above and I popped out into an inversion with Corn Du and Pen y Fan visible in sunlight and blue skies above the cloud. I walked over Corn Du and onto Pen y Fan, setting up just south of the summit away from the crowd of people enjoying the scenery. 2m FM was buzzing and I rapidly worked 19 QSOs including two summit to summits. There was a bit of a lift on as I easily worked back to the Isle of Wight and into Staffordshire. Chilly but in the sun, just beautiful. Contacts dried after 35 minutes of activity and I headed down toward Crybin, skirting round the base to the saddle then up on to Fan y Big and followed the edge round Craig Cwmoer Gwm and Crain Cwarelli, the cloud threatening to lift with a few glimpses and as I walked along Bwlch y Ddywallt, the sun broke through and there were good views of PyF and Corn Du to the west – then, with the sun bright, looking north my shadow on the murk below produced vivid multiple
Brocken Spectres for the next kilometre or so. At the junction, I headed on up the diagonal path breaking through the murk again into bright sunshine, stopping just below the summit of Waun Rydd where weather erosion had created a perfect operating position in the bank and I set up the pole with a Slim Jim for 2m and a 40m dipole. It felt almost warn in the inversion. I listened across 40m but the AFS SSB contest was in full swing and there was simply no space so I moved back to 2m and worked a steady stream on FM augmented by a 70cm FM and 2m SSB contact.
By 15:03, my phone had keeled over and attempts to recharge from the small Li-Ion proved fruitless as the temperature was too low! Need to remember that one! Packed and at 15:20, continued the horseshoe along Graig fan Las and Craig y Fan Ddu down to the road and at the old Torpantau station, through the forestry back to the car park at 17:00 – just as it was getting dark. 20 points including the winter bonus plus the bonus of a cloud inversion and Brocken Spectres!
The day after, I headed out to Hay on Wye and then to Hay Bluff car park. Murky again. Walked up the increasingly steep path then zigzagged right avoiding the erosion closure to the trig point then south east to Llech y Lladron where the ground rises again. Atop this I came across Phil GW4HQB and Gillian MW0OVW operating on 40m in a deep Hoare frost. I set up 300m or more away from them, again using the 2m Slim Jim and the 40m dipole.
The FT817 sprang into life when the 40m antenna was connected but I opted for 2m initially and after one contact, it was dead so moved to 40m. My phone had, once again conked out but a few contacts on 40m brought a spot and things really took off and 20 contacts later and with temperatures well below freezing - no inversion here - I packed and headed back across the frozen ground to the trig point and down to the car.