Beinn Each GM/SS-034, Stuc a'Chroin GM/SS-010 and Ben Vorlich GM/SS-008

Activation Reports
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Monday the 3rd April was to be this big round of hills… however… Mrs VPM “reminded” me that she was away overnight, so I was in charge of the dogs. Hmmmm replan then!

So we went to Ben Cleuch GM/SS-059 - that was so nearly a wipe out - I’d left my boots at home so was reduced to 1000 mile old trainers - not ideal but it was a dry day so on we went. Managed my first 13cm QSO with Andrew @G4VFL who was out in the Pentlands close to my QTH.

To Friday the 7th then - the forecast, as Andy mentioned, was for good weather. Up at 5am and on the road to arrive at the start point at the south of Glen Ample, for what was going to be a lonnnng day. The start up the valley was a beautiful clear crisp morning.

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Called on 2m first since I’d managed to make a mess of that on Ben Cleuch by having flat battery and no means to transfer the antenna from HT to the 817… (I also forgot to change from 0.5watt output for driving the transverter for the first few QSOs on SSB on Ben Cleuch - well done if you worked me on Monday !)
Great response to the call on 2m and also on HF, I was packing up on the summit before anyone else appeared and that was to be the last time of having an empty summit all day.
It’s a decent walk to Stuc a’ Chroin, involving only 3km but with a lot of down and up in between.

I only worked 2m fm from here with a view to still having some time available for Vorlich.

That too involves a bit down and up to reach although only 2.5km lateral.

A good run on 2m and HF brought the radio day to a close. By this time the wind had picked up and the antenna pole, despite a lean of 45 degrees into the wind, needed guyed down in that position!! I’d seen a good number of people over the course of the day (by Scottish standards, only a tenth of what the Lake District would experience!) but that was thinning out by the time I was packing up.
Another brew up of tea and something to eat and it was time to head back.
Total outward distance was 9.5km and 1879m climb. Outdooractive (my usual mapping tool) only suggested retracing the route to get back to the car - “no thanks”. I dropped down into Glen Ample and basically walked it’s whole length to arrive at the car at 19:00utc

It was a long day… but the views!!!
Andy @MM0FMF has posted much better pictures than I have (sorry we never managed an S2S :slightly_frowning_face: ) but here are a couple from me.

View up Glen Ample

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Panorama from top of Beinn Each

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Stuc a’ Chroin en route from Beinn Each …

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Looking back to Stuc a’ Chroin from the summit of Ben Vorlich

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North from Vorlich

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Antenna at jaunty angle…

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Route taken on ascent - 9.5km
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QSO summary
Beinn Each
4 2m FM, 18 20m SSB (inc 3 S2S), 11 40 SSB

Stuc a’ Chroin
9 2m FM (1 S2S)

Ben Vorlich
3 2m FM, 2 15m SSB, 17 40m ssb (2 S2S)

Peter @GM0VEK chased me on them all - thanks!

QSOs - 65, metres climbed 1879, distance walked - lots, time spent - 12hrs, memories - priceless!

Alan

8 Likes
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That’s one hell of a day. It’s enough to walk the three never mind activate as well. I drove past Ardchullarie More on my way to Loch Voil and there were plenty of cars parked at 8.30 so you probably saw lots of people on your walk. It did look like all the walkers had spotted the good weather and were out to get a parking space early.

Glen Ample was good last May when I reactivated Beinn Each GM/SS-034 after a 14 year gap. I did look at the route out to Stuc a’Chroin from Beinn Each when I was there. It doesn’t look difficult just a bit of a trek.

Here’s my same view of Stuc a’Chroin as yours, but in May when the grass is growing. It’s amazing how much the colour changes!

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Shame on the no S2S. But without SOTAwatch it’s hard to organise these things. I did have the handy on 145.500 but it turns itself off after 30mins so I missed you calling. And I missed Gavin GM0GAV who was out doing Loony Bin ( Luinne Bheinn GM/WS-089) in Knoydart, I’m hoping there’ll be a report on that as well.

Fabulous day.

3 Likes
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I did it as a walk some years ago… like about 35… so the memory of the effort had fortunately faded - afair I just came back over the tops again.

It was indeed a fabulous day although my legs are a bit tender today … :laughing:

A

2 Likes
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Hmm, I have Beinn Each coupled with Sgaith a’ Chaise for an outing sometime. I would never have coupled it with the other two. That amount of ascent would just be tooooo much, so very well done on an excellent outing. I’m heap jealous of your abilities!

73, Gerald

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Beinn Each and Sgaith a’Chaise should be do-able. TBH I could not pick up the more northerly path shown to the summit of Each - possible that it was running water and I mistook it for a stream. Should be able to pick it up on the way down though. There is a signpost for the more southerly path, so suspect the other one isn’t used as much at present, hence harder to see.

The woods at the start have a few windfalls that require either a soggy detour or a limbo dance, much more amusing when your pack catches …

if the link works…panorama scrollable

Sgaith a’Chaise is above my right shoulder shadow and the corner of the block of forest helpfully points to the summit.

A

2 Likes
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I think the route between Beinn Each and Sgaith a’Chaise is what might be described as “de minimus” and may not be defined very well on the ground. The pair were part of our activation portfolio when Paul G4MD and myself were based at Stirling, primarily to bag some winter bonus points. However, for various reasons we chose other options and the pair have remained on the to-do list. Maybe one day. I suspect I will be activating Ben Vorlich and Stuc a’Chroin from the north before I get around to these two.

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The missing bridge at Arivurichardich on the Southern route is back. It was missing for maybe 10 years. Makes assorted Beinn Each / Stuc a’Chroin pairings from the South possible.

Nothing looks ‘de minimus’ about the ascent/descent between Sgiath a’Chaise and Beinn Each to me :wink:

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I meant the path in physical presence terms, not the up/down/effort required. I’ve experienced quite a few “between summit” routes that have made me wonder why the heck I bothered doing them as a pair. This looks like it could be one of them. :hushed:

1 Like