The morning seems to be cold but then it turns out not to be too much, or at least that’s how it seemed to me.
As soon as I left Salas towards the SOTA it was already an alternative way to the Camino de Santiago, and after the village of Poles the roads are little traveled and with enough weeds.
As it could not be otherwise, I got lost and I think I have not taken the most comfortable way to the top although it seemed the most direct.
At the top, the sunny and windless day allowed a very comfortable activity even knowing that it is a qrp activity on a summit.
It has been posible to manage a total of 98 QSO with 2 S2S in 60 minutes.
The easy descent is done by commenting on the activity by the repeaters with the locals who have been pending during the ascent and the activity. And that without them the radio part would have been half as entertaining and a little more difficult.
98 QSO with 2 S2S in 60 minutes is a handsome reward considering you’re managing time walking between accommodation Juan. On a usdx gives QRP another endorsement.
The quality of photo’s are great. My girl is is southern Spain and hasn’t seen the sun in a week so lucky you!
Have you pre booked accommodation or are you taking chances with Albergues?
At the top there is easy assembly of the station and immediately a special visit arrives and is received with honors, just for the beginning of the activity.
The summit is NOT a SOTA, so the flag flies at half-mast while waiting to be included as a SOTA. Soon the pile-up is formed and we endure a light but incessant rain that wets little by little and I have to consider the context of the activity, be cold and abandon the hobby for the sake of the rest of the stage and the Camino.
The official Camino is soon resumed accompanied by rain, and the gray day leaves us a typical picture of the area through which we are passing, wet and changeable weather.
Lunch in Borres to say goodbye to the ham radio colleague who coincidentally, has accompanied me during these stages, but he has to return home as planned. The last 4km after lunch to the albergue is done under a shy sun that beats the rain for the first time in the day.
Tomorrow the stage is presented with expectations. It is known by the most experienced pilgrims as the star stage of all the Caminos, but it is not recommended to do it in bad weather. In return, a summit without activations awaits us to (EA1/AT-144), in case of success, make the stage an experience to remember for life.
Today is “the day after the Hospitales stage” and it’s only 20km but it’s a clear example of how things can go wrong. The day starts very cold and foggy but has a forrecast of sunshine in the early hours so I decide to wait for better temperatures to coincide with the activation time.
However, after reaching the beginning of the ascent to the summit I realize that I have left my hiking stick in the breakfast cafeteria in La Mesa, so I have to go back to get it (45 minutes delay + energy).
Upon reaching the summit, the weather suddenly changes to water-snow with clouds that together with the cold makes the activation dangerous.
Above activation start at 145,500 where two colleagues from Tineo @ea1cjq and @eb1asa are at the QRV for activation. The first changes in vhf work well but the weather is not good, even so I decide to start the setup for the HF and at the end the sun returns to give on the mountainside.
The rejoining of the road is after about 2km but it was easy. The whole stage is ahead of us and the weather is as changeable as the profile, where we find steep descents to the reservoir of Grandas de Salime and a steep ascent to the village.
Once in the city, a great meal and a rest allows us to go out for dinner in a better spirit to a wonderful place to meet with the rest of the pilgrims to discuss the stage.
In the ascent to the mountain range that divides Asturias from Galicia is the Alto de Piedras Apañadas and in the range that leads to the peak there is, again, a wind farm that surprises more the sound than walking among those giants.
As I advance along the path that runs along the wind farm, the summit is in sight, but of course, up there it is a hell of cold, wind and humidity. Where those giants are for a very simple reason, it is not pleasant for an insignificant human being.
The activation of EA1/LU-015 was foreseen after 3 hours from the beginning of the stage and it was more or less like that. Always with the help in 2m of @eb1asa and @ea1cjq in the distance.
The antenna installation is so horrible that I got 3.2 swr deserved on my part but I could not find a way to get the antenna more deployed and I was sheltered from the hut, and at the top there is little time for activation and then continue with the Camino stage.
Tomorrow for the “May the force be with you” we have the last stage and radio activation, before finishing this adventure of combining the Camino de Santiago with my new hobby, ham radio.
And, hopefully the force will be with me, because tomorrow the weather looks bad. I just hope that the E1/LU-033 SOTA can be activated.
This morning I tried to get a S2S with you from EA2/NV-189. it was difficult to work you with my tr(u)SDX, 40m was full of calls from other colleagues, but I was surprised to hear you and get the QSO!
Thanks a lot for your patience and waiting to complete the info. I was very glad!!
What a joy it gave me to get the QSO with the complete reference, of course it was worth all the patience and effort!
But you have also reflected here how you felt the release, the equipment you use, the (tr)usdx, situation and weather, maybe it is the best QSO of all the way!
Thank you very much for coming here to tell it
73!
One question! What happens if I realize that this activation was a SOTA with reference EA1/AT-162!?!? but I didn’t realize that day!
Can I upload the log with this reference?
Yes, you can replace the previous log upload with a corrected one.
First delete the previous upload. Then upload the new one. That will bring your log up to date. This is a powerful reminder of why it’s best to upload logs using files.
I walked the Camino Frances in 2019 just after turning 70. Don’t think I could do it now I’m much older.
Last stage, less kilometers than the previous one but, it seems that when you expect it to be more relaxed the road keeps you steady with something, today it has decided to wet us all with an intense rain early in the morning.
Climbing up the hill in that hurricane storm, the quiet melody and instrumentation of the Beatles’ song kept me focused, The long and winding road, came to mind. “I’ve seen that road before, It always leads me here”
The kilometers go by waiting to reach the SOTA activation EA1/LU-033, but this time they are the last ones also as a pilgrim, at least on this Camino. There is a part of me that doesn’t want it to arrive, I don’t know if it’s because of the rain that doesn’t seem to stop or because it means the end of the journey.
The summit this time does not differ more than 800 meters from the official route and I am used to worse climbs. In addition at the moment of mounting the station even some sunbeams seem to appear as if they wanted to accompany me to say goodbye.
This time there is not much time to spare as a farewell meal awaits me with the rest of my fellow pilgrims as many of us leave the next day for our daily duties. The activation only lasts 14 minutes, but it results in 24 interesting QSOs of which we could highlight:
once again to @EB1ASA the pirate of Tineo, the junkyard, attentive and close advisor all these stages of radio-pilgrim on his land. @EA2DT, my most successful hunter, Manuel. But coincidentally my first hunted, since in December 2023 he was the first correspondent with whom I made my first contact on HF. @EA4IZ Sergio with his podcast “QRP en la cima” that I like so much. @EA4DON and EA4DOS, SOTA activators of reference in Spain and whose warm wish to the pilgrim “Buen camino peregrino!” encouraged me more than those light rays of sunshine.
When I got home it was time to stop being a pilgrim, and start with a good washing machine for all the clothes. I wanted to wash everything so badly after all the rain I had during those 10 days that I made a big mistake.
I washed the most important thing of the pilgrim, the credential that certifies stage by stage the passage through the Camino. And it keeps with a simple stamp, memories of towns, churches, people and anecdotes. Although it was very deteriorated, with some stamps erased and others with the ink running, I was able to save it and stamp on them as a souvenir, each radio activation with those most important QSOs.
As you can see …first jump of the ocean (@W4GO), godfather-radio (@EA7RX), @EB1ASA, pilgrim ham radio @EA1FCX, summit to summit! (@HB9GUX and @IK6BAK), the most difficult and proud (@EA2BD)… the great chaser @EA2DT and many others!
Oh my God, your credential washed!!
Does it means you will need to do these stages again? Hi hi!
Thanks a lot, Juan, for sharing your interesting adventures here, mixing your pilgrimage, with long distance walks plus the solo summit activation is something very special.
Although the weather was bad, you showed determination to keep going. A real challenge!!
I’m very happy to see those SOTA stamps in the washed credential
It is very nice to find our S2S there, something I will remember as a relevant history of my ham experience, thanks for it!
AUnque la credencial este un poco arrugada, quiza refleja asi bien todo lo que has vivido y peleado en tu camino.
Un fuerte abrazo, deseando oirte desde otras referencias
73 Ignacio
but I didn’t realize that day!
