2 days off work (and a pass from home) led to a trip to Snowdonia and the intention of gathering 33 points (an additional 11 was speculative at best).
Day 1 (7 March) - very heavy snow/rain and 50 mph winds caused me to abandon all hopes of a proper walk. Even the mountain goat sought shelter behind the hostel!
Day 2 - a window was forecast in the morning so I set off early up Snowdon. Good progress for the first hour and then I hit the snow line which slowed me down. The weather steadily deteriorated and started to snow shortly after 1000 (what happened to a clear morning? ). I turned round just short of the summit as there was no way I was going to stand there playing radio. By the time I got back to the car my outer clothing and rucksack were soaked. As the plan was to spend the night in the car in preparation for a further 2 smaller summits tomorrow I decided to return home early, enjoy a hot bath and a comfortable bed!
It was a good walk, but sadly no SOTA. Sorry I couldn’t delete my alerts due to a lack of connectivity. I think I earned the bonus points .
Hi Andy,
It’s that time of year!
Of course Tom is right “safety first”, but I’ve had three days this week where I planned to activate and had to cancel. It’s really annoying! In one case I actually reached the summit, got the antenna up at a lower height than normal but couldn’t physically stand (the winds were up to at least 85 km/h in the gusts). It’s a real pain after the effort of getting there to have to can the activation and drive home!
This week also “Null Punkte” for me as well.
The weather forecast over the next week includes torrential rain tomorrow, possibility of hurricanes on Sunday, snow back again with black ice on Monday and then mixed rain, sun and winds for the rest of the week!
73 Ed.
I admire your decision to turn back Andy. I’ve just cancelled my alerts for 3 summits tomorrow, 60 to 70 mph winds are forecast in the Lake District early doors. I’ve spent a number of hours today repairing gear, charging batteries etc, but the sensible choice is to wait for another day.
). I turned round just short of the summit as there was no way I was going to stand there playing radio. By the time I got back to the car my outer clothing and rucksack were soaked. As the plan was to spend the night in the car in preparation for a further 2 smaller summits tomorrow I decided to return home early, enjoy a hot bath and a comfortable bed!
.