G4YSS:G/NP-010 Summit Camp-Finn & 6m UKAC,10/11-10-24

G4YSS: G/NP-010 Summit Camp & 6m Contest, 10 to 11-10-24
Issue-2 (added contest map)
(Pse. Rprt. Errors)

OVERNIGHTER on PEN-Y-GHENT for the UKAC 50 MHz Contest Evening & 160m
Summit camp from Thursday 10th to Friday 11th of October 2024
QRO on 20m-CW and 160m-CW
QRP on 6m-SSB & 2m-FM
Accompanied by Finn (Lurcher dog, aged five)

TIMES:
Non-radio: BST (UTC plus 1)
Radio ops: UTC (‘z’)

EQUIPMENT:
FT817ND Transceiver with CW toggle switch in mic.
Link dipole for 80-60-40-20m
Loading coils with slug tuning for 1.8 to 2.0 MHz at 40m link points
5m (4-section) home-brew CFC/ alloy mast with 1m end sticks
UV-5R, 5W FM dual band handheld in reserve (not used)
UV-3R, 2W FM dual band (&PMR-446) handheld ‘top pocket rig’ (not used)
Vertical J-Pole for 2m-FM on front tent pole

Batteries:
One Li-Po 11.1V, 5Ah (HRB-No7)
One Li-Po 11.1V, 2.2Ah (Turnigy-No5) not req’d

Other:
Garmin Geko 301 GPS No1
Lichfield Viper-2 Ridge tent with pre-attached pegs, poles
Inner tent with integral groundsheet
Mountain Equipment Nova-II, synthetic sleeping bag 1.2kg
Foam ¾ length mat
Petzl Zipka Headlamp

Finn (2/3 Saluki/ 1/3 Greyhound):
Waterproof fleece-lined coat
5m retractable lead
Illuminated collar
Child’s sleeping bag
Foam mat
Headlamp
Dog food, Water, Milk & Bowls
Bandage

Pack weight:
85 litre rucksack including 3.6 kg – mast, J-pole & tent tied to outside:
17.0kg (37.5 pounds) inc. 0.25 ltr ENO; 0.25 ltr Milk; 0.5 ltr Shandy & 1 ltr Water

INTRODUCTION:
Due to unfortunate circumstances that I won’t enter into here, I was not permitted to walk Finn from 31 January 2024. Things changed for the better in early September when I was allowed access once again; that was until the family moved to North Derbyshire a week after this expedition.

Due to this glitch, Finn missed out on the Buckden Pike camp-over in July so this expedition was for him before the Autumn gales arrive. First choice was Whernside NP4 but after studying the weather forecast I opted for Pen-y-Ghent because of better shielding from the walls and a walk-up from the sheltered side. Wind direction was predicted to be N to NW on Thursday and W to SW on the Friday with speeds in the range 15 to 30 mph.

There was a UKAC 6m band contest scheduled for Thursday evening and as is my want, I also planned to come up on Top Band. Alerts were posted accordingly. For 6m, I decided to use my HF link dipole set to the 20m band rather than lug my home-brew 3-ele which weighs over a kilo. I tried the latter from NP9 in 2023 and it was a bit heavy for the mast I used. I didn’t have the extra kit for the dog then.

I was quite shocked to find that my last sortie to NP10 was in 2016 but it did help with the planning checklist that it was an overnighter which brought in the New Year of 2017. Then I got almost blown away and snowed on but this time it was going to be mainly sunny and merely breezy. In fact quite a decent weather window for October. Nonetheless, taking the inner tent as well as the fly was an easy decision whereas in summer I normally rely solely on the latter.

Beside the usual problems of carrying a heavy pack with enough gear, not just to survive but do so in reasonable comfort, the only slight worry was the walk up the mountain’s eastern crags with a dog on a lead. Actually it wasn’t the climb that worried me but coming down the next day. I knew he’d cope very well with the terrain whether I gave him freedom or not but he’s a sight hound – a lurcher and no matter how well you think they’re trained, they do tend to have ideas of their own. So sadly he would have to be on a lead.

I would go as far as to say that you’d be lucky if you owned one of these dogs and could train it to anywhere near 70% confidence, especially in the recall department. A pocket full of tasty treats helps but it’s very far from a guarantee. I’m careful but given the opportunity, or when my guard’s down, this fellow will chase deer, rabbits, rats, squirrels and his favourite – hares. When this happens you can whistle and shout all you like but you might just as well be on Mars for the notice he takes.

He’s five now but when he was a pup he would go for motorbikes and once a post office van which he pursued across Irton Moor and much to the surprise of the our postman Keith who still talks about it, actually overtook it. So I was ‘winging it’ a bit with the mix. A headstrong energetic dog, a steep rocky path with minor scrambling and just an old chap like me to sort it all out while carrying a heavy pack. Fingers crossed.

Execution:
Driving away from Scarborough at 12:30, the 96 mile drive via A64, York, A59 and Malham took until 15:39. Why Malham I don’t know? It looks like a short cut on the map but it seems more tedious to drive. Blame the satnav but the views were breathtaking, especially Malham Cove.

York bypass and roadworks near Harrogate threw the initial spanners in the works and I had to turn back for a few miles and go around the latter. It was all very frustrating and a good job there was some slack in the schedule now that it’s starting to get dark early. On the way I worked what sounded like G1YPQ/M Karl but we soon lost each other.

There’s space for a few cars at the honesty box near Dale Head Farm (SD 8426 7145). £1- short stay and £2 - long stay and there’s a newly gravelled area a bit further down. The view of a cloud-free Pen-y-Ghent was encouraging. It was sunny too and quite warm. Suitably restrained, Finn sat on the verge while I got ready. Boots to put on, water to swallow, dashboard note to fill in, mast and tent to strap on the rucksack. Can’t afford to forget anything. `

A brisk start was quickly interrupted but I stashed the dog bag for later retrieval. By the time I got back the next day I had four to dispose of. Excitement knew no bounds when three rabbits were spotted down a 30-foot deep sink hole. Thank goodness for the lead; it was steep. He stood and stared for a while and wouldn’t budge.

I had clean forgotten about the wall, which had step-up stones protruding from both sides. Would I have to assist? No. He climbed it well, pausing at the top to check the ground ahead.

Next came the first scramble. ‘Wait for Grandad Finn’ but he was showing the same level of impatience to get to the top as my brain does. Sadly these days, my body just ambles along at its own pace, a long way behind. This time a little louder, ‘Wait for me Finn!’ Hitherto hidden from view, two lads suddenly appeared from above which was slightly embarrassing after all the shouting.

The second scramble is a bit harder. He just leapt up it to the full extent of his 5m lead, leaving me floundering on all fours with the heavy load threatening to take me off sideways. My mind fast-forwarded to the next morning and the much trickier process of getting down. Hopefully it wouldn’t get any windier. We met a few more people on their way down and me shouting at the dog again.

It was a relief when we reached the well-graded paved way to the summit. Here Finn became more of a help than a hindrance, pulling me along most of the way albeit stopping far too often for a roll in the grass or a sniff at something interesting. The ascent with the dog had taken 70 minutes which was 27 minutes longer than the 2016-17 solo New Year camp.

PEN-Y-GHENT, G/NP-010, 694m, 4pts. 17:22 on Thursday 10-10-24 to 09:24 on Friday 11-10-24. Temp: On arrival 15C. Overnight frost. NW wind of 5 mph dropping after dark then increasing in the early hours to 20mph SW. Clear skies with sunshine both days. Half-moon and aurora after dark. LOC: IO84VD. WAB: SD87. Trig: TP-5414. 100% reliable 1p-Mobile (EE) phone coverage (4G/5G).

QTH:
I settled for the same pitch as last time. A reasonably smooth patch of grass where the gradient is slight about 30 paces SW of the trig point and less than a metre east of the wall at SD 8384 7338. There are what look like quad tracks going along here but I rightly assumed the farmers wouldn’t be bothering me overnight. The dipole was set up over the tent and parallel with the wall. This spot is only a few metres from the main path but I assumed that after dark it wouldn’t matter. That assumption was wrong but we were out of the way at least.

I laid the sleeping mats down, unpacked the rucksack of radio kit and food, then after a little walk round the summit area and just beyond with Finn, I made him as comfortable as possible in his sleeping bag. Mine was left rolled up in the lower compartment for the time being. It’s something to lean on. To fill the time to the 6m contest at 8pm local, I elected for 20m.

14.061 CW – Nil:
At 17:50z, the first try on here was always going to be abortive. After a self spot and CQ’s I realised that the filter on the linear was set at 80m. However a later repeat spot and CQ’s with that problem corrected still produced nothing. The evidence was that all the CW ops had packed up for the evening.

14.265 SSB - 3 QSO’s:
Here was a better response to a self spot but still only three ops called in; all from Spain. I was relieved and grateful but not quite qualified yet. EA7GV Jose – Igijares 57/ 51; EA4GD Juan in Madrid 57/ 55 and EA7ANC Antonio - QTH Motril 59/ 55 were the interested parties. Power was 50W.

145.400 FM – 8 QSO’s:
The time saved on 20m left long enough for some 2m-FM but firstly we had something to eat. I’d alerted for 18:30z the day before and with just ten minutes to go, I launched a self-spot whilst simultaneously calling CQ on S20. ‘Listening SOTA on .400.’ Little did I know that the Fylde Radio Club net would shortly be on this frequency as they always are on Thursday evenings between 7pm and 8pm local. Of course I only found this out later but will try to remember in future; should there be a ‘future.’ The club had to use .425 so I hope everybody found each other. The channel was clear when I started but nevertheless - apologies.

With power set to either 5W or 2.5W from the FT817 to the J-Pole, M0PVA was first in the log giving my signal 59 plus 10dB from Billington. I know Mick from the old days and we’ve met at rallies and once on NP8, so we had a quick chat.

2E0VRX was next with 59 plus both ways. Craig gave his QTH as Skipton so not too far away. He also mentioned that he’d activated Pen-y-Ghent several times and once with M7MCG who was next in the log as M7MCG/P. This was Mick who gave his location as ‘between Skipton and Colne. Thinking for a moment I came up with ‘Lothersdale’ which turned out to be correct. It’s a place I remember from when I was in the Bradford Wheelers cycling club in 1965.

One of their club runs was Lothersdale where I was introduced to my first ever a pub lunch, mostly a liquid one despite being somewhat under age at barely 16! Enough said. I was so impressed that I repeated the 50 mile ride solo in the dark depths of winter but missing out the pub. Drop handlebars with sheepskin mittens on a Claude Butler lugless with Fiame sprints, Kowalit ‘tubs’, Campag Record hubs and gear changer. Reynolds 531 of course! All this with a front lamp, which after three hours on the batteries they sold back then, would best be described as ‘Toc-H’ but that has a more serious meaning. Oh the memories. Sorry about that. Moving on.

I find that G7SXR - Mark is a regular chaser and prefers 2m-FM where he builds up his score. The exchange between NP10 and Driglington (South Leeds) was 59 both ways. The signals shoot straight down the Aire valley. Mark and several others urged me to go out and get some aurora photos. I dearly wish I’d taken the advice but for one reason or another it never happened. Though I did see a lighter patch of sky to the north, this was a missed rare opportunity which I will regret for a long time.

Robert M7APU called from Lytham St. Ann’s (59’s) and I thought at first he was using an echo mic. This was the effect of the strong aurora and I was later to hear its effect on 6m SSB. Next in line was M0VVJ Tom in Morecambe. He was using a TS2000 and Diamond vertical. Tom filled me in about the Fylde Club net frequency.

UKAC 50MHz Contest 19:00z to 21:30z – 8 QSO’s (and G4OBK):
Firstly the one that ‘got away.’ No it wasn’t a failed QSO but a few minutes before the contest started Phil G4OBK answered my CQ on 50.236. This was the frequency I’d alerted and recently spotted. Reports were 58/ 55 but when 8pm local arrived I forgot to do the proper exchange, otherwise there’d have been nine in the contest log. No worries; I wasn’t expecting much from a token setup anyway.

Continuing on 50.236 MHz but this time with contest exchanges, a CQ brought in two stations: Mick M0ICK in Wigan IO82RM and M1EYP/P Tom in IO83WE. According to Tom, this was an S2S (he was presumably on SP15) but Tom’s signal broke up then cut out altogether after we exchanged reports of 59 both ways. There were no more replies so it was then a case of working stations on their own frequencies.

As expected with just a 20m fixed dipole for an antenna and five Watts, there weren’t that many stations workable or even audible. It was a case of calling the strongest ones in the hope they’d have good ears.

Six more in the Log:
GW1YBB/P in IO81KW who gave me ser No 34 at 19:30z; GW4ZAR Dave in IO83KF Flint; G4ASR David in IO81MX Hereford who’d worked 69 by 20:15z; G0CNN/P Ian in Wensleydale IO94AI; G8REQ Frank nr Liverpool IO83KI and finally MW0LKX/P Wayne in IO82KL with a total of 66 worked. Everybody got the summit ref whether they wanted it or not, as it helps to promote SOTA. I tried for a couple more but they didn’t hear my QRP.

There was still an hour of contest time remaining but with cold and painful feet, I called it a day deployed the sleeping bag and had a warm-up break instead. I don’t take any contest seriously and certainly not this one. They are designed to get activity levels up which is what the ‘AC’ (Activity Contest) in UKAC stands for. Unless the band is open with F, Es or tropo propagation, 6m is by far the hardest VHF band because of the minimal number of antenna elements at both ends compared with 2m for instance. In my case just one and not steerable at that. Best distance was GW1YBB/P at 254km.

Late Visitors:
At 10:40 pm Finn started barking loudly. Two minutes later I too heard voices and female ones at that. Surely not at this time of night? The talking got gradually louder as did my ‘guard dog.’ I had to go out to close the 20m links anyway but it took a while and a real effort to get my damp and frosted boots on.

The voices were now coming from the shelter about 30 metres from the tent. After crawling out onto cold, icy grass, as a precaution I zipped Finn in and was then confronted by an excited collie dog. Finn went crazy and first a nose, then a head appeared from under the flysheet. I tried to push him back in but his ears acted like the barb on a fishing hook. It took some effort to get the situation back under control, then walk the wire down and fix the links after which I went over to investigate.

Two middle-aged ladies and two dogs were occupying the shelter. ‘I’m surprised to see you here this late.’ They said the same about me. I think they had come up to see the aurora; something I should have paid more attention to but I was too concerned about their two dogs running around and Finn in the tent getting upset. They were there just chatting to one another for 45 minutes.

1.832 CW – 1 QSO:
I thought I had this nailed from an earlier slug tuning session followed by a satisfactory VSWR test. Seems I was dreaming? Either that or I had the linear switch in the wrong position because when the alerted 11pm QRV time finally arrived the FT817ND got extremely upset regarding my antenna arrangements. With ‘SWR’ selected on the rig, FSD and ‘high’ was announced everywhere from 1.8 thru 2MHz! How disheartening and also untimely.

Once again I had to leave a nice warm sleeping bag having just got my feet back to normal, fight my boots back on and go out into the night, whence I found both slug plungers were almost fully in. This might have been close to ideal for the high end of medium wave but not for 160m. After a few trips up and down the wire I had the semblance of a match but it wasn’t perfect by any means. Worse still it kept changing. For another thing the dog was getting squeaky every time I left the tent and I was now late on sked and rushing. More haste – less speed.

By the time I’d finished fiddling about it was 11:15 local but then I heard some CW and quickly worked Phil G4OBK, the World’s leading 160m SOTA chaser. He later mentioned that I wasn’t as strong as usual. It could have been my location further to the west than of late and/ or the imperfect SWR. Reports were 599/ 569 and Phil reminded me about the aurora. Not long after that my key started sticking on dashes; the switch refusing to return to the centre off position. Power was 50 Watts.

1.846 SSB - Nil:
Nobody came back to my 50W CQ’s in SSB between 22:25 and 22:35z after which time I gave up in favour of another try on 2m-FM before sleep time.

145.400 FM - 2 QSO’s from 22:40z:
Mike G4BLH answered me from Clitheroe but he was not hearing me well, evidenced by a somewhat laboured 59/ 41 exchange. ‘I can tell you’re there John but I can’t copy much.’ At this point Mick G0PVA, who I’d logged earlier in the evening, came on to QSP. Mick was getting me 59 plus 10dB which puzzled Mike because they are only about 6km apart. However, Mike mentioned that he was using a loft antenna. When he switched over to a second loft antenna he was then able to give me a 54 report. Much better. Thanks go to Mick for his help.

A few minutes before local midnight M0ALA called me. Andy, who once told me that he was partially sighted, lives in Barnsley. It’s a respectable distance for my QRP setup when you consider that 59 reports went both ways. There were no further takers so I went QRT.

After making sure Finn was zipped into his sleeping bag I settled down but as is normal for summit overnighters, couldn’t sleep. It became steadily windier overnight but the dry-stone wall was doing its job very well. We got the occasional tent-shaking gust but nothing to worry about. The main reason for the insomnia was the thought of going down the steep crags the next morning.

With a few breaks for food (and an age-related necessity) sleep came in short bursts, the rock under the groundsheet, level with my shoulder blade, not helping. Had it not been for the rolled up jacket doubling as a pillow, it would have been worse but by morning, it seemed that every one of my old bones ached. I complain every time but never learn not to go camping. You soon forget the discomfort; convincing yourself each time that it wasn’t really that bad and it’ll be better next time. Mountaintop camping for SOTA; in fact since long before SOTA, has become such a strong interest that it’s very difficult to give up.

FRIDAY 11th October-2024:
145.400 FM - 4 QSO’s from 06:49z:
More often than not staying overnight is for an evening VHF contest and to make use of better 160m propagation. However it would seem crazy not to qualify the next day, even though it is for zero points. The exception to zero points is for New Year camps when double points and winter bonus can add up to a surprisingly high total for no extra effort.

After breakfast I tried S20 and was rewarded with response from M7FSI, Keith in Dewsbury in the West Riding. M0ALA – Andy, a man of many talents, who I’d worked the night before, was next to call in from 5 miles north of Barnsley. I think it may have been Andy who mentioned 144.300 SSB as a possible source of contacts. Next in the log was a mobile in the form of M0RLE/M, Lee on his way down the M65. ‘I’m just passing junction-7, the Accrington turn-off.’ Finally I worked G6AEK Dave north of Blackpool.

Descent:
By now there were lots of people heading for the summit including two or three large groups. One was an organised three peaks challenge by college students led by a harassed looking young lady. Q: ‘Are you in charge?’ A: ‘I’m meant to be.’ If you do the Yorkshire three peaks the accepted way around, Pen-y-Ghent is your first port of call.

Fastened to the fence while I broke camp Finn, who already thinks he owns most of the houses on his street, had now apparently added Pen-y-Ghent and our tent to his ‘estate.’ I had to apologise about the barking and get him calmed down but once he saw that people were arriving not in single figures but 20 or 30 at a time, he rather gave up.

From the final QSO to leaving, almost an hour and a half had passed but we weren’t rushing. Besides, a sunny day had once again dawned. Far from cowering by the wall and shivering, which is what I feared might happen, Finn was lying or rolling in the grass sunning himself.

To lighten the pack, a litre of excess water was dumped. We’d already eaten most of the excess food, which met with Finn’s approval. Walking off by 09:24, we reached the car by 10:15. After losing sleep worrying about being blown off the craggy north ridge by the wind or pulled over by Finn on his lead, we managed to get down safely albeit slowly. He must have found it frustrating poor lad, but to be fair he mostly obeyed my instructions of ‘steady’ and ‘wait for Grandad.’

The extended and scenic drive home, via Malham Tarn, Arncliffe and Buckden to the A684, then to the A1M-J49/ A168 and A170, took from 10:40 until 14:08 but that included a 20-minute stop for lunch near Buckden. After the inconvenience of the day before, it was a case of ‘anything to avoid Harrogate and especially York!’

Ascent & Distance:
284m (932ft) ascent / 5.5 km (3.4 miles)

Battery utilization:
One 11.1V, 5 Ah Li-Po 75% depleted.
Reserve battery not required

QSOs:
20m CW: 0
20m SSB: 3
6m SSB: 1
6m SSB Contest: 8
160m CW: 1
160m SSB: 0
2m FM: 14
TOTAL: 27

Chronology:
Thursday 10-10-24:
12:30 Left Scarborough
15:39: Arrived Honesty Box - Dale Head Farm.
16:12: Walked for G/NP-010
17:22: Arrived G/NP-010 Pen-y-Ghent

Friday 11-10-24:
09:24: Left G/NP-010
10:15: Arrived car
10:40: Drove for home
14:08: Arrived Scarborough (20-min stop)
Total distance driven: 199 miles (96+103)

Times:
Car to Trig: 70 min
Trig to Car: 51 min
Walking Time: 2 hr-1 min
Summit Time: 16 hr-2 min

COMMENTS:
This was my 25th summit camp for SOTA and it was also Finn’s third. In his case for the food he could beg from me and the rabbits - not SOTA. That’s something of a milestone for me so do I call it a day, or should I say ‘a night’ for camping on tops? Who knows? As the saying goes, ‘The mind is willing but the body is weak’ but in my case it’s mostly the other way round and has been for a long time. The mountains are too far away.

Again the QSO total was nothing to write home about but the main aim was not so much radio as to compensate for the fact that I’ve been deprived of access to Finn for six months or more. After this activation he moved to North Derbyshire, a hundred miles from Scarborough. There’s still hope he might come back for a holiday but meetings could be few and far between. It’s strange how attached one can become to pets, especially dogs. We’ve walked over 6,000 miles together in four years.

20m:
I had great hopes for 20m including a possibility of DX but no one appeared in CW with just three in SSB. I put this down to the wrong time of day. In fact it was early evening. Did aurora play a part too?

UKAC 6m Contest:
The 6m contest is not an easy one, especially remote from a vehicle as it is when combined with SOTA. Three years ago I went to great lengths to make a beam for 6m by scaling up a 2m Sotabeam. The resulting 3-ele antenna is too big to be practical for the application, especially when added to the equipment needed for an overnighter. I did succeed once on NP9 but that only proved how difficult it could be and how relatively few contacts were achieved compared with the 4m, 2m or 70cm contests.

My link dipole, configured for 20m, readily accepted energy at the 6m wavelengths which gave me a fighting chance of a few contacts with no extra weight penalty. In theory it even had gain, albeit fixed in two directions off the ends, a fact that appears to be supported by the contest map (see photos). Nine contacts were made by this means but I forgot to include G4OBK as a contest exchange and gave up an hour before the end under the ‘law of diminishing returns’ rule.

Top Band:
160m produced just one QSO and Phil G4OBK reported weaker signals than usual. Certainly I didn’t get the tuning right and that was mainly down to the dog, who fretted every time I went out to attend to the dipole and coils. I further suspected an intermittent fault but when I laid the antenna out in my garden a few days later with the 160m coils fitted, continuity was good. Perhaps it failed to stay in tune due to the proximity of the wall-top pig-wire fence, which ran parallel. Wind was moving the antenna towards and away from that, which could explain the variations I was seeing on the meter.

2m-FM:
145MHz-FM QRP saved the day and provided some local friendly chat right up to midnight and again the next morning, whence Andy M0ALA loyally returned for another four points.

Camping:
The camping aspect of things went OK with the wall acting as barrier to the worst of the wind. We were lucky enough to enjoy two sunny days with no rain; not bad for October. The pitch was only slightly lumpy being was as close as possible to the trig point and shelter, without the dipole ends encroaching too close. The better ground is nearer to the trig. The worst thing about camping is of course the weight. Also a lot of hanging up and drying out is required afterwards but it’s all worth the trouble. Staying the night on a summit still holds some ‘magic’ even though it has become so familiar.

The Dog:
My best friend Finn’s presence was a bonus in that he kept me company despite his antics. I just wish he’d been allowed more freedom but I was concerned that he might disappear down the steep side of the hill or injure himself with over-zealous running. On the plus side, we saw no sheep on or near the summit and years of indoctrination against chasing that particular animal appear to have largely paid off. He is part Greyhound and part Saluki; both are quick runners and hunters too. We did have some short walks on the lead whilst up there but he always wanted more. After we arrived home on the Friday, I took him out locally for a good run.

THANKS:
Thanks to ALL STATIONS WORKED, especially those late and early. Also G4OBK - Phil’s spot and the SOTA spotting system.

73 John
G4YSS

Photos:
1a-6-10-256p-20-24-28-42-45-46-453p-013p-128p-154p-207p-76-77-823p-82-944p-229p-84-233p-96-103-105-110-120-map-R19-R29


Above: On the drive-in. Passing Malham Cove.


Above: On the drive-in. Target sighted.


Above: Classic view of Pen-y-Ghent from the Stainforth-Halton Gill C-road.


Above: Preparing to begin.


Above: Just leaving the parking place on the Stainforth-Halton Gill road/ Dale Head farm lane end.


Above: Heading NW down Dale Head farm lane towards Churn Milk Hole.


Above: Churn Milk Hole where many rabbits live!


Above: Starting the steep bit.


Above: The first scramble.


Above: Looking back.


Above: Looking up.


Above: The second scramble. ‘Wait for Grandad.’


Above: G/NP-010 Pen-y-Ghent at 17:22 BST. Summit trig. TP05414.


Above: G/NP-010. Looking back down the path from the trig.


Above: Looking ESE across to Fountains Fell G/NP-017. At right/ centre of photo, the Pennine Way is seen slanting up its northwestern flank.


Above: Pitching the tent. Outer then inner.


Above: Around 18:30 BST - not the best of sunsets. Tent up, aerial up. Almost ready for radio.


Above: 20m dried up. Ready for the UKAC 6m Contest.


Above: Evening meal.


Above: Looking SW at 21:40 BST. J-Pole on tent pole and HF mast.


Above: Finn nicked my bed and wouldn’t shift!


Above: Bribed back to his own bed.


Above: Another glorious day. Friday 11th at 08:33.


Above: Could this pig wire fence and a wind-blown antenna have caused my 160m tuning problems?


Above: Only 09:30 but there’d been 50 or 60 people through here already! Arguably the most popular of the three peaks.


Above: Ready to leave.


Above: Thankfully Finn didn’t pull on the lead too much.


Above: In spite of the hunter in him, after nearly five years of verbal indoctrination, Finn is so much calmer in the presence of sheep.


Above: UKAC 6m Contest Map (G4YSS/P on G/NP-010, 10-10-24)
Evidence of directivity off the end of the ‘three lambda by two’ 20m-band dipole.


Above: Home via Arncliffe.


… and Buckden.

11 Likes

Another comprehensive write up John.

Your accommodation for the night looks a little …,.,. errr? past its 'use by date" ? = I’m not surprised Finn wouldn’t get out of your bag - probably he was worried the tent might leak and he’d catch cold… :crazy_face:

6,000 miles is fair going - well done you for keeping tabs on the distance you two have covered. I have thought about activating Cross Fell on New Years Eve then spending the night at Greg’s hut then activating the summit on New years day. 26 points!! So far the flesh has been willing but the mind has been weak faced with the idea of a cold/chilly dull evening in the bothy and the possibility of horrendous wx the 2nd day…

4 Likes

Hello Dave,
Thanks for your reply.
The tent was new in 1988, weighs 5 pounds and cost £50; one of the best purchases I ever made. I also have the one-man and two-man versions. I drool over tent catalogues but since it continues to do everything I want it to, I can’t justify a replacement, except perhaps on weight.

It’s very simple and quick to put up single-handedly even in high winds but yes I must admit it’s getting a bit worn but I still trust it. If you have spotted a particular deficiency let me know when I see you and I’ll investigate. I tried a tent on a Wild Boar Fell overnighter a few years back. It had to thread the poles through sleeves. Once was enough and that was summer. It was consigned to the loft.

I have an Excel spreadsheet for daily walking which I fill in once a year and add it all up. The 6k refers to just the afternoon walks. Finn’s owner did the mornings but it’s not really that far. I should think many dog walkers will beat that as it soon adds up.

As for your Cross Fell plan or even just a Cross Fell dream, it excited me just reading it. What a wonderful plan which I would encourage. I scrutinize the weather in late December every year for the same reason but having done five of those in 22 years of activating, I can conclude that on average fixed dates only align with nature every 4 or 5 years. Even then they don’t ‘align’ as such.which means you always have to suffer to a greater or lesser degree and accept some level of risk too.

On the plus side there’s a bothy to use and not just a tent, which lightens the load and protects you better. On the down side, it’s a long walk-in from Kirkland and more to the point, in an emergency a long walk out. I was told by Nick G4OOE that the radar road is, to say the least, discouraged by notices these days but presumably there would be no one to check on a bank holiday. OK so long as the barriers are open. Then there’s the prospect of the famous Helm Wind to contend with.

My son (now G0UUU) and I camped on Cross Fell 150m E of the trig when he was 11 in 1990 and did an HF activation. It was summer but we were in thick fog 95% of the time and it wasn’t warm either. Greg’s Hut is at least a mile from the top and 200m down. Pity it’s not in the AZ!

Yes a good way to amass 22 points so we’ll discuss this further at the club.
See you there.
73, John

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Out of interest John, what make is the tent?

I passed someone doing the Coast to Coast whilst out walking with our new dog (Alphie) and he’d been camping all the way. His whole kit weighted in at less than 8kg - and that included his tent… I did ask what the tent was but I can’t remember.

Here’s Alphie making himself comfortable whilst I was grilling his favourite steak and bone steak evening meal. :blush: :laughing:

See u Monday.

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