Hello,
Here is the activation report of the Pic des Taillades or Grand Gabizo which culminates at 2690 meters above sea level.
Still in the company of my brother-in-law Daniel, we spent the night the day before departure at the foot of the starting point at 1400 meters above sea level.
The next morning on August 6, wake up at 5:00 a.m., breakfast then, departure at 6:00 a.m. for a hike without any particular problem, with an elevation gain of 1400 meters and 4 hours to reach the summit.
The hike begins in a forest then after 30 minutes of walking, a pretty path takes us to the Larue hut located at 1678 meters above sea level.
We found ourselves in the middle of a herd of sheep and the problems started with the arrival of a sheepdog (large white dog to protect the sheep from Bear attacks), then two dogs then four dogs including one who show us his teeth. After a minute or two of negotiations with the dogs, we managed to pass and continue our way to the top.
A gradual climb with superb landscapes until the arrival on the ridges.
We put away our battons for the 600 meters on the ridges with some passages requiring the use of hands.
Arrived at the top; superb landscapes; of course still no GSM network.
Like the previous day, I installed my Endfed Trial friendly sloper antenna from Vibroplex and tuned my KX3 to 7180 Mhz.
The frequency was occupied by very powerful stations so I switched the KX3 to 14.310 Mhz, my frequency for 20 Meters and with a little astonishment and a lot of satisfaction my guardian angel Christian F4WBN answered me immediately.
Of course he reported me on Sotawatch and I was able to activate the summit and contact 73 stations in 60 minutes with 9 S2S.
Return and descent without problem; we took a detour on the descent to avoid having to negotiate with the sheepdogs.
A great day of hiking. Return home with beautiful images in the head.
In 3 days I’m going on a family vacation to Spain; I will take this opportunity to activate in EA3/F5ODQ
73’ to all
Alain
and nice first one.
)