Isle of Harris/Lewis

Evening all,
I’ll be heading up to the Outer Hebrides next Thursday for a week of radio activations for WWFF but wondered if anyone knows of any easy summits I could activate?

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Sorry I can’t help you Adrian but have you had a look at the SOTA Mapping site which may give you an idea of any suitable summits near your intended activations.

No doubt someone will pop up with some advice over the next few days.

73 Allan GW4VPX

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M6BWA Viki here (not Rod)
Best of luck as these summits are hard work we found last year. North Uist seemed easier than Harris if you have a choice! Remember there are virtually no paths anywhere, you are very unlikely to meet anyone and they removed the Mt Rescue post in Tarbert from the map some years ago!! Not at the home QTH so can’t access notes but from memory we enjoyed Toddun (059) by parking high up on the road, getting to the ridge and then going on up to the top. Lovely views until hit by a violent hailstorm - and the usual high winds. These hills are tough. We chose Toddun rather than the highest one as it looked a better walk and not so high as forecast poor.

We also went up Husival 073 which was fairly easy (in mist wet and wind) but the drive in is rather challenging!) but do not recommend Chaipabal 129 as the ascent is very steep and the descent seemed worse but had at least a path. A bit easier is the nearby Greabhal 165 which claims to have a path which we never found - make your way to the ridge, turn right and keep on going… We can’t help with Harris as were staying just South of Tarbert and the weather was pretty dire. Be prepared for challenging conditions on the ground and in the air - but I wish I was going with you!

Best of luck 73 Viki M6BWA

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Thank you Viki,
I will take the battery packs and have a weigh up when I get there and use the maps to see whats nearby.

If the weather holds up then I will have a walk and see if any are workable.

I’m not an experienced walker so dont want to venture into the unknown too much.

73
Adrian

It’s essential to know you limits and so it’s good to see you acknowledge this. This is some fairly wild and remote country for the UK and it’s not the kind of place I’d start playing hill walking. Lack of paths and essentially featureless terrain makes navigation harder especially as the WX can change quickly.

An Cliseam (Clisham) has a path from the road to the top but it is quite steep. 2.7km and 630m of ascent. Not too hard for people with a bit of fitness and regular hillwalking but if you don’t walk in the hills regularly it or do exercise it will be a stiff walk.

A hint to see which are probably the easiest summits is to select activation counts on the map site. Those with big counts will tend to be the easier ones. Easier may mean there’s a path but still hard work though.

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Please aid a blind man…what is the summit region for the Outer Hebrides and McLeod Lewis?
Thanks

GM/SI - All the Scottish islands which have varying degrees of hill and accessibility. Includes Skye ( Serious Mountaineering for the UK with sharp bits ) to places like Lewis which is hilly and again for the UK very remote with few roads and fewer paths or trails. All of the islands are either usually either windy or if calmer full of midges which descend in swarms… They are also very beautiful. Have walked some hills in pre-sota days but only one since …GM/SI-223 Paul

The region is GM/SS which covers the whole range around the west coast. I find the SMP range setting the only way to isolate the summits of current interest.
73,
Rod
Edit – Sorry - GM/SI

This resource may be useful: https://neon1.net/sota/summits/map/

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GM/SI-200 Forsnaval 205m 1pt.
A couple of minutes walk, I hope to do this in a few weeks while touring on motorbike, hence only one summit for me.

Thanks everyone for the help, much appreciated.

I’ll see what happens whilst on the Island and if the weather is on my side then I’ll take a stroll with the equipment.

I may not have much signal to post and updates but I’m sure someone will spot me if successful.

Hope to catch you on the air

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Thank you!

Edit – Sorry - GM/SI
Rod