Last of the Winter Bonus in LD Land

M0NOM · 28 February 2025 22:18

Very lucky today to have such excellent weather in the Lake District for the last of the winter bonus. I got the Keswick bus and found that it did indeed stop at the top of Dunmail Raise. Excellent!

First stop - St Sunday Crag. My favourite Lake District summit. Air clarity was fantastic and with a light dusting of snow made for some magnificent photos. I have yet to traverse from Grisedale Tarn up the side of St Sunday Crag and stay on the path - no different today, I ended up scrabbling up the side although footing was good and I was very happy to see the sun at the top.

Looking back at Helm Crag

Raise Beck

Yup, lost the path!

St Sunday Crag G/LD-010

Thanks to all the chasers - sometimes I’ve struggled on St Sunday Crag to get four VHF contacts, but I took my time today and was rewarded with seven, Mark @G7SXR booming in from Leeds - he always surprises me with his excellent signal! Richard @2E0XGO as a WOTA S2S.

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
11:05	G4WHA	2m	FM	59	59	G
11:07	G7CDA	2m	FM	58	59	Douggie
11:07	G7SXR	2m	FM	55	53	Mark
11:09	M7OUD/M	2m	FM	53	47	Tony
11:16	GM6LJE	2m	FM	59	59	Robin
11:20	G0TDM	2m	FM	59	59	John
11:31	2E0XGO/P	2m	FM	54	54	Richard	WOTA	LDW-183

Absolutely beautiful traverse back to Fairfield. Cofa Pike looked pretty awesome and slightly scary covered in snow but was an easy traverse with fresh footprints to follow.

Mandatory Lake District Sheep Photo

One of my favourite views in the Lake District!

Fairfield G/LD-007

For the most part Fairfield was shrouded in cloud - not much to see here!

Tim G4YTD/P was very loud - not surprising seeing as he was on Seat Sandal G/LD-022! I had the pleasure of meeting him on the ascent as he was coming back my way to take the route back to Grasmere.

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
12:34	G4TGJ/P	2m	FM	55	57	Richard	SOTA	G/NP-017
12:36	G6AEK	2m	FM	59	59	David
12:37	GW4ZPL	2m	FM	59	57	Colin
12:38	G6LKB	2m	FM	53	55	David
12:39	M7HNS	2m	FM	57	54
12:40	G0TDM	2m	FM	59	59	John
12:41	G7CDA	2m	FM	59	59	Douggie
12:42	M6KWB	2m	FM	59	59	Kelly
12:42	G8KBH	2m	FM	59	58	Dave
12:44	G0EVV/P	2m	FM	59	59	David	SOTA	G/SB-001
13:04	G4YTD/P	2m	FM	59	59	Tim	SOTA	G/LD-022
13:11	M0YDH/P	2m	FM	59	59	David	WOTA	LDW-136

Seat Sandal G/LD-022

In the clag during the activation of Seat Sandal and in the clag on the way back down. I lost the path and ended up zig-zagging for quite a while before I picked it up again - it was very boggy in places - to the point where I nearly lost a boot. I took it easy on the steep descent, took a few breaks, just to give the knees a break.

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR
14:22	G6AEK	2m	FM	59	59	David
14:22	G7CDA	2m	FM	59	59	Douggie
14:23	2E0MOW/M	2m	FM	59	59	chris
14:24	G6LKB	2m	FM	59	59	David
14:25	2E0UBA	2m	FM	59	59	Arran
14:26	2E0LDF	2m	FM	53	41
14:29	2E0MIX	2m	FM	59	59	Derek

LORA Tracking

LoRA tracking coverage was great with pings from lots of different stations.

… so 31 points in the log and I am now 900+ points. The final win, to end a perfect day, was that the bus back pulled up exactly one minute after I arrived at the bus stop!

M1BUU · 28 February 2025 22:56

I’m laughing because I can never follow the path from Grisedale Tarn to St Sunday Crag either! I agree that St Sunday Crag is an awesome summit, I’ve had some wonderful views from up there.

Great report and nice photos as always.

73, Colin

G4IPB · 1 March 2025 07:32

It was really good in Langdale too, but only one set of winter bonus points for me on High Raise on Thursday.

I was a bit short of time and had no phone signal but had quite a pile up on 2m. 40 less so…. It must have been a lot harder before spotting!!!

I cunningly managed to summit Lingmoor Fell on Friday when Mark was between summits but had a nice S2S with Alex up in the Cairngorms on 40.

It was so warm in the sun that it was shirt sleeves on the way up - but a down jacket for the activation.

Blea Tarn on the descent from Lingmoor Fell