I’m still on with my attempts to complete G/LD with now just 10 to go…. And Low Fell was on the list. It looked a nice gentle walk parking near Waterend near Loweswater. We had a slight detour as the road past Loweswater was shut which added a mile or so to the walk. The weather - for the first time this year on an activation was stunning, so it is quite nice to share photographs of something other than fog…
I’m not sure if I’m going down with something but it felt much longer and harder than it should have done, but it might be psychological as my 18 yr old daughter insisted on running up some of the steeper bits with Woody while both Jet and I both lumbered slowly up the hill.
I think even Jet is losing patience with me as his approach when it gets really boggy and steep is to let the waist lead get really slack and then run like hell up the steep but in an attempt to catapult me up the hill. I’m sure there is a GCSE Physics question in there… a 22Kg dog running at 4 m/s is attached to 80Kg of semi stationary lard….
I’ve started using a 41ft not random wire and counterpoise, and although it seems slightly down on a linked dipole it is considerably lighter. I would like to say I’d made a carefully considered decision, but the truth is I spent the best part of a week looking for the linked dipole before re-purchasing the bits needed to make a new one, at which point, predictably it reappeared.
Thanks to all the chasers, it was good to get Richard 2E0XGO for a S2S on Illgill Head, particularly as I had worked him on Low Fell last week - one of my fastest completes…and Illgill head is on the to do list….
I tried 2m (3 contacts, but as the name implies Low Fell probably doesn’t have brilliant take off), 40m, which was quite civilised with no difficult pile up but polite chasers, 10m (no contacts) and then 20m, which was also very civilised. Some of my regular chasers were probably wondering where the other, canine operator was - he was busy with my daughter!
So still to go is Swinside (e-mail sent for permission), Dent, Muncaster Fell, Illgill Head, Hard Knott, Harter Fell (Eskdale), Kirkby Moor, Arnside Knott and High Raise and Lingmoor Fell… It is starting to look do-able!
I was asked by Derek 2E0MIX what next, well there is the obvious elephant in the corner, or rather a goat in the corner which according to Wen-Goat is only 260 days away (but this does not seem to account for going for those missed 1 pointers in the lakes) , but “Walked all Arran” does feel like a nice medium term target. 73. Paul
