Motivation
I was back for some days in EA1/BU region and wanted to activate a new summit in the Obarenes range, near my village. This is a modest mountain but a good one for a quick activation, as the weather was very hot.
Activation date: July 29th 2023
Driving directions
The easiest access starts on the Shepherd monument, a group of sculptures located in the road N-1, near the village of Ameyugo.
There is a big parking at the monument, near a restaurant. The path starts just at the deviation to the restaurant, after leaving the main road N-1.
The climb
The trek follows a clear path all the route, it’s an easy and short one.
- Trail length (one way): 1,3 km
- Elevation gain: about 190 m.
- Mountain elevation: 790 m a.s.l.
- Walking time: 30 minutes from the start to the summit.
From the start point we can see the summit of this little mountain:
See the path while going up, surrounded by pinetrees:
In the last meters of the ascent I looked back to see the village of Ameyugo. I could also see where my car was. In the distance I saw three other SOTA summits I have already activated, Muela, Cellorigo and Peña de Yeguas:
After half an hour of easy climb I reached the flat summit, indicated by a green metal cross and a mountain mailbox. The cross holds a box with the image of a saint.
Activation
I installed my gear, a KX3 powered by three 21700 LiIon cells and an EFHW antenna inverted vee on a 5m carbon pole.
It was too hot and I activated under my umbrella to protect me and my gear from the sun, not too comfortable to hold the umbrella, type the log on the phone (VK Port a log) and send CW or press the PTT, but I could run the radio for about 2 hours 35 minutes without burning, hi.
I logged 131 QSO mainly on 14 -10-7 MHz SSB & CW, being a few on VHF FM. Today I got 25 S2S, a bunch of them!
S2S are quite time consumig but it’s very rewarding to greet other activators; who knows what their situation will be on their summits?
The Shepherd monument
The group of sculptures were inaugurated in 1961. It seems that the monument was built to honour a dead shepherd hit by a thunder.
In the past the shepherding played an important role in this area, and at the time that was a hard job, long days walking big distances and exposed to the weather.
The main sculpture is a standing shepherd carrying a sheep on his right arm. This image is 7 meter tall weighting 27000 kg.
See you soon from a new one.
73 Ignacio
