I had been saving one summit in North Wales to do on a good day, Yr Aran (GW/NW-019), which would complete the region however a new one popped up to spoil my plans, Mynydd Anelog (GW/NW-077) on the far end of the Llyn Peninsula. This summit just happens to be possibly the most awkward summit in Wales for me to reach and activate in a day. Mynydd Enlli (Bardsey Island) GW/NW-072 would be the only one with more travelling.
Mynydd Anelog is a nice easy summit to access via the numerous paths that lead to the main part of the hill. The only difficulty is finding somewhere to park a vehicle where it is not going to be in the way along the nearby narrow lanes. The route we took followed Tom’s suggestion but looking down from the summit access and parking from the North East side of the summit may be easer with just a little longer walk in along well defined paths.
The summit itself is just a little rocky outcrop with a small cairn. There is plenty of room for antennas but for those who like to bungee there is nothing to fix to. I would have liked to have been able to describe the views down the length of Cardigan Bay, the majestic summits of Snowdonia and North to Anglesey but I can not, it was cloudy and cold. Don’t let me put you off though, please visit, the views would be stunning; but preferably on a day and a band I can chase :o)
Knowing the summit is relatively new Helen (M0YHB) and I decided to activate on 4 HF bands to give chasers the best possibility of getting this one logged.
We started off by setting up my 60/40 metre fan dipole (the 4 legs are the guys) and the first signal heard and contacted was GW4VPX on Mynydd Uchaf (GW/SW-031) on 40 metres. The band sounded in good shape so I then decided to try 60m first. The last time I used 60m in anger was January 2013 so it was about time I did an activation using it. There have been a few comments about propagation recently and I have heard a few activators struggling with the lower bands so we were not expecting too many contacts. As it was there were plenty of chasers with good signal reports both ways (including a s2s with Barry MW0IML on GW/SW-005) so I seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Helen also had a good run on 40m before contacts dried up with the changing radio propagation. The other bands used were 20 metres where a number of summits to summits were added to my collection and 17 metres which provided my best DX of PY5EG in Brazil.
This was the only summit planned for the day so we spent the rest of the return journey home Trig Pointing and Geocaching.
Now the 12m challenge has finished I’m finding difficulty in keeping my enthusiasm going, unique summits are now just out of reach for realistic day trips and I have already done all my local summits for this year. Fortunately we have a couple of big expeditions planned for later in the summer so it will not be too long before I’m out again.
Contacts:
Carolyn;
60m -18 with 2 summits chased
20m - 29 with 4 summits chased
17m - 16 with one summit chased
Helen;
40m - 19
Antennas used were a 40/60m fan dipole and a 9.5m vertical; 1/2 wave j-pole on 20m and 5/8 wave co-ax-stub tuned for 17m.
Radio; Yaesu Ft-817 and a HF Packer Amp @ 30W
Thank you to all the chasers. I am pleased to have been a unique for many.
Carolyn
Just remembered I have 4 left in south Wales, must go do them and there are some lovely NW and MW summits to revisit and a few with few activations… :o)
