Sorry I didn’t come up on HF as alerted from Buckden Pike and Great Whernside yesterday. There were a number of factors which pushed Frank and myself toward fairly quick activations on these summits. The drive to the parking spot was a little tricky, took longer than expected and we certainly wouldn’t have got there without a 4x4 vehicle. The wind on the summits was an estimated 30mph and although this would not have precluded deployment of the HF antenna the wind chill would have made it very unpleasant. On Great Whernside the rocks in the steep gullies on the path were covered in ice. At one point Frank chose a hands and knees method on the grass while I persisted in the gully going three steps up and sliding back two steps. We knew this descent would be dangerous in fading light and we didn’t want to end up at the bottom rather quicker than planned. Coming down we managed to find a grassy route around the icy gullies the descent was not particularly difficult.
The conditions were not appalling or anything like that and the walking was very enjoyable, but we decided to be fairly cautious and also to stay comfortable on the summits.
Hopefully I will be back on HF on the next time.
73 John GW4BVE