Another opportunity this weekend to tick off one of my ‘to-do’ summits and also take in another four Wainwrights!
Equipment
2m FM QSOs
RIG: Yaesu FT-817ND
ANT: Spectrum Communications Slim-G
PWR: 2.5w
Case: PowerPort WorldPouch for FT-817
HF QSOs
RIG: Yaesu FT-817ND
ANT: SOTABeams Quadband Dipole
MAST: Decathlon 6m travel pole
PWR: 5w via ZIPPY Compact 2100mAh 3S1P 30C LiFePo4 Pack
All power connections standardized using PowerPole connectors.
Other
Logging: Rite in the Rain 4x6 Notebook and STAEDTLER Noris HB Pencil
Rucksack: Lowe Alpine Airzone Trek 45:55
Phone/Camera: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
Water 1.5 litre, with supplemental water via stream and Chlorine tablet
Snacks: Trek High Protein Flapjack Cocoa Coconut bar x 2, Trail Mix 200g
Clothing: Technical T-Shirt, Marmot moisture wicking base layer (not worn), Regatta trousers, shorts, gloves, extra layers.
Footwear: Salomon X Ultra 3 Prime GTX
Safety
- LifeSystems Light and Dry Survival Bivi Bag
- Emergency Plastic Whistle
- Silva Expedition S Compass
- LifePo4 2400mAH battery powers the FT-817 and phone charger
- 12v to USB adapter plus phone charging lead
- Victorinox Swiss Champ Swiss Army Pocket Knife
- Memory Map Android App
- Petzl Aktic headtorch using Panasonic Eneloop Pro AAA batteries with spare set.
- Supertrip Sports Glasses UV400 Protective
- Water purification tablets (only suitable for use on running water)
Strava Tracking
Introduction
With the weather report for Saturday indicating good conditions, with a maxium summit wind of 20mph gusting 30mph, little chance of rain and warm (oh yes) temperatures I decided that today was as good as any to tackle Pillar, having looked at it so longingly during my High Stile expedition.
I deliberately decided to take the extra effort required to travel by motorbike, as I new I wasn’t going to be early and anticipated the chances of getting a parking place were limited. I wanted to start on South-West approach of Yewbarrow, the most obvious parking spot being the Over Beck Car Park.
My prediction was spot on, the car park was full. Initially I pulled the bike in at the side of the road but my spidy-senses were tingling when the family in the car behind me rearranged into one car and then moved off again, so I decided to pull the bike into the car park onto a spare piece of grass. Now I don’t know whether they would ticket a bike, but what I found out on the walk back is that the entire road to Wasdale Head is a clearway, and all of the remaining cars had fixed penalty notices attached.
Parking sport in Over Beck Car Park
You might be wondering what I do with the motorbiking gear. Sometimes in the winter I’ll risk riding in walking clothing if it isn’t a long run out, but with this being a full hour-and-a-half from Windermere I dug out some old but serviceable gear then left it with the bike. The helmet is locked ot the bike and I put the gloves in the locked tail unit, so I knew if someone tea-leafed the other gear I’d still have minimal protection on the way home.
Just have to say this is my first visit to the Wasdale valley (I’ve seen it from several summits of course) and that initial vista you get from the road is simply breathtaking, especially on a day like today. That is saying something living in the Lakes. It’s no wonder it is popular.
I’ve omitted details of Wainwrights on the Air activations in this report, if you would like to read about them please open the expanded version of this report including the WOTAs.
Yewbarrow
I decided I’d like to walk the ridgeline of Yewbarrow so this was always going to be a tough start.
Impending Climb
I did of course, in time honoured tradition, make a navigation error early on, following the path by the river, however it was easily corrected. Off-line maps are essential here as the entire valley appears to be mobile signal free.
Obligitary diversion
On the climb up Yewbarrow before Dropping Crag
The climb is steep but good under foot, although some rock traversing is required at Dropping Crag.
Dropping Crag
Views to the West
On the summit
I decided today to take a risk by not having rig or battery redundancy. I pulled the FT-817 internal battery in favour of the higher capacity and lighter external 2200 maH LifePo4, to save weight on such a long trek. This time I got lucky, no more no less.
I descended Yewbarrow to Dore Head via Stirrup Crag. Much like Dropping Crag on the way up this requires some rock traversal. Nothing too tricky but probably not much fun in the wet and poor visibility. As Derek 2E0MIX pointed out there is an alternative path that is a much gentler descent. I noted the path as I passed it before reaching the final set of Cairn stones.
View towards Red Pike via Dore Head
Looking back at Stirrup Crag from Dore Head
Looking back to Stirrup Crag on the ascent to Red Pike
The ascent was thankless in the heat. I was being followed by a lady a little way back which kind of kept me going. She was kind enough to take my photo at the top, and made a hasty descent back to her friend who wasn’t up for Red Pike.
With light cloud gathering there seemed to be no cover for me all the way up to Steeple. The air temperature appeared to rise as the day went on and you can tell that my factor 30 didn’t survive the sweat today!
Red Pike
View to Kirk Fell from Red Pike
Scoat Fell (left) and Pillar (right) in the background
Following by the edge as you now finally reach Red Pike (and beyond) rewards with magnificent views and you suddenly forget the tired legs.
Scoat Fell
Another 20 minutes walk and you arrive at Scoat Fell. A wall divides the East/West side of the ridgeline here and only after crossing the wall does the magnificent vista towards Steeple reveal itself. The summit itself is a giant boulder field for the most part.
Scoat Fell
View towards High Stile
Steeple
Oh my goodness me. I think my comment to a walker who I passed on the way to Steeple summed up my mood here: “If I die now, I’ll die happy”. Wow, what a breathtaking summit.
Steeple from Scoat Fell
As I was traversing the narrow path to the summit my thoughts were definitely in the Tolkein universe. Surely this summit must have influenced the novels?
The walkway to Steeple
Summit Cairn Stones
Very, very happy to be here!
Whilst on Steeple I heard a drone flying over head. Whilst packing up the owner arrived at the summit, a VLOGger. His YouTube channel is Blackcrag. I noted that photos of folk on the summit looked really good from Scoat Fell, so I was especially made up when he said the drone footage would make it into his VLOG. Can’t wait to see that.
Black Crag VLOGGer using his GoPro selfie-stick on Steeple
And so to Pillar! The cloud was kissing the traverse making this a wonderful part of the walk.
Wind Gap
View to Crummock Water from Wind Gap
On the final ascent you could see the tops of the Scarfell range peaking above the lower cloudbase.
Scarfell summits above the cloud
Pillar
Highest point of the walk
Having viewed photos of the summit pre-activation I knew there would be plenty of space for the 80m 1/2 wave dipole. I took a bit of time to walk around the summit to see the views from all directions. The majestic Pillar Rock is a magnificent sight with the Ennerdale valley as a backdrop, the photos really don’t give a good sense of scale!
Pillar Rock
Clouds on the summit
Like Red Crag there was a really healthy insect population on top of Pillar, there being very little wind. A standing VHF activation was called for, I kept to the high part of the summit for this, but then found that venturing towards the slope off of the summit reduced the insect infestation remarkably. Thankfully they weren’t biters as I didn’t have Alex with me for distraction!
2m Activation
Predictably the SOTA status of this summit brought in more chasers including the regulars - good to get Geoff GM4WHA in the log from here as this was the first summit where I found a free frequency above 145.500 (he has QRM below at home), although I guess this time being /M it wouldn’t have mattered. Mike 2E0IKM doing a great job of chasing as well as activating!
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|14:43|G1OHH|2m|145.575|FM|IO84ob|England|Susan Griffin|
|14:43|GW4ZPL|2m|145.575|FM|IO73wd|Wales|Colin John Barwell|
|14:44|2E0IKM|2m|145.575|FM|IO84fp|England|Mike Moffat|
|14:45|M7XUP/M|2m|145.575|FM||England|QTH: Penrith|
|14:45|2E0MIX|2m|145.575|FM|IO84fn|England|Derek Edge|
|14:47|2E0LDF|2m|145.575|FM||England|
|14:48|G0TDM|2m|145.575|FM|IO84oq|England|John Sutton|
|14:49|G7CDA|2m|145.575|FM|IO83qt|England|Douggie G7CDA|
|14:50|M0MHW|2m|145.575|FM|IO83ro|England|Gary Hardman|OP: Gary, QTH: Pilling|
|14:52|GI0THZ/M|2m|145.575|FM| |Northern Ireland|OP: Harry|
|14:52|GM4WHA/M|2m|145.575|FM||Scotland|QTH: Headland Garden Ctr|
|14:53|2E0LBI|2m|145.575|FM|IO84jc|England|Leslie Bell|OP: Les|
HF Setup
I noted that the mobile phone signal was much better on the Northerly side of the summit, so this is where I setup the HF antenna. It was really nice to be able to operate standing on HF, now with the mast supported via the HF antenna setup I was able to wander around and enjoy the views in between QSOs.
Standing HF operation
80m Activation
Great list of contacts on 80m and the 5w was surprising both myself and those at the other end of the QSO. Douggie was doing really well with his AMPRO antenna and Phil sounded simply amazing with his great QTH setup. Lovely to have a chat with David G8KAP near Carlise, 88 years young. Hope I still have a mike in my hand (and still understand what it does) if I get there!
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|15:16|G7CDA|80m|3.720|SSB|IO83qt|England|Douggie G7CDA|ANT: Ampro Vertical|
|15:18|MM0XPZ|80m|3.720|SSB|JJ00aa|Scotland|SW Groves|OP: Steve|
|15:19|G8CPZ|80m|3.720|SSB|JJ00aa|England|Andy Barth|OP: Andy, PWR: 30w, CMT: 43KM from Pillar|
|15:21|G4OBK|80m|3.720|SSB|IO94of|England|PHIL CATTERALL
|15:23|G0RQL|80m|3.720|SSB|IO70uv|England|DON ROOMES
|15:24|2E0LDF|80m|3.720|SSB||England|
|15:26|G8KAP|80m|3.720|SSB|IO84mt|England|David Patrick|OP: Dave, QTH: 5 miles SW Carlisle, WAB: NY34, AGE: 88, RIG: ICOM 7610, QSL: TX|
|15:31|M0JCA|80m|3.720|SSB||England|
|15:32|2I0FIP|80m|3.720|SSB|JJ00aa|Northern Ireland|John Miskimmin|
|15:33|G6PJZ|80m|3.720|SSB|IO94hl|England|Andy Clift|OP: Andy|
40m Activation #1
Good to get my regular SOTA chasers of Karl and Manuel in the log on 40m. Mike G0RDF was doing a great job from his /M setup.
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|15:38|2E0FEH|40m|7.180|SSB|IO70VJ|England|Karl Kruger|
|15:39|2I0FIP|40m|7.180|SSB|JJ00aa|Northern Ireland|John Miskimmin|
|15:40|EA2DT|40m|7.180|SSB|IN92et|Spain|Manuel|
|15:42|EA2CKX|40m|7.180|SSB|IN83ta|Spain|PEDRO CHINCHURRETA JAUREGUIALZO|
|15:42|G0RFD|40m|7.180|SSB|IO92FS|England|MK SMITH|OP: Mike, RIG: ICOM 706MK2, QTH: S. Derbyshire, ANT: 1/4 wave on car, PWR: 100w|
|15:44|MW0XOT|40m|7.180|SSB|IO82hf|Wales|John Messenger|QTH: Central Wales, PWR: 50w, ANT: G5RV|
20m Activation
I wasn’t expecting great things from 20m as it has been poor as of late but oh my - Iceland S2S as the first contact! It didn’t quite hit me how unusual this is - I think I have one other in the log. Tony was booming in Groundwave but generally the contacts on 20m quite light today.
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|15:50|TF/HB9GKR|20m|14.335|SSB||Iceland|SOTA S2S TF/SL-199
|15:51|G1OAE|20m|14.315|SSB|IO84fp|England|TONY STEEL|OP: Tony, QTH: Seaton|
|15:52|DL2HWI|20m|14.315|SSB|JO61hu|Germany|Dietmar Falkenberg|
|15:53|OK2PDT|20m|14.315|SSB|JJ00aa|Czech Republic|JAN LAVICKA|
|15:53|DL6MST|20m|14.315|SSB|JO51ku|Germany|Klaus Stieglitz|
40m Activation #2
I re-clipped to 40m to get Jordan in the log S2S into Wales. Good to hear him out and about, and then I re-spotted for a final couple of 40m contacts. At the end I heard Jose EA2IF asking if I could go back to 20m as he was struggling to hear me on 40m. He is such a SOTA legend I couldn’t disappoint!
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|16:00|MW3TMX/P|40m|7.181|SSB| |Wales|OP: Jordan, SOTA S2S GW/SW-006|
|16:07|G0VWP|40m|7.184|SSB|IO93kx|England|Terry Sayner|
|16:08|DK6HS|40m|7.184|SSB|JN39xd|Germany|Sven Hammer|
20m operation for EA2IF
It took about 5 minutes to complete the QSO with Jose but we got there in the end, a case of repetition until the transmissions got through the deep QSB.
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|16:15|EA2IF/P|20m|14.313|SSB| |Spain|
Final 2m QSOs
Checking Whatsapp after packing up I found Nigel wondered if I was still doing VHF. Using the stock whip he was 59 with me and so was Steve who piggybacked on the end of the QSO for the points.
|Time|Call|Band|Freq|Mode|Grid|Country|Operator Name|
|----|----|----|----|----|----|-------|-------------|--------|
|16:39|M5TUE|2m|145.525|FM|IO84qi|England|Nigel Wadsworth|
|16:44|MW0ISC|2m|145.525|FM|IO83JE|Wales|Steve|
Descent
I’d decided to descend Pillar via Black Sail Pass for a couple of reasons:
- I was running very low on water and had spotted that Gatherstone Beck had a very healthy flow.
- More ridge line traverse, never a bad thing - keep those views coming!
- I don’t like retracing steps if I can help it.
- Originally I had thought of activating Kirk Fell, until time ran away from me.
Traverse to Black Sail Pass
Looking back to Pillar
saving Kirk Fell for another day
At the pass crossroads
Just after the descent started I took the opportunity to fill my water bottle from the beck. Nigel M5TUE told me before that he’d never had any ill effects from drinking water straight from becks, if you use your head. The water tasted wonderful! However, I was curious to see what effect the chlorine tablets would have on the water, so dropped one in and 30 minutes later was happy to find that I could hardly tell the difference.
Easy descent
The descent was easy if not long! My phone was now low so I took the opportunity to use the 12v to USB adapter I carry to charge it from the LifePo4. As it happens my Strava tracking stopped when I was ready to at the Wasdale Head Inn, where I had a very well earned beer and pork pie!
Beer and a quid pork pie
The walk back to the car park was about 2.5 miles but good under foot and flat!!! Fortunately I wasn’t feeling any ill effects, either muscles or feet, so this was a nice unwind.
Thank you so much to all the dedicated chasers! What a day!
My final message: you simply must visit Steeple on a nice day
