Once did that journey on nordic skis… less said about my skiing the better! Suffice to say it would have been quicker walking and certainly involved a lot less bruises!
Cracking Activation report and photos!
73 Gerald
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Great report. Well done you two.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
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When I was younger (it feels like some time in the cretaceous!) we used to walk from Muir, which adds about an extra mile each way and usually resulted in getting back in the dark.
Did you know that Menlove Edwards once swam down the Linn? Must have had a death wish!
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Great photos, and appreciate the report. Glad you managed all your summits. And glad to see I;m not the only one who is propelled through the ranges by the thought of a good curry at the end,
‘So many contours!’ … then I realised that you contours every 10m, not 20m. Cheats!
BTW: The only time I’ve bumped into anyone in the hills in ZL who knew what SOTA was, they’d been working as a nurse in Scotland and frequently encountered ‘you lot’ operating there. So the Scottish SOTA op’s are ‘world-famous, even in New Zealand’.
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Hi Fraser & Ben, great report of your activation. Terrific photos too. Glad you enjoyed the day.
Cheers Geoff vk3sq
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Hi @G0EVV David, I hope you enjoyed your activation from SB-001 on Saturday. It was great to get the S2S from two of our planned summits. Thank you very much for calling in 
deffo look forward to the next qso!
73, GW4BML. Ben
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Well done both of you… an excellent achievement. Many thanks for the report and photos Fraser which brought back memories from over half a century ago! I must try to get back up there to do a less onerous outing before I hang my boots up.
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GM @GM4TOE Barry, thank you very much for the qso we had on Saturday, it was a pleasure to work you. Unfortunately, conditions went down hill and I found myself (as well as Fraser) calling CQ SOTA quite a few times on our last summit to hear no replies. I’m hoping to be back up GM in the near future, so we may get another qso soon. Many thanks again!
73, GW4BML. Ben
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Thank you very much @G4OIG Gerald, it was Fraser that put the route together and what a cracker it was! All kinds of terrain and amazing views, I thoroughly loved it! Look forward to working you soon either as a chaser or maybe a S2S take care.
73, GW4BML. Ben
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Is the bridge not still there? Mind you, I boulder hopped that one last time!
Great report, need to have a close look to see why I couldn’t work Ben on 2m on the last two, my guess he was far enough below the summit of ES-001 to block the signal.
Any consolation - it took me three goes to qualify ES-001 in SOTA’s early days - no spotting and alerts via the reflector!! Great report, brings back many memories and might remind Tom @M1EYP of our foray across ES-001 and ES-005 starting& finishing
from the ski resort car park
You might want to leave that one for really good weather - the route up the “waterfall” opposite where the track splits towards the Hutcheson Hut is a slog but dry (ish) but the route above Glen Derry is a bogfest
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My first trip up there was some 25 years ago. Middle of winter and I was attempting a round of Carn a’Mhaim, Ben Macdui & Derry Cairngorm. I cycled as far as I could and dumped the bike on encoutering snow on the track. I was crossing the Luibeg burn, hopping over iced rocks when the inevitable happened and I fell in and fell over. I was up to my knees and up to my elbows in water. Clambered out, stripped off, wrung everything out, got dressed and completed the round.
Yes!
It was only as I stood on the path on the other side, drying myself off, that I noticed there was a bridge 200m upstream!
I think we all know that he did! During Storm Frank in 2015 the Dee was at the top of the bridge parapet and a lake had formed upstream of the bridge, such was the flow of water.
I’ve been caught out on occasion a couple of times using Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps. Sometimes a slope is so steep that there isn’t room to draw every contour line. A quick glance at a map doesn’t always reveal this, however proper study always does but we’re all guilty of the former at times!
I think it’s the first time I’ve experienced a complete RF blackout whilst being out activating. I know that the higher bands are supposed to recover first, however that doesn’t always help with SOTA, as most chasers are geared up for 60, 40, 30 & 20m. Even with low sunspots with a higher K index someone normally gets through.
Carn a’Mhaim by itself isn’t too difficult Gerald. Consider it a long flat walk or cycle with a short climb on a good path. Certainly no harder than Meall na Tarmachan that you did last week. I think that because the approaches are long, there’s always the pressure to knock off a few summits, but Mo and I had a brilliant day last summer climbing just Carn a’Mhaim.
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I can second that, not really challenging at all - plus I need the complete 
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I know you’re not a fan of bikes Barry, however I knocked that one off last summer. I managed to bike a good way up Glen Derry, leaving just a 4.5km walk to the top of Beinn Chaorrain GM/ES-011. And yes, it was a fine day!
More Tales of Hiking in Scotland when it's too hot! GM/ES-011 & GM/WS-106
I’m really looking forward to getting back up there this summer.
I can also recommend ES-007, B. Bhrotain - a lovely approach starting along the Dee (as for the Lairig Ghru) and fine views up and across the Lairig. Its about the same milage as Carn a’Mhain, but without that boring road to Derry Lodge!
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It’s on my post part-time working plan Barry. If the path looks bonny then I might take 13cms 
I need to buy a bike roof rack thingy but having to replace Mrs. FMF’s motor at short notice I may put that purchase off until my credit cards cool down!
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Indeed, but add in the drive distance / time from my Northumberland base, then it really has to be done with another, preferably several other summits as part of a stay up in the area. I am working on it! I chose Meall nan Tarmachan for the Trans-Atlantic S2S event as it only required a 350 mile drive and I knew I could manage the walk distance / ascent with 14kg on my back. Heck, i must be mad. 
Born in Nottinghamshire, living in Northamptonshire, head in Scotland… yes, we’ve had the conversation before! 
Pleased to work you on the first one. Pity you were in the noise on the second… and I did listen for Ben in case there was a duct. You never know… stranger things happen in amateur radio.
73, Gerald
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I didn’t know that but were I to try it I’m sure I would end up floating into Aberdeen Harbour as a very wet corpse a day or so later…… 
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Epic adventure OM.
Makes OK hills look very tame indeed!
Kudos to you!
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Same here, probably in several pieces! I’m sure the guy was bonkers (after all, he was a psychologist), he was an early pioneer of sea cliff climbing in Cornwall and had an interesting way of starting climbs on cliffs that fell sheer into the sea. He would let a high wave throw him up the cliff face to where he could grab a hold on the rock. It is said that couple of commando trainees drowned trying to imitate his technique…
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If you want to watch a movie about someone with a similar approach to their well-being, try and find “The Alpinist”. It’s not easy to watch at times.
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