SB-005 second abandonment 06/11/2007

In reply to G1ZJQ:

Sorry to hear about your continued trials on this summit Derek. It is a swine - I was on stand-by to drive up to my local ripple near work, but wan’t at all surprised when Mike posted the cancellation notice.

I looked at the options before activating it and couldn’t come up with any better than the standard route starting near The Flatt. Maybe if we have a protracted period of hard frost then it might be worthwhile trying your route again, but no doubt you’ll be away if that happens.

73, Gerald

P.S. Would it not be better to use the track to the south of Yett Burn and then head straight for the summit? Maybe this is not viable on the ground.

In reply to G1ZJQ:

where every time you put your foot down you don’t know how long your leg is
going to be.

Ah, you’re describing Craignaw GM/SS-096 !

Your descriptions of these SB summits has put moved them up my list of hills to activate. On top of that, Jim G0CQK’s website whttp://www.sb-sota.org.uk/ also makes them look very desirable.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to G1ZJQ:

Hi Derek

It was nice to be able to work you today, the fact it wasn’t on SB-005 didn’t matter. I’m sure you will eventually get the better of that particular route.
Frank G3RMD called you after our QSO but neither he or me heard you again.

73 Mike

In reply to G1ZJQ:
Hi Derek,
Heard you working Mike on .310 down here in Cheltenham, called you but did not make it. Good to know there is a good path south. Great effort and wise decision to abort.
73
Frank

In reply to G3RMD:

It’s a really pleasant summit Frank and has a decent take off south. I worked Don RQL from there. It’s just a swine to access.

In reply to MM0FMF:

The ground is similar, but not exactly like the Galloway stuff. I found that it was easier to pick a route - I think basically the tussocks are larger on SB-005, so you can step on at least a proportion of them without being ejected into the slush beneath. Overall the Galloway stuff is more tiring.

73, Gerald

Once we get some more daylight, probably February or early March, I am tentatively planning to explore a route to Sighty across the Greyfell Common using some of my GPS tracks from my descent in 2005. There was no problem coming down the route that we did then, mostly clear walking along tracks that were sometimes clearly sheep tracks, but in some places clearly tracks that demonstrated human influence. Interestingly I can see several of the tracks that we took, very clearly on Google Earth.

Essentially I will just look for a good weather forecast in the six weeks from beginning Feb to mid Mar and head there. I might as well do it in the bonus period as Sighty is tough enough to be hardly to be worth just 2 points. Nothing firm yet - just a plan in mind.
73
jim g0cqk

In reply to G0CQK:

Sounds like a good excuse for a joint activation! Agree with your sentiments precisely Jim - definitely a 5 pointer!

73, Gerald

In reply to G1ZJQ:

If it’s the fence/EU boundary with Parting Well that you mean, this
will be the option next time. The other dotted line south of Yett Burn
is just a CP boundary - doubt if there is anything on the ground.

Yes, I noted the CP boundary - there seems to be a track south of that which gets to the edge of the forest via a firebreak - no doubt overgrown and will take 30 minutes to find!

As for winter bonus making it worthwhile: these “points” are
meaningless to me…I can’t eat them or spend them!

Tell that to others, myself included. Strange thing, during the summer I don’t think about points, it’s uniques that matter. Then the winter comes and I can no longer rush around 4 or 5 summits in a day, points come into play.

Next time, I will not post an alert for this hill so that it can be
aborted without interfering with folk’s days.

Pity. You didn’t put me out one bit - I normally escape from the office on sight of an actual activation posting. Even if you hadn’t contacted Mike DSP and I’d have gone up the local ripple on the strength of your alert alone, I would have no cause to grumble. How much less those sitting in warm shacks? The Activator calls the shots and you did what was 100% appropriate at the time.

73, Gerald

In reply to G1ZJQ:

Now I see why you chose the route you did - I was under the impression that the logging was on the “normal” route from The Flatt. I couldn’t have been concentrating when I read your report at the time. Maybe that is the only route now practical, apart from Jim’s suggestion to the south of the forest.

As for Friday - from the BBC weather site for Carlisle:

Sunrise 07:28 (GMT)
Sunset 16:23 (GMT)
Sun / Cloud
8°C max 5°C min
17 mph wind
moderate viz
1026mB 70%RH

Wrap up well! Likely to be “out and about” chasing Frank RMD in Wales, so do lodge a post if you intend to go over there.

73, Gerald