Scotland holiday

GM trip day 7 - Wednesday 5th August 2009 - Beinn Mheadhoin GM/ES-005

The climb up from Loch Etchachan was quite a steep and tiring one. Jimmy strode out ahead, I kept the middle ground, while Barry, faithfully accompanied by black labrador Tommy, followed behind. Emerging onto a flatter plateau, it was a much easier final stroll to the summit, standing at 1182m ASL.

Not that any of us actually attained the summit. It would have been atop a cluster of huge rocks that towered about 5m above the rest of the summit plateau. We opted out, and got on with the SOTA operating!

Working conditions for Barry and myself were exactly as per the earlier Ben Macdui GM/ES-001, while Jimmy tried his luck on his 2m handheld. I reckon he would have needed a huge slice of good fortune to get his quota even with the beam, so he was soon at my side and waiting for me to work down the pile up (14 stations) on 7.032MHz CW. The QSO rate was much slower for Jimmy on 7.160MHz SSB, so it was a relief for him to hear an absolutely huge signal from Steve G1INK to give him his all-important 4th contact after several minutes of calling in vain.

Now we had one heck of a “non-trivial” walk to contemplate to complete the circuit. After finding a long steep grassy descent off Beinn Mheadhoin, we picked up the main path which had an even steeper and quite rocky descent down to Loch Avon. This route passed the famous Shelter Stone, and we could well understand why walkers reaching that point could well be unpacking their sleeping bags and stoves right there.

But we hadn’t planned to overnight. We had to get back to the car in the daylight that remained, ideally. Headtorches were carried of course, but we wanted all the significant stages out of the way before using them, at least.

Several people were camping on the shore of Loch Avon, and Tommy the black lab approached each of them in turn for a fuss, which he duly got. After successfully balancing myself over the two series of stepping stones, I did feel a twinge of jealousy of those now before me, who were cooking their evening meals and preparing to relax in their sleeping bags in this beautiful location.

Not for us. The last major ascent of the journey now beckoned, and Jimmy chillingly pointed out that here we were, after 7pm in the evening, and contemplating an ascent equivalent to Snowdon GW/NW-001 just to get back to the car (and without a further SOTA summit encountered)!

The climb up through the rocks and waterfalls of Allt Coire Raibeirt was tough on our tiring bodies, but at the same time exhilarating with the water plunging downwards by our side and the periodic encountering of mini-scrambles. Again, the team became stretched, with Jimmy pulling ahead, and Barry dropping behind.

At the top of the steep section, some conveniently situated stones were utilised as chairs, as the three of us polished off the tablets for the last burst of energy required.

The walk now became really enjoyable, as we pushed on gently uphill, aiming for a near horizon. The point was marked by a large cairn, half a kilometre to the west of Cairn Gorm. Here, I paused to enjoy the stunning view from Aviemore around to the ski slopes, dimly lit in the last of the evening sun, but atmospheric and inspiring as opposed to gloomy.

I 'phoned Marianne. “Are you still on that mountain? That’s terrible!” she remarked, before I related to her about the fabulous day’s walking we were now completing.

Pressing on, we now had a long, steep, but thankfully stone-stepped descent on the Fiacaill a’ Choire Chais ridge. A sense of “job done” kicked in upon reaching the wide utility vehicle access track, which we followed back down to the car park. We just about made it without headtorches, but probably only because of our northerly latitude!

We said goodbye to Barry GM4TOE and thanked him for his company and his excellent route (once published, by Barry, in Trail Magazine, and covering a distance of 25km and ascent of 1500m). Jimmy and I drove straight into Aviemore in search of food. After brief deliberations, the staff decided to allow us into the Spice of India restaurant which was about to close for the evening. The splendid curry, and Cobra beer was devoured enthusiastically.

The tiredness on the drive back north to Lossiemouth was intense, so I did the sensible thing of pulling into lay-bys for a rest whenever I chose. Upon reaching Lossie, I was pulled over by a police car, and questioned about my speed. The officer wanted to know why I was only doing 40mph in a 60mph limit. I related to him the day’s expedition, and my view that 40mph was a perfectly reasonable speed to be doing at that time of night on an empty road. The young officer conceded the point and wished me a friendly goodnight.

So ended an amazing day and an amazing expedition. Two ten-pointers - but the equivalent of three actually climbed! Needless to say, there would not be an early get-up and pre-breakfast activation tomorrow!

TBC

Tom M1EYP

GM trip day 9 - Friday 7th August 2009 - Bin of Cullen GM/ES-084

And all too soon it was Friday - the last day of our Lossiemouth week. We had enjoyed Lossiemouth greatly. We found it to be a super little holiday town with great accommodation, friendly people, great beach, good cafes and restaurants etc - and conveniently placed for a whole selection of SOTA summits.

We had been looking at Bin of Cullen as a possible family walk. The map indicated a not-too-far and not-too-steep easy walk onto the summit, which would be sure to have stunning views over the Moray Firth. By this stage, to do it at all, would require another Tom & Jimmy 5am raid. But this turned out to be for the the best; a suitable family walk it was not!

The outward route followed the A96 to Fochabers, and the A98 towards Cullen. After passing Buckie, Jimmy directed me right onto a minor road on which would be our parking spot. This was in the wide track entrance at NJ471637, supposedly opposite the start of our path. But there was no sign of any route towards the summit.

A bit more searching, and it appeared that we should head down a narrow cleared channel between the trees. The going wasn’t good though, and deteriorated further down as we had to fight and clamber our way through some pretty dense forest. This was sapping, in terms of energy, spirit and time.

Eventually though, we emerged from the ‘obstacle course’ and soon picked up the distinct path up the hill. This was suddenly very good going, and we arrived on the summit to be rewarded with exactly the excellent view we had anticipated.

Things continued to go well, with Jimmy achieving his quota on his preferred 2m FM, and me rattling through 22 QSOs in 19 minutes on 7.032MHz CW. By 8.30am, and significantly cheered, we were on our way back down.

This time, we stuck with the distinct path, hoping that it would continue all the way to lead us out to the roadside. Unfortunately, it petered out back down in the dense woodland, and we had to fight our way out again. This proved exceptionally difficult, both from a physical - and navigational point of view. It became real guesswork where the ‘channel’ leading back up to the road might be.

We never found it. Instead, we chanced upon the boundary fence for the farm at Hillhead of Rannas, and skirted around that. Safely back in the car, it was a victorious mood as we drove back to Lossie with our 9th unique activation in the bag.

We loaded the car, took a shower, then joined Marianne and Liam for a full Scottish breakfast in the superb cafe below our apartment. With two days to get to Sandhead, near Stranraer, which was a Saturday to Saturday booking, there was no need to rush, so we first took a drive down to Tomintoul to visit Barry GM4TOE’s shop - A’anside Studios.

Marianne, being an artist herself, really enjoyed browsing the art and crafts on display, and in particular the clocks crafted by Barry himself. Jimmy, Liam and myself did some shopping in the Scottish deli section of the shop, collecting Stornaway black pudding, tinned haggis and game. (All delicious, thank you Barry & Jacqui).

Our road journey took us further than we were anticipating, and the hotel we got to was in a place called Fenwick, just outside Kilmarnock, and less than two hours away from the second week’s holiday accommodation.

TBC

Tom M1EYP

GM trip day 13 - Tuesday 11th August 2009 - Beneraird GM/SS-201

While not terrible, we weren’t being blessed by the same excellent weather of the previous week. An earlier attempt to get out and activate this summit ended after half-an-hour of dejection in the car waiting for the rain to stop at the parking spot. It never did, and we returned to Sandhead.

However, Jimmy and I are nothing if not determined, and we did one of our 5am get-ups on the Tuesday. The driving route saw us heading north on the A77, but turning right well before Cairnryan to ascend into the hills and follow a long minor road towards Lagafater Lodge.

This time the weather was much more favourable, and we donned boots and packs to set off walking along a rough track. The route afforded good, steady and consistent walking along the shoulder of Black Glen, and then around to the summit trig.

I was kept busy by a run of 16 on 7.032MHz CW, but in contrast, Jimmy caught only one on 2m FM. Therefore, once I had finished, the 817 and dipole was given over to Jimmy to work on 7.115MHz SSB, where he made the other three contacts he required - but interestingly, no more.

We walked the return leg down Black Glen and contemplated the other end of the long day to come, which would culminate in an evening activation.

TBC

Tom M1EYP

GM trip day 13 - Tuesday 11th August 2009 - Cairn Pat GM/SS-281

This was the summit most local to our holiday accommodation in Sandhead, and the highest point on the Rhins peninsular. In similar vein to the previous week, the plan was to combine a new unique SOTA activation, with participation in the RSGB 70cm activity contest.

Jimmy directed me through the lanes from Sandhead and up to the vehicle access track for the transmitters on Cairn Pat. We hoped that the installations would not cause us QRM in the contest. After parking the car, we walked up the fairly rough track to the transmitters, and began to assemble our station right by the trig point.

The weather had been poor - wet and windy - but things began to clear once we were on summit, and views over to Larne, County Antrim began to open up. In the 70cm contest, I could only replicate last week’s performance of serial number 006 - although that did include five DXCCs - GM, GD, GI, GW and G. Jimmy worked the same set of stations apart from the G station. Again, we had sufficient to qualify the summit for SOTA, but were way of the pace in terms of the contest. It mattered not though, and shortly after 9.30pm, we were packing up and descending.

It was notable how much darker it was at 9.45pm when compared to much further north last week! We got back into the cottage st Sandhead, and got our heads down ahead of the next morning’s ferry trip to GI to visit Marianne’s dad.

TBC

Tom M1EYP

GM trip day 15 - Thursday 13th August 2009 - Ailsa Craig GM/SS-246

Also: IOTA EU-123; IOSA CL05; WAB NX09

Our final SOTA activation of the GM holiday would be biggest and best. Well, maybe not biggest in terms of height or distance, but in terms of effort - both logistical planning, and physical exertion - it was well up there!

We really didn’t want to pin this one down to a set day. It deserved a magical experience, and that demanded decent weather. Improbably, the boatman was able to be available for four days during the week, and go for the shortest possible notice. Furthermore, we managed to get a full boat quota of 12 participants, all of whom could be similarly flexible.

So, by the Monday, the date was confirmed as Thursday, and this turned out to be the best weather day of the week. Jimmy and I drove up the A77 from Stranraer to Girvan, and parked on the harbour. Here we meet Christine GM4YMM, Ken GM0AXY, Robert GM4GUF, Allan MM1BJP and dad Jim, Phil G4OBK, Geoff G6MZX and wife Joan, Nick G0HIK and Jack GM4COX. All twelve were here, which meant that it was £25 per head for the sailing - the boatman Mark had quoted me a rate of £300 for the return sailing with three hours on the island.

After all the meet & greets, and a few photo calls, we were descending the gangway onto Mark’s boat, and eagerly anticipating the experience before us. We began the ten mile 75 minute sailing to Ailsa Craig, which gradually grew before our eyes from the little Christmas pudding it appears from the shore, to the awesome lump of granite in the middle of the sea.

What we hadn’t realised was that cabaret was included in the price. An altercation swiftly esculated between our boatman, and another who had tied his dinghy to the pier in the only place that would make it impossible for us to land! The keenest members of our party were soon sprinting off up the hill, while other hung back continuing to be enthralled by the pre-match entertainment.

Around the back of the disused buildings on the shore of Ailsa Craig, we needed to pick an indistinct path through vegetation and onto a better path that climbed steeply, and close to an edge, to the ruined castle. Here, we met some tourists from Washington DC who were on their way down.

Continuing upwards, the route became brutally steep in places, demanding all fours scrambling, some of which was tricky with only grass and mud to grip! The going didn’t improve much on the rockier sections, as the scree was very loose. As the path petered out, I knew I had to pick a line up through the grass and heather to make the summit. I could see Phil G4OBK’s mast, so knew I wasn’t far away.

The summit wasn’t a huge place, even when taking the 25m activation zone into consideration, so there were several amateur radio stations sited within a small space. Thankfully, careful choice of bands by each HF station restricted QRM to a minimum, while the 2m SSB horizontal and 2m FM vertical stations seemed able to operate simultaneously without difficulty.

My own results were 15 QSOs on 40m SSB, DXCCs F, DL, ON, G, HB, ON, LA & PA, and one on 2m FM, Eric GA0FSZ in Girvan making use of his newly issued NoV prefix for the Scottish Homecoming event. Jimmy MM3EYP/P became the first ever SOTA activator for GM/SS-246 when he worked Eric as GM0FSZ as he topped the rock, taking his ‘first activations’ total from zero the three in the space of just a few days! Jimmy went on to make three more on 2m FM, and one on 2m SSB, including S2S with John GA8OTI/P on GM/SS-129 and Richard G4ERP/P on Blake Fell G/LD-031.

Views from the summit were spectacular, from the islands of Arran and Holy Island, around to Rathlin Island, just north of GI - from where Knocklayd GI/AH-002, Slieveanorra GI/AH-003 and Slemish GI/AH-007 were easily distinguishable - and round to Stranraer and the Rhins Peninsular. Not so spectacular on the summit were the many flying ants that came to visit. They liked Geoff G6MZX in particular! It had to be a special soup for a special occasion, so the EYP flask was today charged with Baxter’s Luxury Cullen Skink, as purchased from Fochabers the previous week.

My legs didn’t much care for the steep downward views on the tricky descent, and I took a little longer than I should to get to the boat. The boat trip back to Girvan was a joy on a very calm sea and mild conditions, leaving me to enjoy the full benefits of shirt sleeve order.

After thanking Mark the boatman for his outstanding service, we adjourned over the road to the Harbour Bar in Girvan for a drink, and for most of the rest of the party, fish & chips. We were going for a meal in Sandhead though that night, so passed on the fish supper and headed off after one drink.

It was a fantastic experience, and everything ran like clockwork. Thanks to everyone for making it happen, and particularly to Jimmy for organising it all and handling all the communications with the participants. Thanks also to all the chasers who called us all in great numbers.

So endeth the GM holiday. Any thoughts of a final SOTA activation on the Friday were wiped out by the weather forecast of heavy rain for two days appearing to be spot on as we awoke on Friday morning. As the rain got heavier, we even took the decision to come home a day early.

Cheers,

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:
Bin of Cullen GM/ES-084

Quote: “The outward route followed the A96 to Fochabers, and the A98 towards Cullen. After passing Buckie, Jimmy directed me right onto a minor road on which would be our parking spot. This was in the wide track entrance at NJ471637, supposedly opposite the start of our path. But there was no sign of any route towards the summit”

A much better access is from NJ492633, which has reasonable parking, if you are careful, and a good track all the way

73

Barry GM4TOE