15 September 2026: Tuesday GM/CS-120 Brown Muir,
There had been heavy overnight rain and it was still raining as we ate breakfast. The forecast was the worst of the week, predominantly rain, but with some breaks and possible sunny intervals.
By the time we were ready to go out it had brightened up and there was no rain. Even though more rain was forecast we decided to head north to GM/CS-120 Brown Muir, which appears to have a track all the way to the transmitter station at the summit, so should doable in poor visibility. We aimed to combine this with a visit to Elgin for some shopping and possible touristy stuff.
The rain restarted as we drove north, and was sometimes heavy. It was still raining when we reached the parking spot at the end of the public single track road at NJ275563. Tracks went to left and right and less obviously straight on. We pulled in tight on the northeast corner of the junction, think we had allowed plenty of room for vehicles to come past. The rain eased to be light so we decided to tog up in full waterproof mode, and were almost ready to set off when an enormous articulated lorry appeared from the track to the east. Although we thought we had allowed plenty of space it wasn’t enough for something that big to turn, so he asked us to move, suggesting the area to the southeast of the junction. Driving carefully as he now had boots on Martyn moved the car onto an area of rough ground, not blocking any gates.
We then set off past a locked gate on the west track. The wet track had sections with running water as it curved around the ruined Moniemouies farmstead. We went over a stile with a notice about there being there being a bull with cows and calves in the field (thankfully none seen) and over a stream. The wet track continued along a field edge before turning into a stream itself. The rain continued with varying intensity. Turning another corner to ascend the ridge the stream crossed from one side of the track to the other, and we crossed from side to side many times to avoid fastest and deepest bits. Visibility was often less than 100m.
There was no sign that any 4 wheeled vehicles had recently used this sometimes deeply rutted track to get to the transmitters, and as we got higher gorse was growing up the middle of the track. Descending from the northern subsummit the track to the true summit was completely flooded in the bottom of dip. We managed to find a way through on boggy ground to one side for the final ascent, when the transmitter tower and associated building appeared out of the mist. Passing the building we spotted the square sided “Lossiemouth” trig in the corner of fences: it has a curious cap on top, which looked as though it had a plastic box inside – possible geocache, but we didn’t investigate further.
It was still raining, and the wind at the summit was making it unpleasant. We wanted to get the activation done and get down, so tried to do a 2m FM only hit and run, supporting Caroline’s rucksack antenna on a pole attached to a fencepost. Given previous experience in this area, Caroline didn’t have high hopes, but was pleasantly surprised to get 3 contacts for both of us in 5 minutes. However that was it despite a self-spot and lots more calling. The rain was getting heavier – did we quit having got the unique or try HF to get it properly qualified? Martyn decided to try to get HF up in the relatively tight space between the transmitter compound and other fences, while Caroline continued calling on 2m. There was to be no 60m today, just 40m for both of us. After 5 contacts for Caroline and 7 for Martyn in 5 minutes there were no more callers and the rain became torrential, so we packed up as fast as possible. Everything was very wet. Lunch stayed in the rucksacks.
GM/CS-120 Brown Muir “Lossiemouth” trig point
GM/CS-120 Brown Muir VHF
GM/CS-120 Brown Muir HF
GM/CS-120 Brown Muir HF and trig
We descended the same way. The track/stream was now even more fast flowing and extensive and we were very wet when we got back to the car. Water had got through several layers, but Caroline’s waterproofs and boots seemed to have worked slightly better than Martyn’s. He was wringing water out of his socks as we changed into spare socks and trousers in the car. A very late lunch was eaten in a steamed up car.
In terms of rain and poor conditions we tend to compare activations against our 2008 activation of GM/SS-155 Hill of Stake, which was memorable for getting very wet in heavy rain, with some concern that streams might not be passable on the way back down. This one came pretty close – Hill of Stake had the advantage of being close enough to the central belt to be able to do a hit and run activation on 2m FM so we didn’t have to stay as long at the top!
By the time we got to Elgin to do our shopping the rain was light. We were thankful that the cottage had good heating and radiators where things could be laid out to dry. Martyn’s boots were still wet the following morning, but Caroline’s had dried out, but in both cases we decided to swap to our spare boots for the next few days.
