Snowdonia recommendations pse?

[M1EYP]

Moel-y-Gest GW/NW-067

I was home at the unusually early hour of 4pm after work on Friday 20th June 2008. It must have been something special for me to miss the weekly staff five-a-side football, and it was - a Snowdonia pass for Jimmy and I!

I started this thread by asking for ideas for a suitable Friday evening expedition to kick things off. Robert G0PEB suggested Moel-y-Gest GW/NW-067, which I agreed was the perfect selection. Jimmy directed me along the A55 to Bangor, and then through Caernarfon and heading down to Porthmadog. We had made reasoanbly good time, and were parking in the lay-by SH562389 by 7pm. It was a beautiful warm and sunny evening, and we set off in shirt sleeves with a spring in our stride.

The initial haul was steep but short, and we emerged from the wood on the east end of the ridge, 1km away from the summit, which is right on the western end. We followed the direct distinct path towards the summit, which scrambles up and over a few lumps before curling around to the final approach.

The summit was bathed in bright evening sunshine, and the views over Porthmadog, Tremadog Bay, the Lleyn Peninsular and back towards the main mountains of Snowdonia were stunning. We had carried 80m CW/SSB capability with us, knowing that the potential audience for a VHF-only activation would be small. However, several stations in the Porthmadog area were active on the band, so we opted for the easy option, thus increasing our chances of reaching the Youth Hostel before reception closed!

For the descent, we followed a faint line through the grass nearer to the cliff edges along the north of the ridge, and this gave easier walking without the ups and downs of the ridge line. Well for three-quarters of it anyway! The last bit necessitated some awkward ankle positioning on steeply sloping spongy ground, but we were safely back at the car by 9pm. So far, so good, with our first activation, first point and another of Jimmy’s “Uniques catch-up” summits in the bag.

We arrived at Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel around half-an-hour later. There weren’t any tins of food or Pot Noodles on sale at reception with which I could self-cater for my tea, so I settled on a bottle of ale instead. Jimmy had been given an early meal on arriving home from school, so it was not a major problem.

I had to shift the wardrobe in our two-bedded room, so I could pile blankets on it to block out the skylight, which was immediately above our beds and cutainless. I needn’t have bothered. The night was pitch black anyway, and Jimmy had his customary terrible first night’s sleep for a trip away. Not that you’d have noticed the following day!

Tom M1EYP

[M1EYP]

Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008

We were up sharply with the radio alarm at 6am on Saturday 21st June 2008. It was the longest day of the year, and we intended to use that advantage fully, by undertaking, arguably, our most challenging ever single day’s walking for SOTA. We drove from Snowdon Ranger Youth Hostel, to Beddgelert and onto the A498. I parked in the large car park in Nantgwynant at SH628507.

Jimmy and I took our first steps onto the Watkin Path at 7.00am, with significant awe and trepidation about the day to come. Our first venture into Cwm Llan was 2003, when an aspiration to activate Yr Aran GW/NW-019 and then Snowdon GW/NW-001, with Jimmy aged 10 and Liam aged 6 was clearly ridiculous! That quickly turned into an aspiration to do just Snowdon, and then into one to do only Yr Aran. Ultimately, exhausted and progressing far too slowly, and with the main bulk of Yr Aran still to be ascended, we abandoned, turned around, and retreated back down to the Watkin Path.

Our second venture into the Cwm Llan was the following year, when we exorcised the ghost of the previous year and activated Yr Aran. This was with Liam again in the party and it took us all day; indeed we had set aside a whole day for the expedition. This time Yr Aran was to be the third, and lowest summit of a three summit day. Was it possible for us? We were acutely aware that recently Steve 2E0KPO and Dave G0AOD had attempted this trio, but had to abandon Yr Aran at the end. Also, not so recently, I recall an entertaining activation report of an attempt that ended when an intended “ten minute power nap” between Snowdon and Yr Aran ended up going a couple of hours overtime! A glance at those listed in the Database as having successfully completed this trio in a day made formiddable reading: MW0FFX, MW0IDX, M3MCV, M1EYO, G1INK, MW0YLS, G4YSS. Could we possibly join that list?

The gentle wide amble around between the woods near the start and the disused steep inclines is always pleasant with the white waterfalls bubbling away to the right, and the sense of anticipation of the wild, giant, remote and secret world of Cwm Llan hiding behind. Turning the corner, and that world opens out, with Yr Aran standing tall and seemingly inaccessible to the left, the terrifyingly tall and sheer cliffs beneath Snowdon’s South Ridge straight ahead and the foothills of the Y Lliwedd massif close to the right, but too close to reveal any clues of the upper reaches.

We paused briefle for photos at the Gladstone Rock, before continuing on the Watkin Path as it bent around to the right and using Y Lliwedd as welcome shelter from the prevailing wind. This left us with just fine drizzle, which was OK as we had been in full waterproofs from the start, plus the cooling effect was good for our early pace and later stamina.

The Watkin Path bent around further to the right and began to climb more steeply. We then bent left and further towards Snowdon GW/NW-001 before we realised that we must have missed the path branching right for Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008. We retreated, and found it, but not before two chaps in front of us were descending towards us announcing their expedition abandonment. “We couldn’t find the path up Snowdon” they explained. It’s all just scree, you can’t follow it and it was getting dangerous in this weather". They looked to be well-equipped and experienced. They probably were. It takes experience and knowledge to be able to make a decision like that sometimes.

This compounded the nervousness about our own aspirations, but we struck onwards and upwards, following the indistinct lines in the scree to scramble steeply up towards Y Lliwedd’s west peak. We arrived on summit just after 10.30am and got straight into a 2m FM activation, using the Yaesu VX-7R and the RSS antenna. We made 13 contacts between in 18 minutes, and then began our steep and scrambly descent back to the Watkin Path.

Tom M1EYP

[M1EYP]

Snowdon GW/NW-001

Halfway down from Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008, a group of walkers in their early twenties asked how far to the summit. “About twenty minutes of mild scrambling” I replied, “Are you doing Snowdon after?”. “Is this not Snowdon?” came their exasperrated reply! I thought they were joking, but alas not; they really thought they were climbing Snowdon! We chatted for a while as they followed Jimmy and I and went in the correct direction. It turned out that this was their first ever mountain walk, and that they did not have a map with them. Nonetheless, they eventually rejected our offer to lead them to the summit, preferring to forge ahead rather than match the slow and steady pace of Jimmy and myself. Well, OK, the slow and steady pace of myself, with Jimmy having to stop and wait for me every few minutes!

As the path began to slowly gain more height, we found a relatively sheltered spot and took on our first helping of soup from the flask. Today’s offering was Minestrone, something fairly common, but one that Jimmy hadn’t had before. He liked it and requested it again in the future. Other foods carried, and intermittently nibbled were Nutri-Grain Oat-Bake Bars and Quiggins Kendal Mint Cake - both chocolate covered and original. However, the best and sweetest taste was undoubtedly that of the water from our hydration packs - delicious!

We had heard and read much about the technical difficulty and danger of the steep scree route up Snowdon at the top of the Watkin Path, as well as the challenge in actually determining its location. In the event, we encountered no such problems. We turned right into a sort of gully, and slogged our way steeply upwards. Jimmy used his pair of walking poles to good effect, but I preferred to hold my trekking poles halfway along, so that I could get my hands to the ground and rocks, and scramble my way up.

A wonderful sight was that of the finger rock as the Watkin Path emerges onto the rounding off of Snowdon’s summit area. However, we were not at the summit just yet. More steep climbing was demanded until the eyesore of the building site emerged through the mist.

No more were we protected from the wind by the face of the summit we were climbing. We were near that summit, and the wind was blasting in, bring horizontal rain with it. The elements were by now starting to get the better of my boots and waterproofs, and I crossed my fingers that this would not compromise my chances of success. The summit of Snowdon was, as ever, heaving. The lack of trains, cafes and decent weather never seems to keep the masses away from here, and today was no exception. We struggled for a photo position on the crowded triangulation station, then dropped down to the next “level” down. Jimmy snatched the camera to take a photo of Mike Peters, from 1980s band “The Alarm” who was up here doing an outdoor acoustic gig. Just like last year when we were last here. I hadn’t realised, but Jimmy pointed out that this was the Saturday that was exactly one year since our last visit, which also coincided with a Mike Peters set!

We settled into the one side beneath the trig point that afforded complete shelter. Inexplicably, none of the masses were sheltering there, in spite of it being the perfect spot. Their loss, mine and Jimmy’s gain. We settled in and called on 2m FM.

There appeared to be an intermittent problem with the RSS antenna. I identified the problem as being with the BNC plug, which needed some wiggling periodically to restore proper reception. Until it completely came off! Then I remembered that I had noted the intermittent a couple of weeks ago, after accidentally dropping my handheld and the feeder (and ultimately the connector) taking the strain. I had forgotten all about it. And now remembered! RSS disconnected, and helical antenna restored, I continued. I made 5 contacts, while Jimmy made 12, in a 26 minute activation. Jimmy set off slightly ahead of me to take some photographs of the building site (and what a “sight” it was), before I rejoined him to begin the steep descent back to the Watkin Path finger stone and beyond to the top of the South Ridge, which we would follow towards Yr Aran GW/NW-019.

Tom M1EYP

[M1EYP]

Yr Aran GW/NW-019

The nerves were beginning to kick in again. I had never done Snowdon’s South Ridge before, but had often looked up at its terrifying high sheer cliffs from the Cwm Llan area below. I had poured over the OS 1:25000 map at the narrowest point of the ridge and read route guides on the internet with quotes like “the ridge narrows to an arete”. Could I get past it, or would I suffer an RQJ moment?

At the top of the ridge, we met a group from the Kinmel Bay Outdoor Pursuits Club, who were following a similar circular route to ourselves, although they were not intending climbing to Yr Aran’s summit. Already I felt safer, and for the most part the path was wide, firm and flat, with the sides dropping off steeply to the left and right, but nothing too terrifying. There was just one point were the ridge narrowed to the width of the path - about a metre - but it was only two metres long. Head down, eyes down and forwards, quickly! That was it, problem overcome just as quickly as it arrived. It was probably a good thing that the visability was so poor with only the clag a few metres below the ridge visible, and not the land 400m below! Most of the Bwlch Main/Clogwyn Du path down the ridge was good easy walking, although there were one or two short sections requiring steep scrambling or careful footwork.

Tired, and yearning shelter, we took advantage of a short section of north-south running wall by a ladder stile SH605529. We hid behind it, and served up the day’s second helpings of Minestrone soup. It was disappointing that what should have been a spectacular view was replaced by a blanket of opaque grey. “Are you alright?” came the call from one of the Kinmel Bay Outdoor Pursuits Club as they caught us up. “Yes” I shouted back, with a thumbs up, and Jimmy and I scrabbled our own stuff back together and got on our own way again.

We were soon well ahead of the Kinmel Bay cohort, who were even slower than me, and soon Jimmy was pulling well ahead of me, sensing the proximity of the saddle with Yr Aran. I suddenly noticed that my Yaesu VX-7R was missing from its belt clip where it normally sits on my rucksack strap. I checked my coat pockets - nothing. I caught up with Jimmy, who checked the mapcase - nothing. It was obvious that it must have fallen off where we sheltered behind the wall. I was gutted. However, it would have cost a further hour to retreat to that point and back again, and that would neither be feasible nor sensible. With regret, I took the decision that we wouldn’t be turning back to look for it, and that we would be continuing forwards with our expedition as planned.

However, I thought it would be a good idea to wait for the Kinmel Bay gang to catch us up once again. If I had dropped it on the path, they would surely pick it up knowing it was mine, having asked us all about the radio gear at the top of the ridge. They did catch us up, but they hadn’t seen my radio. An enjoyable day was suddenly beginning to feel as miserable as the weather.

The rain had been persistant andlargely horizontal for hours and hours. Our waterproofs had long since stopped having waterproof properties, and we were soaked to the skin, from head to toe. Our boots and socks were wet through, out trousers, pants, shirts and fleeces were soaked, as were our coats, hats and gloves. However, I noted with some slight consolation that I still felt warm and healthy. I asked Jimmy, and he said he too felt warm despite being wet. I suppose, at the end of the day, that “proper” walking clothes need to maintain their thermal properties even when wet. And we were wearing “proper” walking clothes.

A lapse of concentration saw us veering off eastwards as the main path continued to lose height. However, Jimmy realised that we had gone too far and insisted we climb back up a steep grassy slope. I was tired and irritable, and started arguing with Jimmy about the route. I think he was tired and irritable as well, for he began to argue back heatedly. Eventually, we settled on the fact that the map and compass agreed with Jimmy’s assessment of the situation, not mine, and so began a reluctant steep trudge upwards.

(to be continued)

Tom M1EYP

[M1EYP]

Jimmy’s personal victory in the navigation argument brought a rousing cheer and cries of “Power to the Young People” from the passing Kinmel Bay Outdoor Pursuits Club, who had been observing our altercation with amusement. Once we regained our relative privacy and isolation further up Yr Aran’s lower flanks, Jimmy stepped towards me and offered an apology for his manner towards me. I offered my own in return for mine towards him, we shook hands and proceeded up to the saddle, which in fact we had not dropped too far below at all.

Now the fun began. This section is incredibly steep, and requires some significant scrambling, sometimes up as much of five feet of near vertical rock at a time. I was shattered and finding this very hard work. I couldn’t work out how it was possible that I managed to do this ascent with Liam 4 years ago, when he was just 6 years old. Perhaps I had dreamt it all!

We reached the junction where our descent route led off down the ridge, and here we turned right for the final push for the summit. I gave Roger MW0IDX a call and asked him to spot us as QRV on 2m FM in 20 minutes, which he kindly did. We rounded off onto the long broad summit area, and hunted around for the trig point, which we couldn’t find last time, but which Roger assured us was there. Still we couldn’t find it, so we took photos by the cairn on the highest rock outcrop and then tried to drop off in lee of the strong and uncomfortbale wind somewhat.

I dumped my rucksack off my back, and couldn’t believe my eyes. There, in the gap in the netting that would rest against the small of my back, was my VX-7R. Just lodged in there, and somehow transported without dropping out for the last hour and a half or so. I let out a roar of laughter, which was more relief than anything.

Calls on 2m FM on the handheld - now with just rubber duck aerial what with me breaking the connector off the feeder for the RSS - brought in two stations quickly, which we both worked. Jimmy had a scary moment when the wind blew his rucksack, sending it rolling down the steep northern slope of Yr Aran. Forunately, it came to a stop after around ten feet or so. Much further, and it would have rolled right off the hill!

My continued calls fail to solicit any further activity, so we relocated further around the hill to try and find a new “horizon”. 37 minutes of silence reigned, before I managed to break a local QSO on 145.525MHz for the other two contacts. Incoming reports were marginal, but were exchanged and confirmed. We stood up and redonned our packs, a full uncomfortable hour after arriving on summit, and a good 50 minutes longer than we had intended staying.

We were now trying a new descent route, down the ridge by the wall towards the old mine workings. There were no paths, and in very low visability, it was tricky a somewhat unnerving to decide at which point we needed to swing left and attempt to descend to the Watkin Path. Jimmy was more confident than I, and led the way, plotting us safely down by some deep disused quarry workings. On some of the steeper sections, I found it easier to sit down in my “waterproof” overtrousers and slide down the wet grass, pushing myself along with my hands and poles! We passed an old mine entrance and an old ruined slate building. It all looked suddenly familiar. Jimmy, Liam and I had been up this way in our failed 2003 attempt on Yr Aran. If only I had known then how close we had got to the ridge!

Soon, we were down to the disused tramway and then down to the Watkin Path by the Afon Cwm Llan. The first people we had seen since before 5pm came by, just taking a short evening stroll along the first part of the Watkin Path. It turned out they too were staying in Betws-y-coed, in the Swallow Falls Hotel, just next door to the Youth Hostel in which we were booked.

The last part of the descent was uncomfortable, for my left side was now in some pain from the exertions of the day. However, what with the heavy rain that had come down all day long, there was a huge volume of frothy white water crashing down the waterfalls adjacent to the path, and that certainly added some interest. Both Jimmy’s and my own bladder packs were empty, so I produced my secret 500ml bottle of “emergency water” from the side pocket of my rucksack, and shared it with him. We reached the car just before 9pm, 14 hours after starting out on today’s big expedition.

We reached the Swallow Falls Hotel in Betws right on food last orders at 9.30pm. We placed ours for whitebait followed by Cumberland sausage and mash, and then skipped over to the Youth Hostel for a quick shower and change. Back in the bar, which was busy, we enjoyed our meal, and the pints of water and Conwy Ales that accompanied it. This hotel’s reception also handles the bookings for the Youth Hostel, which is self-catering - but the hotel does meals, and also breakfasts in its Tavern Bar upstairs. The food and beer was good; I enjoyed it.

Tom M1EYP

[M1EYP]

Great Orme GW/NW-070

Our alerts and original plans for Sunday 22nd June 2008 were for the pair of Pen Llithrig y Wrach GW/NW-013 and Creigiau Gleision GW/NW-028. I think we had already, subconsciously decided to cancel on the Saturday night. We were tired out, had a broken aerial, a broken radio, fuses to replace in the SLAB and a car full of soaking wet boots, clothes, coats and gear.

On Sunday morning, we were in no rush to exit our youth hostel bunks, and had a lie-in until 8am. Then we went over to the main Swallow Falls Hotel building on the same site and upstairs to The Tavern, which is an incredibly large cafe and bar. The breakfast was good value. Cereal, fruit juice, tea/coffee and toast, followed by Full Welsh cooked breakfast. Well, that’s what it said on the menu. Jimmy pointed out that it was exactly the same as a Full English, while I countered that given the staff cooking and serving it, it should perhaps be called a Full Polish. Whatever, it was nice, and at £5 each, a good value start to the day.

We knew that our route home would take us close to Llandudno, so we agreed we would do a zero point repeat activation of Great Orme GW/NW-070, using our 2m FM handhelds - our only remaining working gear. En route, we were in mobile contact with Roger MW0IDX who invited us round for a brew after the activation.

We noticed the trees alongside the A470 being battered by the wind, and figured that the situation a couple of thousand feet higher could be pretty hostile. Indeed, the weather forecast on the notice board at the youth hostel that morning had outlined a dire situation with the wind.

On the top car park on Great Orme GW/NW-070, it was very difficult to open the doors of the car and get out, and this at only 600 feet ASL. We just took our handhelds, logbook, pencil and camera in our fleece pockets (our coats were still too set to be used) and struggled around to the other side of the summit complex building. We found the best shelter to be on a concrete stairway at the rear of the cable car station, but it was still pretty grim!

The VHF QRM from this notorious summit was at its notorious worst, and most contacts were difficult. We managed to make several each, but a couple of stations at the end that we heard call initially, disappeared before the QSOs were complete. Upon returning to the car park, we found two large smashed windscreens strewn across the tarmac. After a struggle, we got the doors of the car open and got into the relative safety of the inside of it. It was being rocked violently though, so I wasted no time in driving off the car park. Just around the car was an Arriva bus, minus windscreen, which had been blasted out by the wind when it had opened its passenger doors on the top car park! Jimmy grabbed a ghoulish photograph, and we made a sharp exit!

The cups of tea at Roger MW0IDX’s QTH in nearby Kinmel Bay were most welcome, and we spent an enjoyable hour there chatting about all things SOTA, hillwalking and radio. We then hit the road, and were home by 4pm, a relatively early Sunday homecoming for a SOTA trip. The car was buffetted by strong sidewinds all the way along the A55. The higher reaches of Snowdonia would have surely been no-go areas today!

Not a bad old SOTA outing:

3 days
5 activations
1 new unique (3 for Jimmy)
25 points

…even though we returned 10 points lighter than originally intended.

And now for something completely different:

Tom M1EYP

[M3ZCB]

In reply to M1EYP:

There appeared to be an intermittent problem with the RSS antenna. I
identified the problem as being with the BNC plug, which needed some
wiggling periodically to restore proper reception. Until it
completely came off! Then I remembered that I had noted the
intermittent a couple of weeks ago, after accidentally dropping my
handheld and the feeder (and ultimately the connector) taking the
strain.

Coincidentally the BNC plug came off my RSS antenna last Thursday, while
walking between Hallin and Place Fells. Martyn M1MAJ noticed that the coax
was dangling behind me, rather than being attached to the handheld
in a bag attached to the rucksac. I had no recollection of having put any
particular strain on the cable, but guess it must have got caught either
in dangling vegetation or when putting the rucksac on. We used a
whip antenna to activate Place Fell, and Martyn let me borrow his RSS (left
in the car on Thursday) for the rest of our holiday.

We were up Dufton Pike on Saturday: dry when we started walking; high winds,
heavy rain and occasional hail by the time we were at the shelterless top.
The RSS really came into its own: operating with me standing up with it on
my rucksac and Martyn sitting down logging and passing the VX7 between us
we got it qualified in just over 20 minutes, ending up with an unexpected
summit-to-summit with GM/SS-024. Shame we didn’t manage a summit to summit
with you as well: we were surprised to find anyone else up a hill in that
weather!

Caroline, M3ZCB

[MM0FMF]

In reply to M3ZCB:

I’ve written about my BNC connectors before and as long as nobody minds me repeating myself…

When I made the lead to my HF dipole which uses RG-174 and a coax plug I was concerned as to how to make sure the coax didn’t get pulled out of the BNC plug as the plug was designed for RG-58. In the end I made a sleave of heatshrink tubing around the outer of the BNC plug and filled that with hotmelt glue. As the glue goes in hot it runs into the plug and at the same time causes the heatshrink to shrink around it. Excess glue is forced back out and the whole thing sets firm attaching the plug to the cable with a mixture of glue and heatshrink. If you try a few times you can make a pretty job but mine is functional not pretty! I have done the same with RG58 and BNC plugs, the clamp is normally enough but the extra strain relief of glue and heatshrink gives an extra margin for inappropriate tugs on the coax etc.

Andy
MM0FMF

[G8ADD]

In reply to MM0FMF:

A really useful tip, thanks Andy!

73

Brian G8ADD

[M1EYP]

Caroline,

I certainly did apply inappropriate strain on my RSS feeder plug. Several times in fact, when I was waiting for the replacement VX-7R belt clip to arrive, but had forgotten that my handheld wasn’t fixed to my shoulder strap when picking my rucksack up! I had forgotten to check and maintain the system before last weekend’s outing; at least I now know that it doesn’t need “checking”! A job on the “to do” list.

Tom

[M1EYP]

The photos are now here:

http://tomread.co.uk

You will see that the views were actually quite good most of the way to Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008. You will also see how bleak and nasty it was thereafter, and what a tip the summit of Snowdon is with that building site scarring it. Hope the new facility is going to be worth the two years of desecration.

The views from Moel-y-gest were stunning, while that word could also describe the wind damage to the bus on Great Orme, which Jimmy photographed.

To see the photos: Use the ‘SOTA’ link on the left-hand menu pane. These are the newly updated pages with new photos:

GW/NW-067 Moel-y-Gest
GW/NW-008 Y Lliwedd
GW/NW-001 Snowdon
GW/NW-019 Yr Aran
GW/NW-070 Great Orme
G/SP-015 The Cloud (of course)

…and a few other bits and bobs in my offshore licensed pirate radio section.

Tom M1EYP

[M0DFA]

Good pictures, Tom, despite the wx.

“and what a tip the summit of Snowdon is with that building site scarring it.”

A building site is always a building site, Tom, be it at the top of Snowdon or Macclesfield. The old one was a bit utilitarian (being charitable).

“Hope the new facility is going to be worth the two years of desecration.”

Not seen any of the artists impressions of the new buildings. Years ago I saw a few of the ‘huts’ the AAC ran. Bet it doesn’t come up to that standard.

Still won’t be room to work HF from the summit.

73s, Dave, M0DFA/G6DTN
.

[G8ADD]

In reply to M0DFA:

“Still won’t be room to work HF from the summit.”

The roof looks fairly flat on the artists impression…

73

Brian G8ADD

[M1EYP]

In reply to M0DFA:

Good pictures, Tom, despite the wx…

I was pleasantly surprised with them myself Dave! I think that I managed to completely forget how relatively pleasant the initial ascent to Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008 was, what with the drenching I then received for the rest of the day! Saying that, the rest of the photos - on Snowdon GW/NW-001 and Yr Aran GW/NW-019 - that appear on my website, are the pick of those I had. That might just give you an impression of exactly how dismal the rest (the unused/deleted ones) were!

We will repeat this expedition sometime, in the next twenty years or so, just to get the views we missed. I have never had a view from Yr Aran to this day. The one day where the wx was favourable heading towards Yr Aran, I abandoned and turned back before the ridge because Jimmy, Liam and myself were all so exhausted. Jimmy was 10, Liam was 6, and I hadn’t slept a wink the night before at the campsite at the SOTA BBQ! We’ve been back and achieved the summit a couple of times since - but set only against a nearby wall of grey murk!

Cheers,

Tom M1EYP