A 10 day family break on the Greek island of Corfu gave me an opportunity to activate all four summits.
Some info first:
Kit:
- KX2, inc built in tuner, with 3000mAh 12.6V LiPo
- EFHW, tuned for 40m, 20m etc.
- Carbon 6 pole with guys and stake.
Travel:
- I followed my usual packing process for flying. Radio and battery in hand luggage, pole, guying kit (with pegs) and wire antenna in hold luggage. No issues with radio gear at Manchester or Corfu
- A car is an absolute necessity for getting around. Roads are “challenging” for UK drivers, but I had no particular issues. I had access to a small AWD Toyota Hybrid which dealt with the narrow, rough and at times incredibly steep up and down roads (several sections estimated at 1 in 4 or 25%, possibly more in a few places)
Route finding and general walking tips:
- Two of the four summits are virtually drive on (or can be - more on that later)
- One uses reasonably well definded paths
- One requires some undergrowth bashing - long trousers and sleeves recommeneded. Of particular note is the spikey dawrf oak bushes with holly like leaves.
- Insects bites are a problem, especially mosquitos, use repellant.
- Even in mid October I needed a sun hat. I can’t imagine what it would be like in July or August!
15th Oct 2025 - SV/IO-002 Pantokrator - route on SOTA Mapping/SOTLAS
I was expecting the road and parking to be quiet at end of the holiday season. I was wrong! I did get a parking space high up, near the monestary, but only because someone else moved just as I arrived. I suspect parking could be a bigger challenge in summer. There are multiple commercial masts on the summit. I found some QRM, but it was workable.
It’s a 2 min walk to the Monestary. I found a disused area just below, but still inside the AZ. It is overlooked, but I had no problems from anyone working there, but I gained a lot of interest from other tourists who looked down at me very quizically.
25 contacts, including 2 S2S, 23 on 20m SSB, 2 on 40m SSB.
Summit TV mast/antenna
Other commercial masts on the south end of the summit area.
This gate at the north end of the monestary was unlocked and gave me access to a disused area where I could operate.
Operating position. I lashed the pole to an old fence post. Be careful there is a 5 or 6 metre drop on the otherside of this low wall!
19th Oct 2025 - SV/IO-005 Tsuka - route on SOTA Mapping/SOTLAS
After reading other reports and conversing with Victor GI4ONL (thanks!) I found a good parking spot about 35 mins walk to the NW of the summit. It requires some care to find the final turn up a very narrow and partly overgrown side path to reach the summit. You also have to use your hands a bit to scramble up some small rock steps. Caution needed as the limestone is incredibly sharp and a slip would likely involve some serious cuts.
The old trig point is in pretty poor shape, I suspect many lightning strikes have done the damage. But it still provided sufficient support to lash the pole. Despite the summit undergrowth I managed to get the EFHW in the air quite easily.
26 contacts, including 3 S2S all on 20m SSB.
Parking area
Indistinct path leaves here, the parking area entrance can just be seen about 50m away on the right side of the road.
This is where the small overgrown side track leaves for the summit.
Small side path to the summit. Look for very faded red paint spots.
Summit view towards the east.
Trig has seen better days.
I managed to navigate the rocks and brush to get the antenna in the air, using the trig for support.
Closeup to Pantokrator.
20th Oct 2025 - SV/IO-006 Iraklis - route on SOTA Mapping/SOTLAS
Again there was an excellent parking area. Firstly you follow a vehicle track, then turn onto a small, sometimes narrow path through the scrubland to an open summit and trig point. Spectacular veiwpoint.
I think someone must have put me on some sort of DX Cluster this day, because I got lots of non SOTA chaser contacts and basically couldn’t work down the pile up for 40 minutes.
51 contacts, with 1 S2S. All on 20m SSB. I had intended to use other bands, but my wife was quite rightly a bit fed up and so I went QRT as soon as I had two CQ calls unanswered in a row!
Good roadside parking, follow vehicle track in the left of the photo.
Turn off onto the smaller footpath
Looking south, I think Psarudi is the right most hill.
Good solid Trig on this one. Tsuka and Pantokrator on the right of the photo.
Close up - Tsuka in the foreground, Pantokrator in the distance with all the commercial masts.
Making good use of the trig point again.
21st Oct 2025 - SV/IO-003 Psarudi - route on SOTA Mapping/SOTLAS
I got really lucky with this one - the track to the summit monestary was open. A careful drive got us to the top, leaving just a 5 minute walk. See sign below, sometimes it is chained off due to fire risk. It’s an “entertaining” track…. but as you can see below someone in a hired Fiat Panda managed it!
From the parking area it is a simple walk past the monestary to a view point and then to the summit trig point. There are further view points beyond which I am sure are worth visiting, but I was short on time.
The trig point has been toppled completely. I managed to wedge the pole in some rocks and get the antenna wire out of the way of the other visitors. Most of which had walked all of the way up.
47 contacts, 1 S2S. 23 on 20m SSB. 20 on 15m SSB. 4 on 10m SSB. Worth noting that 15m SSB was so clear I thought it was FM!
Summit car park, I was impressed to see the Panda!
Can be closed to vehicles due to fire risk
Gate was open… so I took full advantage
Trig point seen better days
Summit activation spot, perched on an old wall
View point, looking SW
Summary
A great 10 day holiday, with 4 SOTA expeditions thrown in. Weather was perfect on the days I was out, not too hot or windy. We had two big storms and another day of lighter rain during the 10 days, so care was needed to pick the Activation days.
