The usual week’s Tower of Hanoi of work, weather and family didn’t quite stack up as I was hoping - mostly as the snow storm forecast moved around all over the place. So Sunday night I decided on going out Monday morning and then maybe Tuesday afternoon (Fraser didn’t consider it a “maybe”) - oh what a shame 
- for wee adventures each time.
Monday 
Monday turned out to be glorious sunshine, and I ventured down to the Angus hills to tick off some of my last remaining ES summits - Creigh Hill, GM/ES-064, and Mile Hill, GM/ES-076 - before heading into work at lunchtime.
Creigh Hill was first, a short walk up the side to the huge cairn at the top. It was pretty chilly but plenty of shelter. A quick go on 40m and 20m before packing up and moving on.
I decided to climb Mile Hill from the south, following a Walk Highlands route that starts from an estate entrace. All was fine until I get to just before the summit where a new deer fence has been put around and I can see a fresh plantation of trees on the side of the hill. I suspect there’s a gate on the north side but certainly nothing I could see in all directions.
The summit is a grassy mound, and that pretty much sums up the hill - but lovely views all round. This was a complete canditate for Fraser so once he was in the log and the callers died out I packed up and headed back up the road.
Tuesday 
This time it was work first; SOTA later. Again, watching the weather radar to see if we were going to be in the pouring rain/snow or not. I think the weather turned out pretty well in the end. The forestry track to the start of the mountain biking trail was a slog but once we were bunny hopping up the slabs it was good fun.
2m was entertaining, with plenty of chatter from the locals whilst we watched the snow get heavier, but 40m was popping! 59 both ways for many contacts and it was a continous stream for me. A Russian net started to get louder and louder in the background until they were S9. We’d been at the top for about 40 minutes so I packed it up and went to see what Fraser was doing.
He was done too, and off we went down the hill. Thankfully Fraser was thinking of his report write up when he stopped to take some photos…and find his phone missing. Realising that at the bottom of the hill would’ve needed more than one mince pie to overcome that situation.
I kept calling it, hoping to hear it in the heather but Fraser had it on silent to mute the WhatsApp chatter. I was relieved he’d found it and crashing back down the heather to our bikes was a lot more enjoyable that having to rewalk the cycle route looking for a phone. On average it’s downhill, but there were plenty of ups and downs before it was pie time. 
It was dark when loading the bike in the car but when I got home I realised just how mucky we were!
I’ve been going further and further afield on big days out, and was frustrated we couldn’t continue, but there’s still lots of fun to be had 30 minutes from home. Let’s see what next week’s forecast brings… 
GM ES
With those two 1-pointers done, all I have left are the 4x 2-pointers nearby, the beloved Crock, Hare Cairn, Cat Law and Corwharn. Winter bonus season is almost here, so hopefully tick them off before the end of the year. Fraser also has four left to complete - just not the same four!
There’s also only one summit left without a route in sotamaps (and therefore sotlas) in GM/ES. So once I do Hare Cairn, I’ll add it, and then the Supreme Ministry for the Glorious Exploration of GM/ES (visas mandatory) will have completed its 2025 objectives.