Trip to F/MC and Pamplona (and reports)

It was planned for a long time… unclear until this morning… but now it’s on.
I leave on Saturday and that is my plan.

Next year I’ll be retired and until then there’s still holiday and overtime to be taken sensibly. And there was quite a bit accumulated. (Paying out is not an option for me)

Years ago, I was in the Massif Central by motorbike and always wanted to go hiking there…and the many photos posted here awakened my interest in the area around Pamplona. I had never been there before.

What better way than to combine that with SOTA now…

I’ll be camping in the F/MC and I’ve treated myself to a holiday flat in the old town of Pamplona.
The list above is roughly planned. Maybe there will be even more summits. As always, I will post the exact dates as an alert.

See you on the bands - Armin

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beau projet Amin : j’aimerais le faire
j’espère vous contacter souvent
envoyez nous des photos
73
alainf8feo

Hi Armin,
It’s good to see your plan materializing.
It’s raining a lot in Pamplona today and that’s the forecast for the week.

I hope it will clear up by the time you’ll get here, so we can enjoy without needing waterproofs, umbrellas and the like…
Enjoy your trip!
We’ll keep in touch.
73,

Guru

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Hello Guru

Then I guess I’ll have to bring the sun myself…

But I have actually no concerns there… In Germany there is a saying: When angels travel - then the sun shines. :innocent: :rofl:

73 Armin

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Hi Armin,

good plan, but “only” 15 Summits??? :wink:
I wish, all will be fine.

73 Ludwig (from my last day of SOTA-Holiday in HB9)

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Half-time

I’m sitting in my hotel room in rainy Bordeaux and I just have some time. Earlier, I strolled around the city for hours.

The first days in F/MC were fantastic. The weather was perfect.

Sunday (my mistake) I was still on the F/MC-001. The tourist mountain. I made sure I got up there very early. (The first cable car left in front of my nose.) At the beginning it still worked, but then it was as if bus loads had been dumped. Someone managed to collapse my telescopic mast… I then stopped… and left.
… and went on to F/MC-070. The map shows something different, but there is a nice clearing at the top.
F MC-070

F/MC-021 is again a very visited peak. There is plenty of space at the top… but nothing to attach a mast to.

Monday, F/MC-008 was first on the agenda. It was very windy and the mast would not hold. So I attached the wire to the pole of the windsock and led it over the hiking pole to the device.

F/MC-031 is a beautiful, popular spot above a lake.

F/MC-252 is almost a drive-up… it is an overgrown hill next to a dilapidated farm. And full of flies…

The hike on Tuesday was an absolutely recommendable highlight. However, the path between F/MC-004 and F/MC-003 should only be walked in hiking boots.


Wednesday: F/MC-002 is almost like F/MC-001, but not as beautiful and crowded…

On my way to Bordeaux I visited FL/SO-004. Also a drive-up. The transmitters on the summit cause a lot of interference. The AZ is quite large. I recommend keeping your distance here.
FL SO-004

Tomorrow I will continue to Pamplona.

73 Armin

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Hi Armin,
nice picture collection. Bordeaux is a lovely place to walk.
Hope you have a pleasant trip and see you soon in Pamplona!

Good WX has already been ordered although they don’t warrantee it…

73 de Ignacio

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This is current Pamplona WX forecast…

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Hello Armin
Nice souvenirs from Puy de Sancy few years ago.

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And I found this In my archive
I like this country

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Hello Armin,
You seem to be a little in advance for the Pampelona feria, the next is scheduled in June 2022 !!!
Best 73, Nico

Not June, but July (6th to 14th), although neither 2021 nor 2020 took place due to pandemia, so I doubt it will happen in 2022.
Cheers,

Guru

oops … thank you for your correction; of course, it should be difficult to organize it in this period. But I remembered to participate two times … when I was younger !!! Great amazing … perhaps not for the city residents … 73 Nico

More than difficult, it would be crazy and irresponsible, I think.

I used to enjoy it in my teens and some of my 20’s, even in some of my 30’s, but I often preferred leaving Pamplona during that crazy week for a destination in the coast.
The locals have it every year available, so we can enjoy it some years and skip it some others. However, I know people who never miss one and some other who never participate in any. There’s people for anything and everything.
I’m now (56) in a moment that I prefer leaving Pamplona during that week, but my daughters (18, 16) and son (11) prefer staying… That’s the way things go…

73,

Guru

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After crossing the border and turning south, the landscape changed completely. Even the drive along the N-121-A was a pleasure.
As I am an early riser, I arrived in Pamplona too early to move into my holiday flat. The most sensible thing to do at this moment is to activate the local mountain EA2/NV-119.
And the first contact was ? … EA2DT !
View of Pamplona from EA2/NV-119

Since the weather forecast had only announced 3 days of good weather, I took it sportily and changed my programme to the first 3 days.

On Saturday there was a triple:

The journey from Pamplona is a bit complicated. The navigation system led me to a road in Luzaide that ended in front of a pedestrian bridge. In the somewhat larger curve that I then had to drive, I then slalomed around 100 pilgrims on the Way of St. James. In general, as lonely as the area may seem, I was never alone on a summit during the activations.
Basically, you should have a device with you that shows a map and your location. It is not always clear which way leads where and the location information on the rare signposts sometimes puzzled me.
On the other hand: one would be disposed of professionally… There are griffon vultures everywhere.

The first summit was EA2/NV-022 in combination with EA2/NV-170.

On EA2/NV-022 there are remains of a fortification. Here it has a built-in windbreak for activators.

View of EA2/NV-022 from the hike to EA2/NV-170 (with the parking space in between)

On the way to EA2/NV-170 I saw horses with bells for the first time. I had only seen this on cows before.

View of EA2/NV-170

The 3rd summit on this day was EA2/NV-012. For drivers of a car with higher ground clearance, it is a possible drive-up.

On Sunday I made a double of EA2/NV-021 and EA2/NV-023.
Also a beautiful hike with great views.

View of EA2/NV-021 from EA2/NV-023

As you can see, there is a fence here on EA2/NV-023 to which you can easily attach your antennas.


Normally you have a geometric point for the antenna everywhere

View of EA2/NV-023 from EA2/NV-021

Yesterday there was the double EA2/NV-073 and EA2/NV-070

The hike from Azanza up the mountain was still in the clouds. But it soon cleared up. Here the landscape is completely different. Sometimes you have to find your way between the juniper bushes. There were autumn crocus everywhere.

First EA2/NV-073




The way up to EA2/NV-070


At the top

Today i take a break and have a look at the city… but with everything I’ve seen so far: If I had to choose between living in Pamplona or Bordeaux, it would be Pamplona… (sorry Bordeaux)

The next few days I want to cherry-pick a few more… that means I will make a few more completes. Where - you will see as always on the alerts. :grinning:

73 Armin

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I’ve spent all day with Armin DL6GCA, taking him to four summits around Pamplona.

The first summit was Mt. Ezkintza EA2/NV-148 and I forgot taking any pictures. Armin worked on different HF bands and I worked on 40m CW and 2m FM with Armin’s H.H.

Then we went to Mt. Erreniega EA2/NV-092, during which ascent we enjoyed some sweet, delicious blackberries. Armin worked on HF and I only worked on 2m FM until the H.H. ran out of battery. I only logged 2 QSOs.
You can see following Armin during the activation:

On our descent we still had some more blackberries.

The next activation was Mt. Iriberri EA2/NV-116:
Armin’s H.H. had ran out of battery, I had my FT-817ND, but I decided not to activate here and just take some pictures while Armin was activating. You can see them here:

After this activation we descended and headed to the village where I own my house and we enjoyed a nice lunch and some refreshing drinks (coke and beer). Quiz: who drank what?

After the lunch we headed to Mt. San Martin EA2/NV-151, the last summit of the day. Armin worked on HF and I setup my sloper endfed wire to work on 40m CW and 15m CW, where I logged one DX USA with Paul @N1ZF.
This is the only picture I have from this activation with me in the foreground and Armin upstairs in the distance:

It was a great pleasure spending a big part of the day with Armin and I’m glad that he bagged 4 new EA2/NV summits, being one of them a complete for him now (EA2/NV-092).

73,

Guru

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Guru @EA2IF and Armin @DL6GCA .

Thanks for sharing today and the pictures :+1::mountain_snow: You were very active and had a great time. Many greetings :wave:

73 Marcel DM3FAM

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Hi Guru and Armin, Thanks for your activation report and photos. You both look like your are enjoying the activity with great smiles each. :grinning: Well done to you both.

Take care and stay safe.

73 Geoff vk3sq

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Thanks, Guru, for the report and the great pictures! This must have been a perfect day: the two of you heading from one summit to the other until the batteries went flat😉
It’s hard to tell who had the beer. Maybe you and Armin got the Coke :joy:

Looking forward to hearing you on the air soon again. Take good care!
73, Roman

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And the winner is…

Roman :trophy:

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