I
left Pickering at 5.42am.
Wether
Hill GM/SS-147
I
got to the gate from the B729 at NS 684912 which leads up to the wind farm on SS-147 Wether
Hill - a workman opened the gate for me and waved me through... I took that to be the
granting of permission, so I drove smartly through with a wave and this saved me
cycling to the top. I parked near to the summit and walked a half mile from the car rather than cycling up the hill. 2 points, a SOTA Complete and 20 QSOs including
Derek 2E0MIX in Cumbria on 2m FM with my handheld and RH770 whip. I took some pleasure out of working my friend Jan OK2PDT operating as DL/OK2PDT/P on DM/BW-008. The short skip
propagation conditions for inter UK communications were poor - the stronger stations were
south of Bristol - the likes of G4WSB, GW4VPX and G0RQL were logged. On leaving the site the man came out of his cabin again and
opened the gate for me - the workmen had been regrading the road up to the
wind farm but their machines were resting. I complemented him on how good the
work on the road was, and he thanked me in return...
Green
Lowther GM/SS-056
The
radar station on Green Lowther near Wanlockhead was next. I went there some years ago with Geoff M0PYG one late afternoon and the security gate was locked.
Yesterday the gate was open, which was an invitation for me to drive to the
summit. I saw two contractors vans up there and a cyclist and drove to within
100m of the trig point where I set up the KX2 and link dipole on my 5m fishing pole. No problem and no questions asked, even
though a contractor went to the nearby transmitter building. 16 QSOs were
completed including another with Derek on 2m, which is when I discovered that
the “fully charged” battery on my FT-270 was worn out and needs replacement.
We did complete the contact but my radio was cutting out due to the worn battery at the end of our QSO - I was
using 5 watts output with the RH770 whip antenna. Jan DL/OK2PDT/P came on again, this time from DM/BW-003 and we made our 2nd and final S2S contact of the day.
Common
Hill GM/SS-174
Another
wind farm and no closed gates. I drove almost to the top - total walk to the
trig was around 300m. 11 QSOs on 40m CW/SSB from this summit, and I
was finished by 1300z.
However, this
was supposed to be a SOTA Cycling day and it hadn’t been. I felt like a cheat
having walked less than one mile bagging three SOTA Unique Completes. I
had some time left before heading back south and home so I studied several summit locations using
Viewranger on my phone and on the local OS 1:50000 map I had with me. I opted for a
nearby summit called Nutberry Hill SS-156 not far from SS-174.
Nutberry
Hill GM/SS-156
I
saw on the map there was a track leading into the forest - the nearest village
was an old mining community I had never heard of named Coalburn. From there I
drove beyond a derelict farm called South Cumberhead until I reached a locked gate at NS 777337 where
there was just room to park my car off the track. This parking place left me with
a 5 mile journey to the summit, mostly on the bike with the last half mile from
a quarry being a moorland walk. It was 3.30pm when I set off on the 10
mile round trip - it would have been too late to walk it and get back home
before midnight, but it was feasible on the bike. It wasn’t the best surface
for SOTA Cycling and there was a significant amount of ascent, descent and then
re-ascent, but I managed to ride 4 miles out of the 4.5 miles, pushing the bike
for a half mile, before leaving it and walking the final half mile over the wet
moor. If I had taken the time to plan this route at home I would likely have decided it was not worth it.
In the event, it
took me 70 minutes to reach the trig point after the 5 miles of cycling and
walking and when I got there it was raining. This was that wetting, misty
drizzle that soaks you in time at all. I operated my KX2 on CW in a small pack
bag which I use to carry my headset in. After just six 40m contacts (including
Victor GI4ONL) there were no more callers and I packed up.
The
walk and ride back I was not looking forward to, however I actually enjoyed it,
reaching a maximum speed of over 27 mph on the downhill rough surface without
falling off the bike! I was wearing my helmet as a precaution..... The journey
time back, including the half mile walk to the bike took me 47 minutes for the
five miles. I got back to the car at 5.54pm and promptly changed my sweaty T
shirt and socks which were soaked. I was cycling and walking in my leather walking
shoes rather than the usual Scarpa leather boots and the boggy moor meant I had returned with wet feet. This did at least remove some of
the hard skin which I suffer from on my feet!
This
left me with a 200 mile drive back to Pickering, which included a stop at KFC
Penrith for the usual feed. The A1 was closed so I purposely diverted early
from the A66 via Richmond onto minor roads and then on to Brompton on Swale and Northallerton to Thirsk. The detour cost me another half hour and I
reached home in Pickering at 10.40pm having driven 458 miles.
