Some of the Langdales

M0NOM · 20 September 2020 21:26

Introduction

The Langdales is often described as a mini Lake District and it is easy to see why it is so popular with walkers. The forecast this Saturday was no rain, around 12 degC maximum with a cold Easterly wind around 20 knots on the summits.

You get a lot for your money here - the initial ascent is broken into two halves if you follow Stickle Gyhll, firstly to Stickle Tarn, and then a further ascent to either Harrison Stickle as the first Wainwright, or Pavey Ark. All of the Wainwrights here are a fairly easy walk once you have made the initial ascent, which makes for a very productive day in terms of WOTA bagging!

I had intended to follow the route around Pavey Ark straight to High Raise, but actually it is so close it is pointless not to do it.

The Main Langdale Wainwrights

Equipment

2m QSOs

RIG: Yaesu FT-817ND
ANT: Spectrum Communications Slim-G
PWR: 5w via internal battery
Case: PowerPort WorldPouch for FT-817

HF QSOs

RIG: Yaesu FT-817ND
ANT: SOTABeams Quadband Dipole
MAST: Decathlon 6m travel pole
PWR: 5w via ZIPPY Compact 2100mAh 3S1P 30C LiFePo4 Pack

All power connections standardized using PowerPole connectors.

Other

Logging: Rite in the Rain 4x6 Notebook and STAEDTLER Noris HB Pencil
Rucksack: Lowe Alpine Airzone Trek 45:55
Phone/Camera: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T
Footwear: Salomon X Ultra 3 Prime GTX
Water: 750cl taken, approx. 2 litres consumed in total.
Water Purification: SAWYER PRODUCTS SP181 All-in-One Squeeze Filter

Safety

Emergency Plastic Whistle
Silva Expedition S Compass
12v to USB adapter plus phone charging lead
Memory Map Android App
Supertrip Sports Glasses UV400 Protective

Strava Tracking

Parking in a dedicated motorbike bay!

First use of the water filter at the outlet of Stickle Tarn. Top tip - collect the water, then move to safe distance when transferring water to bottle. I managed to drop the filter in the stream, could have easily resulting in a single use item!

The filter worked great, water tasted great, it took about 5 minutes to gently squeeze 750ml from the filter bag into a bottle.

Squeeze Filter

Pavey Ark

Harrison Stickle, Stickle Tarn dead calm!

Wild Campers packing up

Pavey Ark

WOTA ID: LDW-089	Height: 700 m (2297 ft)
SOTA ID: n/a	Grid ref: NY284079
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KL
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.461288 Long: -3.10468

Stickle Tarn from Pavey Ark

Panorama on a stunning day!

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name	Notes
08:26	G1PIE	2m	145.575	FM	IO83qr	England	MARK PROCTER	OP: Mark, QTH: Preston
08:30	G7CDA	2m	145.575	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
08:31	2E0EVD	2m	145.575	FM	IO84ic	England	Clive Douglas
08:32	M1BUU/P	2m	145.575	FM		England
08:33	G6LKB	2m	145.575	FM	IO84ke	England	David WARBURTON
08:34	G1OHH	2m	145.575	FM	IO84ob	England	Susan Griffin
08:34	G0BUB	2m	145.575	FM	IO92rx	England	MICK SHARPE	OP: Mick, QTH: Grantham
08:35	G0TDM	2m	145.575	FM	IO84oq	England	John Sutton
08:37	G1ZIM	2m	145.575	FM	IO84if	England	Simon Agnew
08:37	GM4WHA	2m	145.575	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
08:38	2E0SRL/P	2m	145.575	FM		England
08:41	F5RZC	2m	145.575	FM		France		MHL: JO10AR, PWR: 40w, ANT: Colinear
08:42	GW1CJJ/P	2m	145.575	FM		Wales		OP: Phil, QTH: Colwyn Bay
08:43	M0AYB	2m	145.575	FM	IO84gp	England	PHIL DAVIES
08:44	G7CAF	2m	145.575	FM	JJ00aa	England	SF BOND	RIG: Baoefeng GT3, ANT: Slim Jim

What can I say about this set of QSOs! All fairly standard to start with, with Mark G1PIE proving to be an excellent chaser, I hope he is a regular. Then tropo kicked in and I got G0BUB in the log Mick from Grantham! Bearing in mind I’m using a roll-up SlimG and 5 watts he gives me a 59, wow! He was 55 with me. Mind, his 9700 and 10 element beam might have had something to do with it.

Whilst reeling from that DX I then get F5RZC in the log! Unfortunately he isn’t on QRZ.com but he did give me his Maidenhead locator as JO10AR:

2m FM contact into France

Wow!

The walk to Thunacar Knott is very quick, but a little zig-zagging is required to avoid the fell-top bogs.

Thunacar Knott

WOTA ID: LDW-076	Height: 723 m (2372 ft)
SOTA ID: n/a	Grid ref: NY279079
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KL
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.461218 Long: -3.112392

Derek 2E0MIX thought this was the weird one, and it is, not really a summit more a hillock with a few piles of stone strewn around. Still a pleasant enough spot and another good set of contacts, although no DX this time.

Thunacar Knott

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name
09:06	G7CDA	2m	145.550	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
09:07	GW4ZPL	2m	145.550	FM	IO73wd	Wales	Colin John Barwell
09:08	G0TDM	2m	145.550	FM	IO84oq	England	John Sutton
09:09	GM4WHA	2m	145.550	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
09:11	G1OHH	2m	145.550	FM	IO84ob	England	Susan Griffin
09:12	G6LKB/M	2m	145.550	FM		England
09:12	G1PIE	2m	145.550	FM	IO83qr	England	MARK PROCTER
09:12	G8CPZ	2m	145.550	FM	IO84of	England	Andy Barth
09:14	2E0LDF	2m	145.550	FM		England
09:17	2E0MIX	2m	145.550	FM	IO84fn	England	Derek Edge
09:21	G0HIK	2m	145.550	FM	IO84je	England	Nick Gregory

High Raise (Langdale)

WOTA ID: LDW-056	Height: 762 m (2500 ft)
SOTA ID: G/LD-019	Grid ref: NY280095
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KL
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.47561 Long: -3.11124

The SOTA summit of High Raise is a little non-descript too, although we do have a trig stone and a summit cairn horseshoe which allowed me to get out of the wind whilst doing my VHF activation.

Trek up to High Raise

Good views to the West

Actually I was a bit harsh about this summit last time, but it does have good views all around, just maybe not the drama of some summits where there is a steeper drop off.

First in the log was M1EYP/P on SOTA G/SP-004, then Geoff, then EI6FR/P on EI/IE-005 - good contact considering the range of mountains in the way to the West.
G7WKX/P could have waved at me from Crinkle Crags, a very easy WOTA S2S!

What followed was 14 S2S contacts on all bands, only afterwards did I discover that there was a SOTA European S2S event on, makes sense! FT-817 setup once again proving that even S2S don’t require any more power when the bands are favourable!

Of note was my contact with GM3CWI/P - Richard from SOTABeams, I recognised his voice not the callsign and this was a vertical to horizontal SSB QSO that happened purely because I dropped to 144.300 SSB just to see if anyone was about. He’s now touring Scotland, was on his way to Mull of Kintyre in a motorhome, not jealous at all!

SOTA Activation Mapping

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name	Notes
09:54	M1EYP/P	2m	145.425	FM		England		g/sp-004
09:56	GM4WHA	2m	145.475	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
10:01	EI6FR/P	2m	145.475	FM		Ireland
10:03	G7WKX/P	2m	145.475	FM		England		WOTA: LDW-017
10:04	2E0MIX	2m	145.525	FM	IO84fn	England	Derek Edge
10:05	G6LKB/M	2m	145.525	FM		England
10:06	MW0IDX/P	2m	145.525	FM		Wales
10:07	G0HIK	2m	145.525	FM	IO84je	England	Nick Gregory
10:07	M1BUU/P	2m	145.525	FM		England
10:08	G1OHH	2m	145.525	FM	IO84ob	England	Susan Griffin
10:08	G1OAE	2m	145.525	FM	IO84fp	England	TONY STEEL
10:09	2E0CSS	2m	145.525	FM	IO84mv	England	Karl Latham
10:10	G7CDA	2m	145.525	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
10:11	2E0IKM	2m	145.525	FM	IO84fp	England	Mike Moffat
10:12	2E0LDF	2m	145.525	FM		England
10:13	2I0YIM/P	2m	145.525	FM		Northern Ireland
10:14	2E0XYL	2m	145.550	FM	IO83lg	England	Karen Richardson
10:17	GM3CWI/P	2m	144.340	SSB		Scotland
10:42	M7MZB/P	2m	145.550	FM		England		OP: Matthew
10:47	9A1AA	20m	14.315	SSB	JN95fq	Croatia	IVO NOVAK
10:50	YO8XCM	20m	14.310	SSB	KN37SD	Romania	Mircea Craciun
10:53	OH3GZ	20m	14.315	SSB	KP11oq	Finland	JUKKA " Jack " KOVANEN
10:53	EA5K	20m	14.315	SSB	IM97jr	Spain	Miguel Campos
10:54	CT2GSN/P	20m	14.315	SSB		Portugal
10:55	SQ9BQW/P	20m	14.315	SSB		Poland
10:59	M0JCQ/P	2m	145.425	FM		England
11:07	G0RQL	80m	3.690	SSB	IO70uv	England	DON ROOMES
11:08	G0FEX	80m	3.690	SSB	IO92jp	England	KEN PORTER
11:09	EI0AZA	80m	3.690	SSB		Ireland
11:09	2E0FEH	80m	3.690	SSB	IO70VJ	England	Karl Kruger
11:09	G0VWP	80m	3.690	SSB	IO93kx	England	Terry Sayner
11:10	M7RSD	80m	3.690	SSB	IO82ng	England	Jon R Stannard
11:19	HB0/HB9GKR	40m	7.180	SSB		Liechtenstein
11:20	EA2CKX	40m	7.180	SSB	IN83ta	Spain	PEDRO CHINCHURRETA JAUREGUIALZO
11:21	EA2DT	40m	7.180	SSB	IN92et	Spain	Manuel
11:21	G6WRW/P	40m	7.180	SSB		England
11:22	ON5SWA	40m	7.180	SSB	JO21if	Belgium	Francois (SWA) Gorremans
11:23	ON7ZM	40m	7.180	SSB	JO20ol	Belgium	JEAN PIERRE HUBERT
11:25	F4VPX/P	40m	7.125	SSB		France

HF Set up on High Raise

I didn’t really have a plan on the way back from High Raise and that was reflected in me missing Sergeant Man which would have been a quick and easy detour. By the time I noticed it I was too far gone to turn back. Again, with the plan to get to Pike O’Stickle I found that I had to pass right by Harrison Stickle to get on the path to Pike O’Stickle so it made sense to get it out of the way.

Harrison Stickle

WOTA ID: LDW-068	Height: 736 m (2415 ft)
SOTA ID: n/a	Grid ref: NY281073
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KK
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.455854 Long: -3.109162

Harrison Stickle

There were a lot of folk around now. I’ve started taking a few QSL cards with me, as it helps explain what I’m up to and the two young lads were made up to get something free when they asked me about what I was doing!

Muggles on Harrison Stickle

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name
12:12	M5TUE	2m	145.350	FM	IO84qi	England	Nigel Wadsworth
12:14	G7CDA	2m	145.350	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
12:16	G1PIE	2m	145.350	FM	IO83qr	England	MARK PROCTER
12:17	G0TDM	2m	145.350	FM	IO84oq	England	John Sutton
12:17	GM4WHA	2m	145.350	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
12:18	G6LKB/M	2m	145.350	FM		England
12:19	MW0ISC	2m	145.350	FM	IO83JE	Wales	Steve
12:20	GM7CAX/P	2m	145.350	FM		Scotland
12:20	G1OAE	2m	145.350	FM	IO84fp	England	TONY STEEL

Pike O’Stickle

WOTA ID: LDW-083	Height: 709 m (2326 ft)
SOTA ID: n/a	Grid ref: NY273073
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KK
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.45574 Long: -3.1215

My first time visiting Pike of Stickle and what a handsome summit this is, very Tolkein-esk! Some rock scrambling is required to get to the top, but it is fairly spacious (not 80m dipole spacious however!) Plenty of folk making the pilgramage here too!

Pike of Stickle

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name
12:46	G7CDA	2m	145.350	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
12:47	GM4WHA	2m	145.500	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
12:48	G1OHH	2m	145.350	FM	IO84ob	England	Susan Griffin
12:51	GM7GAX/P	2m	145.350	FM		Scotland
12:51	G0LWU/P	2m	145.350	FM		England
13:00	M0JCQ/P	2m	145.450	FM		England
13:01	M7CID/P	2m	145.450	FM		England

Loft Crag

WOTA ID: LDW-097	Height: 680 m (2231 ft)
SOTA ID: n/a	Grid ref: NY277071
HuMP ID: n/a	QTH Locator: IO84KK
Book: The Central Fells	Lat: 54.454 Long: -3.115282

My final Wainwright, Loft Crag, again new to me.

View South from Loft Crag

By this point I was short on time, so made the decision to use the FT1XD with stock whip, which worked really well considering how short it is! I could hear Andy G8CPZ/P on Latrigg so it was great to get him in the log from here. A couple of S2S contacts with Colin M1BUU/P from High Street and then Stony Cove Pike was great too, as was getting James M0JCQ/P and his wife M7CID/P on St Sunday Crag and then Fairfield. James is trying for Mountain Goat this week with lots of fells planned.

Time	Callsign	Band	Freq	Mode	Locator	Country	Name	Notes
13:12	G1PIE	2m	145.425	FM	IO83qr	England	MARK PROCTER
13:14	2E0MIX	2m	145.425	FM	IO84fn	England	Derek Edge
13:15	G8CPZ/P	2m	145.425	FM		England		WOTA: LDW-206
13:16	G6LKB/M	2m	145.425	FM		England
13:16	G1OHH	2m	145.425	FM	IO84ob	England	Susan Griffin
13:17	GM4WHA	2m	145.425	FM	IO84ix	Scotland	GEOFF HARPER
13:17	2E0LDF	2m	145.425	FM		England
13:18	G7CDA	2m	145.425	FM	IO83qt	England	Douggie G7CDA
13:19	M1BUU/P	2m	145.425	FM		England

Descent was down by the side of Harrison Stickle, on a mainly easy footpath with a few menacing drops at the start to Dungeon Ghyll.

Descent from the Langdales via North-Easterly Dungeon Ghyll route

This was magnificent walking weather, clear skies but not too hot. Thank you to the chasers, what a great day’s radio and walking. I would say my unplanned route worked out very favourably, but I would take in Sergeant Man for the minimal additional effort.

It is Alex and I’s 17 year wedding Anniversary this weekend, having not really planned anything we ended up in The Smithy (on the road up to Booths in Windermere) which is a wonderful, somewhat undiscovered bar, very relaxed and serves lovely pizzas.

G8CPZ · 21 September 2020 07:41

Excellent report as always Mark. We had the perfect weather this weekend for walking and activating. The great photos make me want to do the Langdales now for the first time.

M7XUP · 21 September 2020 20:37

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the write up. I’ve not done any Wainwrights until this year, so I’m sure they will prove a valuable insight when the time comes.

Cheers

Steve

2E0IKM · 22 September 2020 10:05

Stuck in the house with a cold seeing these photos and even one with a pub in is breaking my heart …all joking a side great wright up and more successful activations

M0NOM · 22 September 2020 10:10

Building your immune system doesn’t seem like such a bad deal at the moment Mike

Seriously, sorry for the photo, I appreciate that was uncalled for.
Hope you are back out soon.

Mark.