Two more fells we have never visited before . The seemingly brief weather window and conditions made it an enjoyable experience . We went up via Sticks Pass There was an icy breeze above the snow line , and if you took the gloves off you knew about it very soon. Having said that , we did pass a couple of people in thermal hats gloves insulated jackets , scarves and … shorts ! That does seem to be a Winter trend in recent times ?
Great Dodd looked tempting as well , and might well have been doable before we had to be in Keswick before 4pm , but tomorrow is another day .
I have been using some red rg8 mini coax bought on ebay which was sold in various lengths with the plugs attached . I always make my own but I needed new coax and plugs so took the easy option . I have been impressed with how supple it stayed in sub 0 temperatures . It hung quite straight from the mast and coiled up no bother when I’d finished . Not sure what it’s outer insulation is made of , but the usual black stuff went so stiff it seemed it would snap .
10 contacts were logged on Stybarrow , and 13 on Watson’s ,the last being another W2W contact with Mark M5TEA/P on Whitfell . I had already made two “final” calls , so thought that was a nice way to bring activities to a close .
I noted the new options for the various bands and modes when submitting the activator log and our WOTA activations now show on the cluster map on the world bunkers site too. BOTA seems to be very well chased so if we are on HF might attract a lot more interest .
Yes Mark I think we made use of a narrow window in the weather on Sunday . I think you’d be needing to do that ridge walk around the June Solstice if activations are involved ! I find activating about three on the day is about my limit . ( I bet 2E0LDF , if he reads this ,can’t resist commenting on that one).
I enjoyed Whitfell . Very impressive cairn if I remember and the Buck Barrows were interesting . Is it Burn Moor that was the one next to it , like a large open field with no obvious summit ?
Kevin G0PEK and Lauren M6HLR did the whole route from Dollywagon all the way to Clough Head in horrible weather on 3rd August 2016. I logged all there contacts when i was at work in Penrith as conditions were to bad for them to log. They were lucky as they could do it as a linear walk as Kevin’s XYL dropped them off and picked them up at the end. To me it would be a fantastic walk but best done as Richard said at the summer solstice in good weather!
I was in Glasgow all weekend helping my step daughter move flat and building Ikea wardrobes!!
Back in July 2018 i went up Sticks Pass and did those 2 + Great Dodd - Hart Side-Raise-and Whiteside with only 5 watt’s and 1 last call on each. Another nice set of pictures from Mrs XGO you can’t beat a bit of snow for great photo’s
Out of interest Richard i worked BOTA station 2/12/25 yesterday and he put out more last call’s than you do !!
I hadn’t realised that’s where the ski run was behind the pass . There was a couple of times we were debating whether to put the spikes on the boots , just to speed the ascent up a bit but it wasn’t too bad .
I must say Reg, after 50+ in the log on HF , even I am a bit more economical with the last calls !
and our WOTA activations now show on the cluster map on the world bunkers site too. BOTA seems to be very well chased so if we are on HF might attract a lot more interest .
