WAB: NO40
Trig: TP4364
We were casting around for a local walk, we had to be at the beach for around 5pm (high tide 19:30 more of that later) but desperately needed to get on a hill after a gruelling week. Largo Law still needed doing, surprisingly, Fifer Ian hadn't even been up it. It won't be too hard a walk (ha ha ha) but the weather is nice so lets get up there.
Walk Highlands had a number of reviews and a route: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fife-stirling/largo-law.shtml
The contours looked a bit close together, we should have know what it would be like from reading that! But it's only a little hill, we must have been in denial.....
Yes, it really is quite a pull for most of the way, you start at just 60m ASL and its a 230m climb most of it in the last km. (if I say last km it hides the fact there were only two). But it's a fun walk, I wouldn't like to do it if it was a bit slick!
We hadn't even bothered "booting up" for this, and took the excuse for a wee rest half way up
To admire the view, which quite honestly is worth admiring
Eventually the final summit (!) comes into sight, but just as you get a nice view, too ugly mugs jump up for a photobomb
Made it! Lets admire the view before setting up:
Rather than hogging the Trig I attempted to put the steel stake into the ground.... Wasn't going to work, it's solid rock 2cm below the surface! Oh well, lets just use this handy concrete thing
I started out again with a visit to the nice WAB chaps, they were friendly as usual and paired me up with Alastair mm6psx/p up near Thurso on the Hill of Lybster (TP3887) to pass round the net. After 14 QSOs there (including Don G0RQL as usual), we spotted on the sotawatch and hoovered up some of the SOTA chasers including the first of 3 S2S with Jack and Anne GM4COX+UXX/P on Moncrief gm/ss-276, and QRPers Caroline, M3ZCB in Cambridge and Karl, M3FEH in Cornwall. (Although I guess every QSO has a QRPer at one end, I have 4W out!).
It was thirsty work, thankfully we were prepared:
So a change to 20m was called for and immediately made the second S2S with Michael DB7MM/P on DM/BM-322. And then a surprise call from Mike G6TUH with a cracking 57 report for me. (he'd later said he didn't hear me on 40m! odd conditions). Many of the usual chasers then called in, it would be a poor summit not to have a hello from Manuel EA2DT, Robert SP8RHP and the others too numerous to mention! Nice to have a call from KA1R in Mass' and then the 3rd S2S with YO9RAO/P on YO/EC-093. As the afternoon wore on I started to tire of cqing and went hunting, nice to catch a wwff with OK1VEI/P and then on 15M heard WB0QHJ calling CQ, why not I thought. The 40m dipole didn't seem to be working too well on 15m and the rig would only produce 2W and amazingly we made it all the way to Minnesota with that!
After a failed attempt to S2S with DL1KMN/P back on 40m it was time to QSY to the beach with 60+ QSOs in the log.
Some 18 months ago some damn fool (me) had said at the tail end of summer "why don't we try and go for a swim in the north sea every month for the year" (having achieved the easy 6). Well we did that. So what do you do at the end of 12 months? Continue. And at the end of 24 months?
The third year has started, not with just one swim but two!! The picture doesn't do justice to how nice it was, the temperature at the car was 18C and the sun came out again so it was really quite pleasant, and a nice place to be
The usual residents were there
and were shamed by our bravery into proving they could do it too:
and then followed us up the beach to try to work out what these strange creatures were
And so a good time was had by all, we made up for our sloth on the hill with a further 8km beach walk so 12km total isn't too bad. It's not such a bad place to live.
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