Sgurr na Ciche - coming soon!

Sgurr na Ciche (the Pap (Tit!) of Glencoe)

Coming soon -  Watch this space!!!

I'm miles and ages behind in keeping up any kind of blog, and have  shedload of amazing photos - this is just a wee holding place for some photos of a jaunt up this wee hill way back in November.  It didn't look very snowy from the breakfast table but turned out to be a bit of a challenge!   We passed a young English couple (very well equipped with crampons and ice axe)  who'd given up a fair bit short of the summit due to the "ledge" you had to cross -  we're still trying to work out where that was, it may have been where I caught Ian below - here's just a sample - watch this space for the proper report!

A local jaunt, so it won't be too cold...

Normans Law, GM/SS-262,  NO32, Trig TP5143 is just 20 minutes along the other side of the Tay plus a fairly brief walk of a km or so and ascent of a mere 140m. 

Ian had stuff on later in the day and neither of us had much appetite for anything serious this week - heavy snowfalls inland would make anything into the Cairngorms a challenge.

On leaving the car just up from Luthrie we had the first hints that this may not be a walk in the park.  All the puddles in the parking pull off were solid ice and a keen wind was flattening anything that might once have grown.  Even the low level path had a good dusting of snow.

And as we got out of the woods onto the hill proper and a view of the summit, it was clear things were a bit wintery

The walk up became quite icy,  where there had been streams across the path were solid glace sheets.

The summit was very breezy (euphemism for an absolute hoolie) but opens up fantastic views for such a little hill

The aerial mast was bungeyed to the trig - with some difficulty due to the wind - and only used just over half of the mast

you can see the feeder "flying" in the wind

looking through the aerial to the north, we felt justified in not being in the "proper" hills!

The operating position was hunkered down into the cairn

 And was reasonably productive.  I should have just started off by spotting a frequency as we had the rare treat of a mobile signal due to being near civilisation, but I attempted to join what seemed like an existing gathering on 7160.  This was challenging, perhaps many of the participants in G couldn't hear each other so it all seemed a bit chaotic.  We were struggling with the low temperatures and wind and getting heard initially was hard, I did manage 7 qsos in 6 minutes there but  a move to 7130 with a self spot  produced another 14 qsos in 10 minutes with some very good signals and very flattering reports for our 4 watts.   Good to catch Esther gi0aza as usual although at a lower strength than originally heard, band conditions were changing fast.  Karl m3feh, the Cornwall Beacon, was a great signal as often he is these days on 40m when no-one else can get to Scotland due to the skip length. Also good to get John mw0xot, Dave g4iar (also much weaker than when first heard), Don g0rql (of course!), Dave g4sqa was a strong signal as was Frans on5swa and Geoffrey g7bga was booming in.  Dan sm6cnx was also booming in thanks to his greater distance.  Nice to catch SOTA regulars Alan gw4vpx and Brian g8add.

A move to 20m started with Marius sp9amh and then Manuel ea2dt - an activation seems lacking without him!  ok2pdt, is another regular and nice to catch Sylvia oe5yyn from home. Surprise qso was ki4svm in South Carolina who gave us  54 with no other US calling.

A move back to 40m with Ian gi0azb back home netted a qso with a bit of a struggle, but completed.

One very odd thing happened during all this.  I normally take my wristwatch off and place it by the rig to use for logging.   Due to the temperature the display went off!  You could still read it if you looked at it on edge from underneath, but from the front it was blank.   It recovered when put back on my wrist.

By this time it was declared I was turning a funny colour of blue...  What a stupid game, go to the top of an exposed summit and sit there getting cold rather than moving around,  or just getting off it like sensible people do...   So I did.

At the bottom we spotted a couple of deer who true to form didn't pose nicely against the summit.  Well, they did until the camera was out,  you may just be able to spot one of them in full flight

 The other locals were rather slower moving

Just an old Crock

The weather forecast was not too bad, showers, maybe, and later on possible barbecue weather.  So, it had to be a hill we could get up and down quickly and get back for fried aubergine and pork souvlaki (marinating in the fridge in lemon, thyme and olive oil since friday night).

The Crock is one of the first SOTA summits I did,  then, as a double with Hare Cairn, that stupidity has since been knocked out of me.  I'm a one hill man now.

GM/ES-056, WAB NO26 (again) is the target, starting from Freuchies, past loch Shandra, Tulloch (where I would love to live!) and then up the hill and around to the summit.  Only 12km walking and 200m ascent, a nice ramble.

The start of the walk is a nice easy track,

But as you start getting into open moorland you start to notice the start of the purpleness of the heather, and I'm afraid that the next sequence will just descend into an orgy of purple heather!

Having already seen a golden eagle ( a very regular, if not obligatory) sight in this region, we saw one of the local Herons setting up for a landing on the Loch.

Although there had been a lot of clearing compared to the map we did have to enter the forest for part of the walk, earily quiet.

But soon enough we were out again and climbing steadily

And then suddenly, (well, to be honest, after a certain amount of huffing and puffing) we were there!

And the aerial was erected!

And I settled down to the huge pileup of stations...

Not.

But, it was a pretty enough place to sit, eat a roast beef and mustard sandwich and drink half a bottle of Shepherd Neame Spitfire.

And it wasn't so bad.  First of all, despite just being the other side of NO26 (10km square), we have a mobile and data signal here, so can do the dirty dead and self spot and announce on the chat.  A self spot got 40m off to a busy start, mainly with Europeans as far east as OK1DVM, and north to LA5WNA.  Alan, gw4vpx was the first UK station followed by a run of regular WAB and SOTA chasers; g4afi, Don g0rql, Pedro ea2ckx (how does he hear me!), pa0b, eb2ju, Dave g4iar and Karl m3feh (always a good signal from Cornwall) and then 2 S2S with ec2ag/p on ea1/lr047 and hb9/pa2fyg/p on hb/zh005.    After a  transfer to 20m, Marius sp9amh was first in and then rw3xz in Russia and eu2mm in Belarus and then the big surprise, Ian, gi0azb short skip to Northern Ireland.  dd4ve, dl2dxa and then ct1bqh finished off 20m.  As I'd carried the hb9cv all the way up I felt duty bound to try 2m but only found SOTA activator Gavin gm0gav for a nice chat to Errol down the road.  15 countries in 21 qsos so it was pretty good considering the wailing and gnashing of teeth by some.  Equipment was, as usual, an ft817, 4watts to a dipole on a telescopic pole.

Getting a bit chilly, and barbecue calling so time to go!

We found a sort of path into the forest that wasn't on the map so thought ourselves lucky

What we should have done is then put up with the extra distance and followed the track on the map even though it would have initially meant going a bit further the wrong way rather than trying to go cross country

Still, nobody died, and we made it away before any weather arrived