Sunday 14 June 2015

GM/SI-092 Dun Caan



The Isle of Sky 2015 - Across to the Isle of Raasay

GM/SI-092 Dun Caan

04/06/2015

Len and I had looked forward to this trip all week as we had both read the book ‘Calum’s Road’ by Roger Hutchinson which describes not only one man’s determination to build a road to his village but also the historical aspects of island life and the effect of the ‘Clearances’ on the population.

My GPS
We took the first ferry from Sconser across to the Island of Raasay with Dun Caan our SOTA summit for the day clearly visible in the early morning light.
The CalMac Electric/Diesel Ferry coming in at Sconser
Dun Caan - distant center
The roads on the island are narrow but we soon arrived at our parking spot at NG561405. It’s a 3.04 Km walk to the summit which looked easy enough and at one point you think you’ve arrived but you face a drop down into a valley to Loch na Meilich and then a steep zig-zag climb to the summit.
 GPS track - Dun Caan
 So near and yet so far.
There's another deep valley and another Loch in-between them and Dun Caan!
It’s worth noting that once again we heard a cuckoo, an occurrence that happened nearly every day whilst we were on the islands.
 From the Trig TP2888
The views from the summit were fantastic even though it wasn’t a really clear day. As we had noticed other walkers heading in from various directions I set up the antenna a few meters away from the round trig point and was very soon into a pile-up of regular chasers.
 10:35z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
10:36z
G8MIA
7MHz
SSB
Andy
10:37z
G0TDM
7MHz
SSB
John
10:37z
G4ZRP
7MHz
SSB
Brian
10:38z
G0VWP
7MHz
SSB
Terry
10:39z
G0RQL
7MHz
SSB
Don
10:39z
M0MDA
7MHz
SSB
Mick
10:39z
G4WSB
7MHz
SSB
Bill
10:40z
DK1WI
7MHz
SSB
Ed
10:40z
M0JLA
7MHz
SSB
Rod
10:40z
M6RUG
7MHz
SSB
Dave
10:41z
GW6OVD
7MHz
SSB
Mal
10:42z
DJ5AV
7MHz
SSB
Michael
10:42z
G4CFS
7MHz
SSB
Glyn
10:43z
PA0INA
7MHz
SSB
Frans
10:43z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
10:44z
GM0AXY
7MHz
SSB
Ken
10:45z
GM4YMM
7MHz
SSB
Christine
10:45z
GI4ONL
7MHz
SSB
Victor
10:46z
EI9GLB
7MHz
SSB
Jim
10:46z
G4GEW
7MHz
SSB
Peter
10:47z
2W0EPE
7MHz
SSB
Paul
10:48z
G0HRT
7MHz
SSB
Rob
10:49z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro
10:50z
GW6DGU
7MHz
SSB
Roy
It’s interesting to note that the little linear made a difference as many noted the clarity/strength of my audio and a difference in S points when switched on and off,  in fact for some I had disappeared completely when it was off as they had high noise levels.....work in progress on this set up.  This activation was a ‘complete’ for me as I had spoken a few months previously to Gerald  MW0WML on his activation of the summit...thanks for the GPX file Gerald (see SOTA Mapping project http://www.sotamaps.org  ). We had seen the rain the coming in so it was time to put on the waterproofs and head back down to the car. 
 Rain on the way
 Dunn Caan selfie..before heading down
Heading down
 The way back across the valley
Now ‘Calum’s Road’ was not far and we soon arrived at the beginning of it next to the ruins of Brochel Castle.  Driving along the now tarmac road we all appreciated the amount of hard work and years of dedication that had gone into creating this link to Arnish...with only a pick, shovel and wheel barrow!!   Calum MacLeod  (1911-1988) was awarded the B.E.M.
Note the wheel barrow :)
Pigs will fly!
A tribute to Calum
Driving along Calum's Road
At the North end of Calum’s Road there is a small parking spot/turning area and this is where you start the walk  towards the other SOTA summit that is on the island..Beinn na h-Iolaire GM/SI-176 ...but that was for another day as we had a ferry to catch. On our way back we stopped once more on Calum’s Road as I saw an Eagle approaching high above one of hills but unfortunately it drifted away from our awaiting cameras..ah well.

Thanks to all the chasers and to Mike G6TUH for spotting me...looks like we’ll be back on Raasay in the near future to get that other summit.

73 Allan GW4VPX

2 comments:

  1. Those who make it to the north of the island of Raasay may wish to note that the two miles of road linking Brochel to Arnish were the work of one man, Calum MacLeod. He decided to build the road for himself after the council turned down his requests for proper access to his home. He spent
    between 10 and 15 years building it with the aid of a pick, a shovel, a wheelbarrow and a roadmaking manual which cost him three shillings. He died in 1988, shortly after its completion, and to this day it is known as 'Calum's Road'. This tune was written by Donald Shaw of Capercaillie for a BBC film about this remarkable man.

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  2. Hi Frans. Thank you for reading the blog and for those extra snippets of information. 73 Allan GW4VPX

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