Wednesday 12 August 2015

GW/NW-015 Glasgwm



Turned into a circular route......

GW/NW-015 Glasgwm

11/08/2015

Having activated Aran Fawddwy GW/NW-007 a few days ago and as it had promised a nice day I just had to get back to the magical valley of Cwm Cywarch and bag Glasgwm for SOTA.

My GPS track
Taken a few days previously..our route up the cwm to Glasgwm
It’s a hard slog up through the valley past Bryn Hafod (mountain climbing hut) on the right and Craig Cywarch towering above you on the left.   
Craig Cywarch on the left
Val and I easily found the wooden bridge that crosses the stream which is fed by many small tributaries further up.  It’s a case of zig-zagging your way up following a faint path amongst all the boulders and alongside a steep sided chasm.  

  Cross the bridge then zig-zag up
It’s boggy on top and it was the case of trying to follow the trail and avoiding the really wet bits.  Our aim was to pick up the fence that would lead us all the way up to the summit of Glasgwm...another stiff climb :(


Glasgwm in sight....follow the fence
I promptly replied to a text from Mal asking if I was nearly there... a text or photographic opportunity is always a good excuse for a short break:)  We were some 30 minutes late arriving on summit so I quickly set up the Band Hopper 3 and home-brew 2m dipole, quickly called Mal who made it into the log followed by Jim and Roy.
12:02z
GW6OVD/P
144MHz
FM
Mal
12:06z
EI9GLB
144MHz
FM
Jim
12:07z
GW6DGU
144MHz
FM
Roy
Aran Fawddwy from Glasgwm
I had told Mal that I was moving to 5.985.5Mhz but I found Rob G4RQJ/p already there calling CQ SOTA from G/LD-034 Hard Knott with Audrey in charge of the log...thanks both for the unexpected s2s.  I announced a QSY to 5.403.5Mhz and with Mal having already spotted me I was away with Jim EI9GLB booming in from EI once again. Now whether it was the time of day or band conditions only another 3 made the log despite repeated calls so I made preparations to move to 40m.
12:10z
G4RQJ/P
5MHz
SSB
Rob s2s
12:13z
EI9GLB
5MHz
SSB
Jim
12:15z
GW6OVD/P
5MHz
SSB
Mal
12:15z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don IO70uv
12:17z
GW6DGU
5MHz
SSB
Roy

My link change was interrupted by an s2s with Alun MW0YCC/p on GW/SW-007 Fan Nedd..another surprise activation so thanks Alun and also for the ‘heads up’ that John MW0XOT would be on another summit shortly.
12:20z
MW0YCC/P
144MHz
FM
Alan s2s
A call on 7.118 brought a reply from Barry M0IML with a 3/3 report although he was 5/8. By this time Val had sent a spot which coincided with Barry’s...thanks Barry. The expected pile-up never materialized as after Mike G6TUH had contacted me and Frank PC2D thanking me for an unique summit for him an EU station started up and my working conditions became very difficult. Despite some protesting from chasers that the frequency was in use it was hopeless and I pulled the plug....sorry.  I had left the linear in the car as I knew we would need to travel light for this summit..I wonder if..?
12:29z
M0IML
7MHz
SSB
Barry
12:33z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:33z
PC2D
7MHz
SSB
Frank
12:35z
HB9AGH
7MHz
SSB
Ambrosi
12:36z
PA0SKP
7MHz
SSB
Sake
12:42z
EB2CZF
7MHz
SSB
Jose
 Cadair Idris in the cloud
I decided to have a quick listen then a call on 2m in the hope that John XOT might be around. Not as yet but I did have a nice chat once again with Adrian G4AZS...now Adrian will be interested in the route we took to get off the mountain.  With some nice QSOs I once more had a quick listen for John and there he was....5/9 both ways  using his Moxon antenna from Fan Brycheiniog GW/SW-003. Thanks John and I think you had a pleasant afternoon on summit as we listened to you for some time on our way down.
12:46z
G4AZS
144MHz
FM
Adrian
12:54z
M3BJH
144MHz
FM
Brian
12:57z
GW3NPJ/M
144MHz
FM
Alan
12:59z
GW3XRM
144MHz
FM
Dave
13:07z
G0PEK/P
144MHz
FM
Kevin LDW-035
13:11z
MW0XOT/P
144MHz
FM
John s2s
Always listening for an s2s before leaving summit :)
Having pulled the plug on the activation Val and I had a quick chat as to an alternative route off the summit. I had looked at one the previous night so we decided to go for it and very pleasant it was too. I had thought of cutting down directly South from Llyn Fign and to hit the fence leading down to Bwlch y Gesail and above Craig Cywarch.  
Back to the Car Park
As there was a nice well trodden path following a fence leading away from Glasgwm we decide to follow that which made for an easier walk picking up our intended route(and fence) a little later....can’t say that I’d like to approach Glasgwm this way (slightly boggy in places) but it was pleasant with nice views towards Cadair Idris and Cardigan Bay.
 Cardigan Bay distant
Our starting point below...Aran Fawddwy distant left
Many thanks everybody...hopefully conditions will be a little better next time.

73 Allan GW4VPX

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