Monday 21 September 2015

Craig Cwm Silyn GW/NW-020



On the Nantlle Ridge

Craig Cwm Silyn GW/NW-020

19/09/2015

Having lived for many years below the Nantlle Ridge and with an intimate knowledge of the mountains of Snowdonia it was obvious that I seek the advice of Barry M0IML on my best approach to this summit as there are more than a few routes available.  His advice was to park the car at SH488 499 then head up along a faint grassy track on Braich y Llyn above Llyn Cwm Dulyn (marker stones in places) until you hit the wall at SH5075 4915 then keeping to the left of the wall work your way up (this is the worst bit) to the trig at Carnedd Coch.... 4.62km to summit.
My GPS track
Our route to Carnedd Coch (centre)- Llyn Cwm Dulyn right and Mynydd Craig Goch above it
 Marker stones on the track

Follow the wall to Carnedd Coch
Val avoiding the boulders...keep to the left of wall on the way up
 The Trig at Carnedd Coch..GW4VPX heading for the summit over the ladder stile
From the ruins of the trig it’s an easy walk to the summit of Craig Cwm Silyn which towers above  the village of Nantlle and Llyn Nantlle Uchaf....thanks Barry.
Our summit..centre
It was a glorious day but the Nantlle ridge creates a  climate of it’s own and Val and I were treated to some spectacular cloud movements from our circular cairn.
 Towards Moel Hebog
I kicked off on 2m as there was a line-up of s2s waiting to be logged .  With Jack first in the log I then had a bonus 10 s2s points from Simon on Snowdon,  John XOT on Cadair Berwyn GW/NW-012.  Then with  a quick ‘hello’ to John ZPL and to let him know that we were safe on summit I notified Barry that I was calling him on 60m...another s2s , a brief QSO then quickly back on 2m to answer David M0YDH’s calls from G/LD042 Low Fell in the Lake District. Thanks everybody...great fun.
11:08z
GM4COX/P
144MHz
FM
Jack s2s
11:10z
GW4TJC/P
144MHz
FM
Simon s2s
11:11z
MW0XOT/P
144MHz
FM
John s2s
11:16z
GW4ZPL/P
144MHz
FM
John
11:18z
M0IML/P
5MHz
SSB
Barry s2s
11:21z
M0YDH/P
144MHz
FM
David s2s
With a spot up for 60m I had a good run of chasers ending with Jack GM4COX/p calling me from GM/SS-165 Dungavel Hill and a brief QSO..as there were no more chasers I decided to spot myself for 40m.
11:26z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don IO70uv
11:27z
G3RMD
5MHz
SSB
Frank
11:28z
EI9GLB
5MHz
SSB
Jim
11:29z
G0HNW
5MHz
SSB
Paul
11:30z
G4AFI
5MHz
SSB
Andrew
11:30z
G7BGA
5MHz
SSB
Geoffrey
11:32z
GW2HFR
5MHz
SSB
Jonathan
11:33z
G8ADD
5MHz
SSB
Brian
11:34z
G4ZRP
5MHz
SSB
Brian
11:36z
GM4COX/P
5MHz
SSB
Jack s2s diff band

Nantlle below
As usual  40m was not working with only 4 chasers and one activator making the log. Barry called in just to give me a signal report with Sean MW3PZO booming in from Y Fron just down the road and Peter MM3PDM /M chasing my WAB square...thanks everybody.
11:45z
ON5SWA
7MHz
SSB
Francois
11:48z
M0IML/P
7MHz
SSB
Barry s2s diff band
11:48z
DK1WI
7MHz
SSB
Ed
11:48z
MW3PZO
7MHz
SSB
Sean
11:53z
MM3PDM/M
7MHz
SSB
Peter
Back on to 2m and a very good run of chasers with a few chats with many such as Neil and Karen, Derek and Simon who was still on Snowdon. A bonus 10 points was soon in the log with the gang on Scafell Pike G/LD-001 calling in so thank you Nick, Phil and Geoff.
12:00z
GW6DGU
144MHz
FM
Roy
12:03z
MW0JWP
144MHz
FM
John
12:04z
2E0TDX
144MHz
FM
Neil
12:05z
2E0XYL
144MHz
FM
karen
12:10z
GW4TJC/P
144MHz
FM
Simon
12:11z
EI9GLB
144MHz
FM
Jim diff band
12:11z
2W0RBW
144MHz
FM
Alan
12:14z
M6ANX
144MHz
FM
Peter
12:14z
2E0MIX
144MHz
FM
Derek
12:20z
G4OOE/P
144MHz
FM
Nick s2s
12:21z
G4OBK/P
144MHz
FM
Phil s2s
12:21z
2E0NON/P
144MHz
FM
Geoff s2s
GW4VPX/p on HF...Craig Cwm Silyn
Mindful that I still had to activate the trig at Carnedd Coch on the way back I spotted myself for 20m and had a good run of chasers including a Stateside contact and a couple into Russia. Quite a few familiar callsigns made my log but there were many which were new to me...I think I was on the DXCC cluster?   
12:29z
EB1IFK
14MHz
SSB
Santiago Creo
12:29z
EB7CIN
14MHz
SSB
Manuel
12:31z
EA7URS
14MHz
SSB

12:31z
SP9DPM
14MHz
SSB
Dariusz
12:34z
OM8AKX
14MHz
SSB
Peter
12:34z
ES5QD
14MHz
SSB
Vello
12:35z
OK1SDE
14MHz
SSB
Borek
12:36z
KA3RCS
14MHz
SSB
Karl
12:38z
R7AY
14MHz
SSB
Sergey
12:38z
EA7DZ
14MHz
SSB
Ferran
12:38z
EB7HQE
14MHz
SSB
Jesus Perez
12:39z
DL7MFD
14MHz
SSB
Dieter
12:39z
DG7ME
14MHz
SSB

12:42z
YA3GJA
14MHz
SSB

12:43z
OH1KFR/P
14MHz
SSB

12:43z
RV9DC
14MHz
SSB
Sergei
Time to pack up and make our way back to the trig.  It was a disappointing activation at the Trig (TP3318) but thanks Sean MW3PZO and Simon GW4TJC/P for responding on 2m. Simon was by now on Y Lliwedd GW/NW-008 so a few chaser points for me.  I gave a call on the WAB net calling frequency of 7.160 without any success until Andy GM8OEG/p came back with a trig to trig and a SOTA summit GM/ES-012..more chaser points..thanks Andy.
 Now where did I put the 817?...Carnedd Coch


GW4VPX/P on 2m...Carnedd Coch
 Cloud rolling in to hide Craig Cwm Silyn as we leave Carnedd Coch
Full zoom......the Welsh flag flying on Mynydd Craig Goch on our way down
My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts),  4 band link dipole (60/40/20/15), (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’ dipole.. Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

It had been an  exciting day to be on the Nantlle Ridge and activating a summit for SOTA...thanks everyone for the contacts....Mynydd Mawr GW/NW-026 report to follow tomorrow.

73 Allan GW4VPX

2 comments:

  1. Hi, Allan, this summit holds many happy memories for me. When I joined the Mercian MC in 1974 they had a hut that is visible in the top left of your map and we frequently walked along the track to the two lakes to climb on the impressive rocks that overlook them - tiptoe up the Great Slab or thrutch up the fiercer rocks to the left of it! After a route we would continue up the ridge to lunch on the summit. Now you can go direct to the summit from the lakes via a wide scree-filled couloir in the middle between two crags but it is tiresome going. The best way that I found to the summit was to walk the landrover track until you come to a wall then turn right and follow the wall (steep in places) to the summit dome. In those days it would have been possible to drive along the track and park by the wall, roughly half of the route that you used, but I do not know the current access situation.

    Nice to work you, as I say it brought back memories!

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  2. Hi and thank you for your interesting comments...it's always nice to have feedback and ideas for alternative routes. Unfortunately, you did not leave your callsign or name but thanks for the contact but hopefully we will work again in the future...maybe this weekend? :) 73 Allan GW4VPX

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