GW/MW-003 Drygarn Fawr

Snow on summit

GW/MW-003 Drygarn Fawr

14/02/2015

With Mal GW6OVD/p and Andy GW7RKC/p  alerting for Fan Brycheiniog I decided to venture up to Drygarn Fawr which can be accessed via the Tregaron to Abergwesyn road. On the journey over the pass I was hoping that the snow had cleared and the forestry road leading to the moorland was clear of felled trees. As I approached the turning into the forestry a large logging truck turned into my access road....so they were still felling trees.... Now there is a PROW (Public Right of Way) but I didn’t fancy trying to find my way through felled trees so like last year I parked my car at SN838557 just outside the gate and walked up the forestry road.

This route is about 3 miles to the summit which includes the zig-zag in the forestry. It was a ‘little muddy’ but I was delighted that my route was on a resurfaced track which took me to the gate leading onto the moorland at SN85155625.  As soon as you go through the gate you must turn left immediately and head NNE skirting SE of Drygarn Fach. By the time I arrived at the gate the mist had come down and it started to drizzle with rain.... one of those activations then. With GPS in hand, a GPX track from last year but also keeping an eye on the compass I made my way towards the summit following the vague outline of the farmer’s Quad bike trail until I hit the snow!...  

 Which way now? :)

I made good progress through the snow, hit my crossing point precisely of the Afon Gwesyn and the final trudge to the summit.

 Bothy bag deployed...trig and cairn behind

There was a strong cold breeze on the summit so extra layers on and the bothy bag was deployed just below the trig so very shortly I was up and running with the pole having been pushed into a convenient snow drift. I was off to a good start as Viki and Rod were out and about so I started off with an s2s – thanks both.

11:18z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s
11:18z	MW0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s

I have been neglecting 60m lately as the Band Hopper 3 had developed a fault but is now back in action. I called out on 5.398.5 and very soon I had a steady trickle of chasers including an S2S / T2T with Barry. Also notable were Don RQL and Mike TUH running QRP (3watts) into non-resonant antennas for the contact, 5/1 and 5/8 respectively from my side!

11:24z	G0HNW	5MHz	SSB	Paul
11:25z	G0LGS	5MHz	SSB	Stuart
11:25z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
11:27z	GW4CQZ	5MHz	SSB	Martyn
11:28z	G8MIA	5MHz	SSB	Andy
11:28z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
11:29z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:31z	M0IML/P	5MHz	SSB	Barry s2s +TP6473
11:32z	G3RDQ	5MHz	SSB	David

I heard Mal and Andy calling on 2m so I announced a QSY and was delighted with the s2s and it was 5/9 each way – thanks both

11:34z	GW6OVD/P	144MHz	FM	Mal s2s + t2t
11:35z	GW7RKC/P	144MHz	FM	Andy + t2t

Back to 60m where Barry IML had been standing by and with a further 4 contacts I finished the visit by handing over the frequency to Barry

11:37z	M1MAJ	5MHz	SSB	Martyn
11:38z	G4ISJ	5MHz	SSB	Pete
11:39z	M0TVU	5MHz	SSB	Paul
11:40z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian

A quick change of links, headphones on and a call on 7.118 Mhz brought an immediate response from Bill WSB who had been patiently waiting for me on this frequency – thanks Bill.  A steady flow of chaser made it into the log and it was nice to talk to some that I hadn’t heard from for some time - really enjoyed myself.

11:46z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
11:47z	G8VNW	7MHz	SSB	Nick
11:48z	ON5SWA	7MHz	SSB	Francois
11:49z	M6WSB	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
11:49z	2E0SCS	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
11:50z	G6TUH	7MHz	SSB	Mike
11:50z	M0MDA	7MHz	SSB	Mick
11:51z	EI7GEB	7MHz	SSB	David
11:51z	M3ZCB	7MHz	SSB	Caroline
11:51z	G0TRB	7MHz	SSB	Roger
11:52z	MW0KST	7MHz	SSB	Steve
11:53z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
11:53z	G6ODU	7MHz	SSB	Bob
11:53z	G0HRT	7MHz	SSB	Rob
11:54z	2W0KGQ	7MHz	SSB	Jonathan
11:54z	MW0UPH	7MHz	SSB	Aled
11:55z	DK1WI	7MHz	SSB	Ed
11:55z	G0EVV	7MHz	SSB	David
11:55z	ON6ZQ	7MHz	SSB	Christophe
11:55z	PE1RMO	7MHz	SSB	Jan
11:56z	GM0AXY	7MHz	SSB	Ken
11:56z	GM4YMM	7MHz	SSB	Christine
11:57z	G4GEW	7MHz	SSB	Peter
11:57z	ON4UP	7MHz	SSB	Peter
11:57z	G4CFS	7MHz	SSB	Glyn
11:57z	DL2EF	7MHz	SSB	Franz Josef
11:58z	DJ5AV	7MHz	SSB	Michael
11:58z	DK7ZH	7MHz	SSB	Manfred
11:59z	M3FEH	7MHz	SSB	Karl
11:59z	EI9GLB	7MHz	SSB	Jim
12:00z	G3YIW	7MHz	SSB
12:00z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
12:01z	G6LKB	7MHz	SSB	David
12:01z	M0YDH	7MHz	SSB	David
12:01z	G4ASA	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:03z	G4ZRP	7MHz	SSB	Brian
12:04z	G0BPU	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:05z	GW6DGU	7MHz	SSB	Roy
12:05z	ON7DQ	7MHz	SSB	Luc
12:07z	DL8DXL	7MHz	SSB	Fred

Inside the bothy bag 

With quite a few ‘final calls’ and QRZ  I made a quick QSY to 7.160 Mhz and the WAB net. With Phil G7AFM once again as net controller within 5 minutes I had given them the WAB square (SN85) and Trig (TP2866 – Drygarn). It’s worth noting that other Square and Trig chasers had spoken to me earlier on 7.118 Mhz – it’s quite painless really :)

12:19z	G7AFM	7MHz	SSB	Phil
12:19z	G7BGA	7MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
12:19z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
12:20z	G4JZF	7MHz	SSB	Graham
12:20z	MM3PDM/M	7MHz	SSB	Peter
12:21z	DL7UCW	7MHz	SSB	Bernd
12:22z	M0HEM	7MHz	SSB	John
12:22z	SM6CNX	7MHz	SSB	Dan
12:22z	G4JJS	7MHz	SSB	Simon
12:22z	G4TSQ	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:23z	G4CQR	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:23z	G1BLJ	7MHz	SSB	Steve
12:24z	G4EST	7MHz	SSB	Charlie
12:24z	G0BFJ	7MHz	SSB	Brian

 

 Nant Irfon just below my parking spot...information board

Thanks everyone especially those who spotted me...looking forward to the next one.

73 Allan GW4VPX