Ben Rinnes, Meikle Conval, Little Conval & Knockan

Ben Rinnes

A big trip out planned for today. Ben Rinnes, the two Convals and then, if time, a wee 1-pointer to finish the day. I had to drop my daugther at swimming at 6:30, so I was on the road straight after that. Fraser, MM0EFI, was on holiday in Cyprus as 5B/M0EFI and had been doing SOTA summits all week. Today was no different and he was going to be out and on the summit at 0900 UTC, so no hanging around for me!

It was still dark when I set off but the slow sunrise started to illuminate the terrain. There were still big patches of snow, and the path seemed to be a natural drift area. I tried to walk across it and sank down in the snow to my waist! There were also places where the snow had melted underneath due to run off water coming down the hill, so you'd stand on the snow, sink through it and end up in a stream. After the first part of the ascent the snow was all gone and it was just the track with small patches.

I made good time to the top, it took me just under an hour. The wind was strong on the summit and after a quick selfie and admiring the view I started to look for somewhere sheltered to set up. It was about 8:50 and I wanted to be ready for Fraser.

I found a nice spot where I could hide behind an outcrop and also some rocks to wedge the mast in. I was using the 5.5m vertical and the KX2. I was all setup when the wind shook the mast so that it collapsed in on itself. I fixed it back, wedging the sections has much as I could, and then messaged Fraser to say for I was ready. Fraser had luck with Simon, GM4JXP, on previous summits on 10m and 15m, so those were the bands we were going to try. After a couple of calls I heard Fraser, as 5B/M0EFI/P, quite clearly and we made our summit to summit QSO!

I moved over to 20m band and worked some more stations. Also had a summit to summit with Mark, GD5MUP, who was on holiday in Tenerife up EA8/TF-010. A few more QSOs and then I packed up and headed down. It was nice to get out of the wind and the sun had come up more so the surroundings were well lit up to admire.

I met a group coming up the hill, who I later realised was the RAF Mountain Rescue group, and one of them had the same waist deep experience in the snow drifts!

Meikle Conval

After Ben Rinnes, I stopped at the car for some of my super noodles in my new food thermos. They were nice and warm and tasted good! The group I passed on my way down turned out to be the RAF Mountain rescue, presumably out for a walk as well.

The path up Meikle Conval starts just opposite the Ben Rinnes gate, it's a small track so not immediately noticeable. The track up is quite steep and you gain elevation quickly.

The route up is straight forward, following the path until you reach the summit. There isn't much of a cairn or shelter at the top and it was windy at the top. I'd forgotten to try 2m on Ben Rinnes, so I started out with it here. After a couple of CQs, Johnny, GM7LSI, in Elgin came back to me. We had a little chat whilst I looked for a good place to setup. Johnny was my only 2m contact, so I just setup on HF.

There was a slight depression at the top, which looked good to setup in. This time I used the longer wire for 40m and had a good run of QSOs, including a S2S with G4OOE/P on G/TW-004.

I packed up and then set off for the next Conval.

Little Conval

After packing up from it's bigger sibling, Meikle Conval, I set off towards Little Conval. Little meaning 18m shorter. The route is straight forward, follow the path down Meikle and then up Little. The activation area is quite large and there are several cairns on the top. Not sure if the cairn I stood at was the summit but close enough!

The wind was still strong and there was even less shelter on this summit. I spotted a tree a little down the side of the hill, which looked ideal for a mast support and perhaps a wind break. I setup by it, and enjoyed looking out at the two hills I'd already climbed. The wind did stop at times and it was really quite warm when it did.

Fraser was back at his hotel after his activation and wanted to try and chase. We tried 10m but nothing and then 15m. I only called CQ once and a Polish guy jumped in and had a chat for a bit! It took a few goes with Fraser but eventually just managed a QSO, although somewhat supported by the WhatsApp chat to say if we could hear anything or not. I went back to 10m and tried it, getting a couple of contacts, then back on 15m before chasing a Spanish summit, EA6/MA-005 and deciding that was enough.

There are two routes back, one is back up and over Meikle Conval again, and the second is around the side of it and along the road. I think the over the hill route is shorter and maybe quicker but I decided to go around. It did end with about 1-1.5km along the road, which was a bit boring. The RAF mountain rescue group were just returning to the road, after they must've done the big loop over Ben Rinnes and towards Baby's Hill and back to the road.

As I was back in good time, I decided to tick off one of the local 1-pointers.

Knockan

The final summit of the day. As I had time, I thought I'd do this one as I knew it would be a quick walk. There are a few 1 pointers in this area which I'd like to activate eventually, and this helped tick it off my list.

It seems a popular spot for dog walkers as the "car park" was nearly full when I arrived. A wind farm has been built on the hill, so it's made up roads nearly to the top. It's also a very gentle gradient of hardly any climb, so pushing the very limits of the definition of summit. It took less than 20 minutes to reach the summit, a few well balanced stones.

I went back to the road to make use of the snow markers as a support for the mast and setup. Fraser wanted to try and make a contact as he wanted Knockan for a complete (where you activate and chase a summit). Quite the lengths to get a complete whilst on holiday in Cyprus! We tried 15m to start and he was pretty good this time, 43 to me. After that I started looking around for other summits but I was wasting time and just wanted to get it qualified and done, so moved to 20m and soon had a nice run for 5 minutes before calling it quits. Takes longer to setup and take down the station than get to the top! Back to the car in no time and away home.