Carn a’Gheoidh
Carn a gooey?
After a lovely day yesterday on Lochnagar and Conachcraig, I was looking to see where I could go today. There was a swimming competition on, in addition to the usual activities, so I needed to be back for 3pm. Last week when I was on An Socach, the others went to Carn a’Gheoidh, and I remembered them leaving later than me but arriving at the top at the same time. Sure enough when I check all the times, it looked doable to get there and back in time. The longest part is the drive to Glenshee ski centre, and that’s right at the limit of the electric car - returning home with 20 miles range still makes me a little nervous!
The weather forecast had it cloudy with chance of showers and reasonably breezy. It did rain a little on the way out but was dry when I arrived. I wasted about 10 minutes getting a parking ticket from the cafe - I should’ve just opened the link in the car park when I was up the hill and had signal, like I did with Glas Maol.
The track follows up the ski maintenance tracks, which are quite steep to start. There’s a shortcut across part way up which I just walked right past. My Inreach mini started beeping as I’d gone of course and so I backtracked and found it. It was a small track at right angles to the main path just behind a fence, so not too obvious, so thanks to the Garmin!
I was soon in the cloud and did check on the inreach every so often to make sure I was heading in the right direction. I doesn’t have topo maps, and just a line but it has a compass and so points in the right direction and is enough to make sure you’re following the right path.
I didn’t see much on the way up, other than about 20m around me, mostly looking like the photo. In exposed places the wind picked up a lot and gave me a good push. At one point I was about 3m from a small loch and I didn’t realise until I was right upon it. The track was decent and only in a few places was it boggy but nothing like The Buck. The final ascent to the summit is steep again after a while of walking on the mostly flat plateau. At this point the wind was howling and I was glad there was a cairn at the top.
I setup behind the cairn, which was a very good shelter from the wind, had a sandwich and then got on the air. I thought I’d try a bit more power on 2m and see if I could get any further than usual. I’d brought the Kenwood V71 and battery. This is the first time I’ve taken it out with me, and I also haven’t used it much at home, so I was hoping I wouldn’t get into any operating issues with it! I had the slim G, and was glad I hadn’t brought the yagi to try and setup in the wind.
I now wonder if I’d setup the mast on the outside of the cairn pointing into the wind, if I could’ve made it more vertical. Particularly as right at the end the antenna got blown off and I ended up holding it with my arm to finish the QSO - I didn’t do an EMF assessment on that setup…
It was a little slow to start, but eventually I’d work 9 stations, including GM4OAS 90 miles to the west in Mallaig. I did find the lowest squelch on the V71 was quite high and not breaking for several stations. I eventually turned it off and then heard several locals and others. I do wonder how many had been replying to my CQs before. Did 50W make any difference? The map looks remarkably similar to when I was on Glas Maol, and that was with the 5W D72 handheld. Technically, it’s 10 dB which is 1.x S points, and on Glas Maol GM4OAS gave me 32 and this time he gave me 42, so whilst not more power, I was readable more? I do like the form factor of using the mobile rig with the fist mic, means I can position things easier than being tied directly to the end of the mast, but probably for the most part it makes no real difference and it’s all in my head!
Keeping an eye on the time, I needed to pack up and head back. The wind was still relentless and on the top I had to lean into it. I was grateful of my big hood as I followed the path back down. It’s amazing how you can forget some of the details of the walk on the way back, being surprised that I had to climb up and down a few places which I didn’t remember on the way up to the summit! For a few moments the wind seemed to blow the clouds away and there was even a hint of sunshine coming through. The view opened up and I could see all around. Certainly not the spectacular views of last week, but enjoyable for the few moments. Back down to the car and back home.
I think this summit and Glas Maol would make a nice day trip out, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with the option of a hot lunch at the ski centre cafe. For 6 and 8 pointers, they have fairly easy and short walks, and both great locations for 2m, particularly to the south. Doing both would be 14 points, and a lot less walking and climbing than my 14 point day yesterday on Lochnagar and Conachcraig!