Activity Summary
- Date : 26th March 2026
- Distance : 10.75 km
- Ascent : 517 m
- Max Altitude : 750 m
- Time to Summit : 2:03 hrs
- Total Activation Time : 4:45 hrs
Weather
- Partly Cloudy
- Temperature 3 ℃
- Feels like 3 ℃
- Humidity 80%
- Wind Speed 8.3 km/h
- Wind Direction NW
Equipment Used
- Icom IC705 (10w)
- 2m, roll up slim jim
- Decathlon 6m travel pole (fibreglass)
- PoLo logging app on iPad mini
Parking Location What3Words
///flop.revives.multipleActivation Report
Once again, I found myself obsessively studying various weather apps, trying to find a window of opportunity. The cold, wet and windy spell of the last few days, hadn’t done much to fuel my enthusiasm to get out. But an opportunity had appeared, a day with no rain and reasonable winds in the forecast, if not a bit on the cold side.
I arrived at the parking spot, (SH 82260 39266) with a hint of a groundhog day feel. Because, I had parked here for my walk up Arenig Fawr only four days prior. I started out along the track at about 9:30 am. This time however, the track was noticeably wetter and the peaks around me were snow capped. When I reached the stile that crosses over the wall, there was a lot more water that had collected. It was just about passable, without water brimming over my boots. Once over the stile, the track was more like a shallow stream for a couple of hundred metres. Luckily my trusty Altberg boots kept my feet dry.
A little further along the track, you arrive at the abandoned buildings of Amnodd Wen, before then picking up a forestry track for about a kilometre. Once out of the forest you eventually reach a house, at Amnodd Bwll, from here the track ascends more steeply into open countryside.
Eventually the track disappears, and some navigation is required to progress over the rough ground. This was also the point where I had reached the snow line. Although only a scattering of snow, it was ankle deep in places. Following my route below, you do actually pick up a path that is not marked on the map, at about SH 80865 35655. This makes the final ascent easier than other routes that I have previously used.
After about two hours of walking I was standing on the summit, taking my usual 360 video from the summit.
I setup using the IC705, but today I was using my Decathlon, 6m fibreglass travel pole, and a slim Jim antenna. On my last few activations, I had experienced some odd SWR variation, whilst operating SSB using the flowerpot antenna suspended on the carbon 6 pole.
I soon had two regular chasers in the log, Don, GW0PLP and Dave, G6AEK on 2m SSB. After another ten minutes of calling on SSB with no takers, I switched to 2 FM and soon had Mark, M7DBF, another regular caller in the log. Getting the fourth contact, that I needed for me to get the summit points, was not easy. Many thanks to Don, GW0PLP who was trying his best to find me a fourth contact. Eventually after 18 minutes of calling on 144.300 and 145.500, MW0WMW came back to my call, giving me the crucial fourth contact. I had only been on the summit for half an hour, but I was already feeling the cold, and ready to get down.
After packing away, I found shelter from the cold wind below the summit cairn, where I enjoyed a coffee and a well deserved Eccles cake before heading down.
The interactive map below shows a track of the route taken. You can zoom in or out to change the scale. The map can also be shown in full screen. The GPX track can also be downloaded using the link below the map.
Download file for GPSFurther information can be found on the SOTA resource page for the summit
