Activity Summary
- 📅 Date : 15th June 2026
- 📏 Distance : 9.23 km
- ⬆️ Ascent : 748 m
- 🏔️ Max Altitude : 893 m
- ⏱️ Time to Summit : 2:05 hrs
- 🕐 Total Activation Time : 4:58 hrs
Weather
- ☁️ Cloudy
- 🌡️ Temperature 9 ℃
- 🌡️ Feels like 5 ℃
- 💧 Humidity 82%
- 💨 Wind Speed 21 km/h
- 🧭 Wind Direction E
Equipment Used
- Icom IC705 (10w)
- 4000 mAh LiFePO4 battery pack
- 2m, flowerpot
- SRH770 antenna
- SOTABEAMS Carbon 6 pole
- PoLo logging app on iPad mini
Parking Location What3Words
///revives.handover.tweeActivation Report
Cader Idris is one of my favourite mountains in North Wales, and I had been keen to activate it for some time. The day had finally arrived, it was 9:20 am on a Monday morning when I arrived at the Ty Nant car park. This is located at SH 69796 15281, and is the main car park for ascending Cader Idris using the Pony Path. The charge for parking all day is £8. It’s also worth noting, that the new machine is now card only.
I was on my way at 9:30, following the clearly marked route. A footbridge is soon reached and shortly after crossing over, the ascent begins.
The first part of the route climbs up some stone steps. This is then followed by a short, steeper, zig-zag section, which can be seen in the distance as it is approached. A large boulder marks the end of this section and soon after you join the main ridgeline. Eventually, the welcome sight of the summit appears in the distance.
On arrival at the summit, I headed straight towards the trig pillar for that traditional touching ceremony, and then of course, took a 360 video of the view.
The summit was windy, so I looked for a sheltered operating location and found a perfect spot to the side of the summit shelter. I started unpacking my gear whilst eating a sandwich, though it soon became clear that someone else was interested too — a head suddenly popped over my shoulder. Eventually, once she realised there was no more food on offer, she let me have my seat back.
I set up my 2m flowerpot antenna on the Carbon 6 pole. I was using the IC705 with an external LiFePO4 battery, running 10 watts. After spotting on 2m SSB, things were slow. First in the log was Mike, M9MWZ. After a call on 144.300, I managed another contact with Tony, EI7GUB in South Dublin.
After changing to 2m FM, I managed to log Mark, M7DBF before it all went quiet again. Fortunately, after a call on 145.500, a few more calls were logged, including a summit-to-summit with Tony, M9OUD on Fountains Fell, G/NP-017.
After the calls had dried up, I relocated to the trig pillar, as I was conscious that the summit was blocking my path to the south. I was now just using the IC705 with the SRH770 plugged directly onto it. The summit was windy and now busy, and so unfortunately, after a couple of minutes I had to give up.
I finished my lunch and made my way down, retracing my ascent route. As you near the end of the walk, you begin to hear the stream in the distance, and then the welcome sight of the footbridge appears — a sure sign that you are only about ten minutes from the car park.
It had been another thoroughly enjoyable activation on a glorious day, and with eight more points added to my total, Cader Idris had not disappointed.
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. The route may contain errors and should be used only as a guide.
Download file for GPSFurther information can be found on the SOTA resource page for the summit