Carn Fadryn, GW/NW-058 - 371m ASL - SH 279 352 - OS Explorer 253 - 1 SOTA point            

I wonder how many other SOTA summits have roadsigns bearing their name? I can think of signs to 'Briw' (Mynydd-y-briw GW/NW-060), Boduan (Garn Boduan GW/NW-066), 'Cloudside' (The Cloud G/SP-015), Ben Nevis, Hope, Crowborough, Walton Hill... lots really.  Anyway, Carn Fadryn doesn't have a roadsign.  But there are several roadsigns that point the way to Garn Fadryn, the small village at the foot of the hill. We parked in the car park by the chapel, with spaces at a premium on this lovely Bank Holiday Sunday, 24th August 2008.

Carn Fadryn towered high above us as we made initial progress up the stony track. We then turned right to follow the path by the wall as it contoured its way around the lower flanks of the hill to a height of 300m ASL. At this point, a series of zigzags started, which enabled us to gain height fairly rapidly, but without too much pain. It wasn't long before we had rounded off and were walking around a level path towards the final mound, upon which sat the yellow trig point.

We were last here on a misty damp morning for the 2004 SOTA Barbecue, so the sunshine and wide-ranging views were welcome. At first, I didn't think there would be enough room on the summit area for HF. But then I thought I might just be able to squeeze it in, so gave it a go. It did fit, just.  Jimmy MW3EYP/P was a bit put-off 40m SSB after its unremarkable performance earlier, so he reached straight for his handheld, and made a coupld of contacts. Just the two though, despite further calling, so I took over and unleashed the Mini Palm Paddle on the FT-817. I made a rapid run of 12 QSOs, but then things were suddenly very quiet. Jimmy called again on his 2m FM hand-portable, and got the other two contacts required.

Getting back to the car was necessarily a little slower than our recent routine, where Liam would be dispatched to commence his descent while we started packing up. He had suffered a third seizure a couple of Sundays ago, and so he had to wait until we were all ready to descend. Him walking ahead on his own is not an option currently.  A pleasant descent in the sunshine saw us reaching the car by about 4.30pm local. We realised we could probably snag a third activation for the day, with an appropriate choice of summit.  Mynydd Rhiw GW/NW-064 therefore, was the next target.  Thanks to the following stations, all worked with 5 watts: