Claife Heights, G/LD-053 - 270m ASL - SD 382 973 - OS Explorer OL7 - 1 SOTA point            

The second activation on Sunday 18th May 2014 was Claife Heights G/LD-053. We only just managed to access the road to Far Sawrey in time, before it was due to be closed for the "10 Marathons in 10 Days" event in the area. I mused over a similar "10 Snickers in 10 Minutes" charity stunt, but decided against it.  Parking in the village was in the village hall car park, with a suggested £2 payable into the honesty box. Liam and I grabbed our rucksacks, sunhats and trekking poles and marched off along the track opposite, by the Sawrey Institute. The first part was lined with tall trees providing welcome respite from the blazing sun.

The walled track continued, weaving in and out of small wooded areas and past a raised grassy mound. On this was a landrover and a large mast with a vertical mounted atop. Initially I wondered if it was the date of the first Backpackers contest, but I soon figured that this was communications control for the marathon event. A couple of left turns through the woods, and a bit of a meandering climb, brought us out onto the summit, where again, there was no hiding place from the blazing sun.

Radio wise, it was five QSOs on 12m, with 4 on CW and just one on SSB. Steve GW1INK/P's activation on Long Mountain-Beacon Ring GW/MW-026 could be heard, but only weakly, and it was no surprise that he couldn't hear me. Turkey - TA2AO/4 - was an interesting contact.  We needed to get walking again, as this was a rather long plod back to the car. A decent pace was maintained, and we remained on target for a couple more summits in the day. The next summit was Holme Fell G/LD-051, but not before lunch. At Hollands Cafe in Coniston, we enjoyed rather impressive 6oz burgers with chips and onion rings.