I left work on Friday 15th April 2005 "like a rat out of a trap", and picked up Jimmy and Liam in Macclesfield around 4.30pm. We then gambled on the M6, which although sluggish through Warrington and Wigan, got us up to the Kirkby Lonsdale turning in reasonable time. The last 20 minutes or so on the motorway was pleasant, courtesy of a QSO with Nigel 2E0NHM. After following the roads into the Dales, we eventually dropped down into Dentdale, and to the hostel. There was certainly not going to be a chaser station installed here, this dale being deeper and steeper than most of the pot holes in the region.

Already at the hostel were Mike G4BLH (who had earlier activated the nearest summit - Great Knoutberry Hill G/NP-015), Myke G6DDQ, Steve G1INK, who had already completed a full day's activating on Cross Fell G/NP-001 and Burnhope Seat G/NP-003, and the three Essex boys Gary M0JJH, Matt M3XIS and James M0ZZO (sorry James!). We enjoyed a fine evening meal in the hostel and set out in search of refreshment. Steve G1INK, Jimmy, Liam and myself were joined by the later arriving Kev G7OZE and James M3OZE in an excursion to the closest pub, The Sportsman. On arrival, we were greeted by unfriendly signs about no children after 9pm (unusual in such remote places I have found) and £4 to get in. We returned to the hostel and resorted to the lounge and the stash of emergency bottled beer that INK and myself had brought with us.

Saturday morning  (16th April 2005) came around and a typically substantial hostel breakfast of porridge followed by full English, with orange juice and coffee provided the foundations for a long day's walking ahead. Steve G1INK embarked early to tame Calf Top G/NP-022 and The Calf G/NP-013. Gary, James and Matt strolled along the Pennine Way to tackle Dodd Fell Hill G/NP-016, while the Saturday arrivers of Steve M0SGB and Bobbie M3DNC dealt with Ingleborough G/NP-005. The OZEs activated Great Knoutberry Hill G/NP-015 and Wild Boar Fell G/NP-007, while Myke, Shirley M0YLS and Nigel 2E0NHM ran chaser stations.

Jimmy, Liam and myself meanwhile, drove up through Hawes to Buttertubs Pass, and parked by the highest cattle grid in thick fog with six inches of snow on the ground. We set off up Great Shunner Fell G/NP-006, following the fence as recommended by Richard G3CWI and Clive M1YAM. The walk was a longish slog, or so it seemed with Liam's pace. Early in the walk I decided to retrieve my handheld out of my rucksack (a £25 PMR conversion from the Norbreck Rally, purchased solely for ascent & descent monitoring). It was not in there. Boo, chaser points were to be going begging.

The ascent rotated between three features - unsteep boggy moorland, moderately steep boggy moorland (two sections) and seas of peat in the hags. In the cold, we found we could skip across the peat without sinking to more than gaiter level when there was no other way across. After reaching Little Shunner Fell, some of the fog cleared and we got a basic outline of Great Shunner Fell, and we could soon make out the shelter upon its summit. Liam derived great entertainment from banging the wire fence with his walking pole, and watching as the lattices of ice fell to the ground. Some relief was found on the very final approach to the summit courtesy of the flagged Pennine Way.

A disappointment at the summit was the trig point being virtually connected to one of the walls of the shelter instead of standing alone as a trapezoid obelisk. It must have been freezing or below, and a strong wind blasted across the summit. Jimmy was holding the walking pole, WASP & SOTA Beam in place while I did the guys, but the wind was too strong and he couldn't hold it. It fell to the stony ground, and instantly, all four frozen metal rods were snapped. At least with everything being all iced up, I was able to push the bits back in, and remarkably they dangled in place without falling off. It was then I realised that Liam had disapeared into the mist, continuing his game of knocking the ice from the fence along the Pennine Way towards Hawes. He soon returned, but the cumulative effect of the events left me with a rather garbled manner on the microphone.

I worked several summit and chaser stations in the Dales, plus others from around the northern counties. However, with a shattered beam, increasingly fierce wind and dropping temperatures, this was no time for playing 2m SSB or HF. We consumed the first 500ml of our flask of Lobster Bisque soup, and set off on our descent. We returned to Buttertubs at around 3.10pm, allowing just enough of a window to have a go at Lovely Seat G/NP-030.

Thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM with 0.5 watts, except the seven contacts from G4BLH/M to M0COP/P on 2.5 watts: