As usual, I drove into the yard at Moelfre Hall and knocked on the door there.  As usual, a very pleasant lady cheerfully gave me permission to park there and use that route to the summit.  The route starts and ends on PROWs, but the middle section - which is the majority of the route - is, I believe, private.  I get the impression its use as a route to the summit is very customary, but it’s best to be polite and ask, especially with the bonus of the very convenient parking.

It was approaching early evening on Sunday 3rd March 2019, and Storm Freya had properly caught up with me on this hill.  However, it was kind of to my benefit.  It was at my back and actually pushing me up the hill.  It was the easiest ascent of Gyrn Moelfre I’d ever done! 

As I homed in on the summit, I could tell that the wind was now dangerously fierce.  Standing - and moving - was now massively impeded.  I carefully placed my rucksack down in a semi-sheltered hollow just beneath the summit - but still weighed it down with several rocks.  I then carefully edged my way to the trig point for a couple of photos.  Getting back down to my rucksack - just a few metres away - was incredibly tricky!

Thankfully the chasers were all on board with my predicament and were cooperative with very quick and simple exchanges.  Five 2m FM QSOs were made.  I very carefully replaced my phone, handheld and logbook into my rucksack, grabbed my poles and commenced my descent.  Even during my few minutes on summit, the storm had intensified, and now little bits of soil and grit were being whipped up and stinging my face.  I really didn’t want to see if the storm intensified further, allowing stones and small rocks to be whipped up!

I made the decision not to follow the usual winding track down, but to drop more steeply and directly down the grass beside the stone wall.  This would lose me height more quickly, something I thought would be to my advantage.  For the second time in the day, I ended up zigzagging down a purpose-crafted BMX track!  Once I was back down on the main track, it was actually possible to stand up and walk without too much energy wasted on battling the gusts.  Daylight was now over, but I didn’t don my headtorch as my night-vision was adequate.  It was a good feeling to be back in the yard at Moelfre Hall and getting into my car!  Now for the drive back across to East Cheshire, and thoughts of my local summits Gun G/SP-013 and The Cloud G/SP-015.