We awoke early with our alarm on the morning of Wednesday 30th August 2006.  We quickly dressed and scooped up our bags, taking care not to disturb the others still asleep in the dormitory.  Wanting to cram as many SOTA activations in the day as possible, we were not breakfasting in the hostel, but we knew we had come cereal bars, and a bag of fresh spinach leaves (I like them!) in the car.  The first task was to warm up our flask of soup in the members' kitchen, and then we were away.

The access track down to Welsh Bicknor YHA has the most extreme hairpin bend ever, and this took a careful five point turn to negotiate in the early morning gloom.  The rough narrow track also had a sheer drop to one side, so care needed to be maintained right up to the public road.  A short journey took us through Mitcheldean and towards Glasshouse before spotting the cul-de-sac lane that took us up to our parking spot for May Hill G/WB-019.

Without our other regular walking companion Liam, who was sunning himself out on the beaches of Montenegro, we were able to make short work of easy strolls such as this.  Like on our previous visit, we first respectfully touched the trig point, and then adjourned to the bench on the opposite side of the wood to make use of the north facing vista and more likely operating position.  After successfully activating the hill, we completed a rapid descent and made our way north-eastwards towards Worcestershire Beacon G/WB-009.

A pattern of regular chaser stations for our Welsh Borders week was beginning to develop.  Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM with 2.5 watts: