The sun shone the previous day on Shining Tor, but the icy Arctic wind that plagued us across the Cleveland hills last week was still there.  However, there was little evidence of it on Sunday 4th June 2006 in North East Wales, except for on the very summits, and albeit still strong, it was not icy!

We lay in bed until 9am, had breakfast at home and set off at 10.20am.  A most unusual start to a SOTA day for us.  However, our chosen summits could allow for such decadance - Moel Gyw GW/NW-053 and Penycloddiau GW/NW-054. For the first one, we parked as usual at the Clwyd Gate Motel on the A494 between Mold and Ruthin.  We followed the Offa's Dyke Path from the opposite side of the road.  As we came off the farm track and into the rising field, we saw a cow milking its three very young calves, each one taking it in turns while the other two basked in the sun.  Liam really enjoyed this.

The Offa's Dyke Path bends around to the south, skirting around the base of the summit lump, and then we cut back on ourselves to take the summit path.  A surprise awaited at the summit.  It was our fourth time up here (debut activation for Jimmy though), but for the first time, the large cage, repeater and collapsed mast were all absent.  All removed with a clear effort having been made to look after this now designated AONB.  The removal of the mast, which was mounted in the trig point, means that there is now an uncapped trig point to support an antenna for SOTA!  We didn't use it though, preferring to continue to the cairn a few yards to the north, where we sat, enjoyed our Sweet Potato & Rosemary soup and activated the summit using handhelds. Liam, at the first sight of the radio gear being packed up, commenced his descent as usual to get a head start.  Jimmy and myself found and signed the cache, and then set to trying to catch Liam up - which we didn't until just before the A494.  It seems Liam can shift after all. We were at the most southerly hill - Moel Gyw GW/NW-054 - in a range of four Marilyns in the Clwydians.  Our car journey took us on the narrow Welsh country lanes, skipping past Foel Fenlli GW/NW-051 and Moel Famau GW/NW-044 to the most northerly - Penycloddiau GW/NW-054.

Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM using 2.5 watts: