Sunday 7th March 2004 was (probably) our last opportunity to grab the winter bonus. The previous week had been intended for me to take my turn as MW0YLS's chauffeur and jointly activate Mwdwl-eithin. Weather conditions in North Wales put paid to that, and by one week later, Shirley was back driving again. In any case, it seemed a shame not to do the joint activation, so Mwdwl-eithin it was.

We met at SH 899 548 on the A543, where there is room for two cars in a pull-in at the side of the road. From here, we went through the gate and followed the green track gently up the hill until it fades away. It was then a job of hopping across the bog and heather, avoiding the wet bits, until reaching the path the comes across from the Alwen Reservoir.  We then climbed straight up the hill to the summit.

  

The summit of Mwdwl-eithin is a SOTA activator's dream. The trig point has no cap in it, hence a convenient bottom section mount for the SOTA pole, and furthermore, this is within easy reach of the adjacent shelter, where all five of us (Marianne, Jimmy & Liam were with us too) sat out of the icy North wind while operating.

My first 3 were SOTA-2-SOTA - thanks to Rob, Keith and Ian, following which several other chasers were worked. Sorry to the Midlands lads, we then packed up rather than play at SSB / horizontal. It was cold, and as Shirley put it "SOTA is not a spectator sport".

After descending, we all drove into Llangollen and enjoyed a great meal at The Corn Mill restaurant.

We got back to our home in Macc at 8.45pm, and by 9.00pm, Marianne, Jimmy and Liam were all fast asleep in their beds! A big thank-you to Shirley for joining up with us and making it a memorable and enjoyable day.

Thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m FM with 2.5 watts: