Sunday 10th July 2005 - Following a much needed pint in The Stag Inn, and waters for Jimmy and Liam, we set off on a route via Appleby, Brough, Kirkby Stephen and onto the B6259 then B6270.  Up at the top of this road, was a track and a number of vehicles parked on Nateby Common, most of them involved in the paragliding activities.  We parked there also, and walked off across the limestone to try to meet the bridleway.  This was not obvious, but we were going in the right direction, and once we reached the head of Dukerdale, we knew where we were, and it was easy to follow the good path up onto the edge of Nine Standards Rigg.  The last half-mile or so was across pathless bog and heather. 

We set up near the trig point, where we met a couple of Coast-to-Coast Path backpackers. A few calls yielded nothing, so I was very pleased to hear the voices of Dave G6LKB and Marjorie M3ULV to get me to the halfway stage.  Philip G0ISW was a fantastic signal from Penrith, but then it was a struggle.  Thankfully though, Dave had spotted me on SOTAwatch, and the duo of Mick M3HJD and Nigel 2E0NHM had assembled on frequency, even though we could barely hear each other.  Thanks to the QSPing of Dave, we reassembled on 144.310 MHz SSB, and this time reports were exchanged without difficulty.  We still had a full flask of posh chargrilled chicken, shallots & white wine soup, which we had been too hot to contemplate on Dufton Pike G/NP-027.  It was still a scorcher of a day, but at least we were hungry, so we managed to consume it. 

But I had made a mistake, and the 3 litres of water we carried up here was not enough.  The last few drops were rationed out early into the descent, following which it seemed like very hard work to get to the car.  Jimmy suddenly found it very hard going, but Liam sensed an opportunity and made as much out of him being stronger and faster than his big brother as he possibly could.  Jimmy, was not amused.

The first village we drove into was Nateby, and we stopped for refreshment at The Bull pub.  As well as a fine pint of ale, I joined the lads with a pint of water, and the landlord kindly refilled our water bottles for the drive home.  It was an excellent weekend, and we are getting better at matching our summit plans with our walking ability, or maybe the other way around!  In any case, we did the exact four summits we had planned, although the second summit of each day saw us around one hour later than advertised.  Dufton Youth Hostel is excellent, as is The Stag Inn over the road, and my word, they certainly get good weather up there!

A traffic jam on the M6 created by the lethal combination of a trailer that had lost its wheels and the "day-out at Blackpool" traffic joining from the M55 held us up briefly, but we made it home for just after 9pm.  Waiting for us were steak and kidney pasties, chips and tinned spaghetti - result!  I think Marianne must have realised that she owed me one for my consideration... Thanks to all stations worked, and especially Dave G6LKB who was looking out for me and coordinating things on air when necessary.  Fantastic weekend - I hope Marianne demands me to do it again soon!  

Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 2m - 2.5 watts FM for the first three, and 5 watts SSB for the final two: