Seat Sandal, G/LD-022 - 736m ASL - NY 343 115 - OS Explorer OL5 - 6 SOTA points           

We set off for Jimmy's treat - for excellent SATs results - on Monday 27th August 2007.  I hadn't dared post any specific summit alert times on SOTAwatch, for I knew that my plans were rather ambitious, and publishing them might cause some peers to question my sanity!  Jimmy and I were focussed though, and both arose at the agreed 0530 BST on the Monday. After the final item was packed - a litre flask of Luxury Broccoli, Stilton & Bacon soup - we were on the road at 6.05am. As another time-saver, we would not be pulling in for breakfast, making do with a couple of Nutri-Grain bars each in the car. The journey up the M6 was clear, with Jimmy, as usual, insisting on pointing out every Marilyn he could see en route.

The drive through Windermere and Grasmere on the A591 was also clear, as we listened to BBC Radio Cumbria on the car radio. We pulled in at Dunmail Raise lay-by, just north of Grasmere, at around 8.45am.

We have always enjoyed the climb up the good (and picturesque) path by Raise Beck, and we were feeling in good shape having reached Grisedale Tarn in around half-an-hour. We have never really enjoyed the steep grassy haul from there up to the summit of Seat Sandal, but this time we had two extra items of kit each to make the job a tad easier. These were an extra walking pole (it was only just over a year ago that we went from one to two poles each for longer hikes) and a tablet of Kendal Mint Cake. I had never really bothered with this stuff before, but we thought we would give it another try. Taken at the right points, I found that it did have a helpful effect when the spirit and the flesh were both weak!

   

On the summit of Seat Sandal, the weather was lovely, warm with great views. Before we activated, another pair of hikers arrived - we had watched them descending Fairfield G/LD-007 - and complemented us on our shirts. We were both wearing Macclesfield Town replica shirts. I asked them where they were from, to which one replied "Beech Lane". A couple of photos of the Macclesfield Invasion of Seat Sandal were in order before the other guys departed and we activated.

   

I must admit, it was very much a pre-meditated form of selfish activating. Simply because we were trying to get as many Uniques that Jimmy needed (that I had already done) ticked off, we were getting away with handhelds with rubber duck where we could. They were tethered to the SLAB though to allow the full 5 watts of power. The SOTA Beam was carried, but only to be deployed as and when necessary. This was all to maximise the chances of activating lots of summits in the four days. On LD-022, we each worked G4BLH, GW0DSP, 2E0EDX and G6CRV. An 'amusing' moment came when Mike DSP was struggling to read the report Jimmy was giving him, and a third party chipped in to relay it. This of course actually delayed things, for Jimmy then had to change his report and send it again to preserve the integrity of the contact.

I announced my ETA for Helvellyn G/LD-003, and Mike G4BLH volunteered to post this on SOTAwatch. In fact Mike G4BLH and Mike GW0DSP did this for us on every activation over the four days, and was very useful. We dropped steeply back down to Grisedale Tarn, pleased to have got the first one in the bag.  Many thanks to the following stations, each worked on 2m FM with 5 watts: