Slemish, GI/AH-007 - 437m ASL - D 221 054 - OSNI Discoverer 9 - 2 SOTA points            

Wednesday 1st December 2021

This morning was a toss up between Slemish GI/AH-007 and Slieveanorra GI/AH-003.  The weather forecast for the former was not great.  For the latter it was utterly horrendous.  So Slemish it was.

I set off from Ballygally at 6am, pulling into the car park around 6.45am. The climb was via headtorch light as it was pre-dawn. I opted for the more direct steeper ascent which involves a few bits of mild scrambling.  As I reached the summit, it was clear that the wind was too fierce for the Alexloop to remain upstanding on the tripod. I found a sheltered spot on the NW slopes just off the summit, but decided to try 2m FM on the handheld first.

No problem - four quick QSOs, and the activation was qualified. I went back to collect my rucksack from the sheltered spot, but then decided to set up and do a little HF.  The rain started, so I needed to operate inside the bothy bag.  Six QSOs added on 40m CW, then no takers on 40m SSB. I descended down the less steep path but I think I lost it as some bits were still tricky. The rain intensified and I got a proper soaking!

A spectacular rainbow greeted me upon my return to Ballygally Bay!  We later had the pleasure of having my 87 year old father-in-law, Captain Jimmy at the holiday cottage for an early Christmas dinner feast cooked up by Marianne.