Yr Aran was one of the two demons nagging away at me, that needed to be exorcised.   The other one was Heath Mynd WB-007 where the car broke down en route, and this one would become rectified later in 2004.  Anyhow, after getting too tired and having to abandon Yr Aran in 2003, this time we were determined and set aside the whole of Thursday 3rd June 2004 to sort it out.

We again parked in the free car park at Nant Gwynant at the start of the Watkin Path, which we followed up through the wood and around by Afon Cwm (river).  It is very tempting to continue on the Watkin Path, but it is necessary to turn left and head uphill to the disused tramway.  Further along here, one could be tricked into following down along the river, but again it is necessary to bear left to remain on the PROW towards the coll between Snowdon and Yr Aran.  Indeed, that is where we were heading.  Advice had suggested we find the path up to the ridge heading East from Yr Aran, but having failed to discover it last year, we decided to head all the way to the coll and reevaluate at that point.  Some passing walkers had a guide book and were able to confirm that there was a good path from the coll to the summit of Yr Aran, so we pressed on with our original plan.

We made reasonable time, reaching the coll in little over one hour from the car.   However, the hard work was now about to start, and it was nice to be able to exchange words of encouragement with a couple of groups of walkers heading back down from Yr Aran and heading onto Snowdon.  This next section was pretty steep and involved some mild scrambling and a lot of concentration!  Liam began for the first time to lose his concentration and not take sufficient care where he was putting his feet or hands.  He was the unlucky recipient of an almighty over-the-top roasting by me, but I paid for this when the next group of walkers (who I had not seen in the rapidly descending cloud) refused to speak to me and looked accusingly at me as though I was a cruel and unfit parent!  However, it was a small price to pay, as Liam regained his concentration and adrenalin and pressed on effectively for the summit.  Still, it just seemed to go up and up, and when we did reach the summit, there was something of an anticlimax as (a) there was no trig point, (b) there was no view in the thick cloud, and (c) the heavens opened (and remained open throughout the activation and descent).

Despite the rain, I elected to utilise the SOTA Beam, remembering Dick M0EIQ's expereince of failing this one when his walking chums only allowed him the time on summit to use a handy and whip.  For similar reasons, the FT-817 was set to 2.5 watts, and out went the CQ calls.   Zero response, and the nerves began to jangle.  It was chucking it down, it was windy and cold, and it was twenty past three in the afternoon, with a possible 3 hour descent ahead of us.  I scanned around the 2m band and hit upon a massive signal from my local repeater - GB3MN.  I called in, and to my eternal joy, one of the stations (Hugh M1NTO) confirmed he could hear me on the input, and agreed to QSY to simplex with me.  After exchaning the reports and making good the first of the required four contacts, I asked Hugh if he would consider logging for me, as even the G1INK waterproof logging system was rendered useless in the ensuing downpour.  He agreed, and three more stations were worked in double quick time.  We packed up and set off, and unusually the descent didn't seem as steep as it did on the ascent.

Upon returning to the car and stripping off the waterproofs, it seemed they had held out rather well under a four-hour battering of heavy rain, with most of what was underneath still dry.  The only thing that had suffered was my SOTA T-shirt, which I removed even before the rain started!  We made it back to the campsite in time to shower, change and just about be in the Bull Inn for last food orders at 9pm! 

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

On the Friday, we packed away the tent and drove into the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch for a leisurely morning and lunch before driving back to Macclesfield.  Grey clouds were looming, so we decided to postpone any idea of grabbing Penycloddiau NW-054 for another day.