Ben Cleuch

Went for a walk up Ben Cleuch today (10.4km total) to play radios, up via The Law and back via Ben Ever.  It's a bit of a scramble out of Tillicoutry Glen then a steep walk up The Law, and there's a few steep spots coming back down, but other than that it's a very pleasant stroll.  

I made a handful of good contacts across Europe before a contest started that swamped the bands, so I moved to VHF.  Usually a good range of contact (with the kit I was using) would be a few 10s of miles, maybe even 100 or so from a hilltop, but I made contacts in Whitby, Lincoln, Bradford, Leeds and even Northern Ireland.  There must have been a bit of a "lift" on - atmospheric conditions that cause signals to travel further than usual.

Funny combination of weather, including baking sunshine and cloudy spells with very little wind when the midgies came out, even at the summit!

The boring boots got their first outing, and while they appear to be the right tool for the job they have left blisters on my heels (perhaps predictably).

The extra shows today's three summits: Ben Ever (left) 622m, Ben Cleuch (centre) 731m, The Law (right) 638m (the car par was about at about 50m).