Pen Pumlumon Fawr Hike - GW/MW-001 SOTA (2020)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Sunday 26th July, 2020.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Pen Pumlumon Fawr, Mid Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/MW-001 (6 points).
Summit Height: 752m elevation, 526m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 52.46696, -3.78305. Maidenhead Grid IO82cl.
Distance: 9.1km travelled with 391m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 2hr 50m (including operating).
Weather: Feels like 15.0°C, 13 kph SW wind, 84% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4. Yaesu VX6, Diamond SRH770S.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 16 (2m FM, 70cm FM).

Trip Notes

Plynlimon, also known as Pumlumon, is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Mid Wales. The main peak, Pen Pumlumon Fawr, stands at 752 meters above sea level. The mountain is the source of the River Severn, the longest river in Britain, as well as the rivers Wye and Rheidol. According to folklore, there is said to be a sleeping giant in Plynlimon.

There are routes to the summit from all sides. For this SOTA activation, I opted to approach from the south at Eisteddfa Gurig. This is the easiest to access start point, with an adhoc car park at the farm on the A44 main road. The land owner asks for a few pounds to be deposited in an honesty box at this car park.

A track runs through the farm, westward, towards a small forest area. When the track ends near this forest, an obvious foot path turns north along the edge of the forest.

I followed the grassy path north from the forest straight to the summit of Pen Pumlumon Fawr. The weather conditions were poor so I did not get to enjoy what should have been some excellent views across the countryside. I noticed several semi-permanent microwave backhaul links on the hill during the ascent.

At the summit there is a trig point and a couple of stone shelters. As the weather started to ease, I set up my amateur radio station in one of the shelters and made contacts for almost half an hour. I managed to get a couple of summit-to-summit contacts and also two contacts with my Yaesu VX6 on the 70-centimetre band.

After I had finished working stations on the radio, I packed away and headed back down the path to the car. The close proximity to the A44 of the start point makes this a quick and easy six point SOTA summit, best bagged on the way to/from other summits in the Mid Wales region.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Pen Pumlumon Fawr on Sunday 26th July, 2020.

Walking Route for Pen Pumlumon Fawr

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Pen Pumlumon Fawr. The GW/MW-001 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 16 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/MW-001 Pen Pumlumon Fawr on Sunday 26th July, 2020 (all times shown are UTC):

In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.

Additional Information

The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Pen Pumlumon Fawr:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/MW-001 Pen Pumlumon Fawr.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Pen Pumlumon Fawr.
• Google Earth view of Pen Pumlumon Fawr.
• Wikipedia entry for Pen Pumlumon Fawr.
• 360° Panorama near summit of GW/MW-001 Pen Pumlumon Fawr.

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