Red Screes Hike - G/LD-017 SOTA (2020)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Sunday 18th October, 2020.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Red Screes, Lake District, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/LD-017 (6 points).
Summit Height: 776m elevation, 260m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 54.47058, -2.93257. Maidenhead Grid IO84ml.
Distance: 2.4km travelled with 339m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T2.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1hr 35m (including operating).
Weather: Feels like 7.8°C, 11 kph SSW wind, 80% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 16 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Rounding out my weekend stay in the Lake District my last summit of the trip was Red Screes, a distinct peak in the Lake District, positioned between Patterdale and Ambleside. Despite its connection to the Fairfield group in the Eastern Fells, it stands independently due to low cols, giving it prominence. The fell is named after the reddish screes on its steep eastern slopes above Kirkstone Pass. It is geologically significant as part of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.

I parked in the large free car park opposite the Kirkstone Pass Inn, the 3rd highest public house in England. This car park is conveniently quite high up, meaning only a little over 300 metres of vertical ascent is required to reach the summit of this 6-point SOTA mountain.

From the northern corner of the car park, an obvious path strikes west towards the slopes of Red Screes. Passing a few tourists taking photos on the lower section of path, I continued onwards as the path became rockier underfoot.

A brief section of easy scrambling interrupts the trail before the steepness of the path eases, eventually arriving at the summit. I passed a local elderly hill walker making slow but steady progress up the hill - I hope I will still be climbing mountains at his age!

In poor visibility conditions, as it was today, careful navigation is required to avoid the steep slopes to the north and ensure the correct path is followed back to the car park on the descent.

I quickly set up my Yaesu FTM100D radio in the light rain that had set in. I worked a good number of operators on two metres, many of whom I had spoken to several times during the weekend trip. I then packed away my equipment and retraced my steps back down towards the car park at the Kirkstone Pass.

This is an easy and convenient summit, well worth enjoying if you are passing by, and worth six points on the Summits on the Air scheme.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Red Screes on Sunday 18th October, 2020.

Walking Route for Red Screes

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Red Screes. The G/LD-017 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 M1HAX/P from G/LD-017 Red Screes on Sunday 18th October, 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 Red Screes:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for G/LD-017 Red Screes.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Red Screes.
• Google Earth view of Red Screes.
• Wikipedia entry for Red Screes.

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