Heath Mynd Hike - G/WB-007 SOTA (2021)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Saturday 12th June, 2021.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Heath Mynd, Welsh Borders, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/WB-007 (1 point).
Summit Height: 453m elevation, 191m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 52.54060, -2.98103. Maidenhead Grid IO82mm.
Distance: 3.4km travelled with 156m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1hr 5m (including operating).
Weather: 20°C, 8 mph WNW wind, 58% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 6 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Heath Mynd is a distinctive heather-covered hill located in the Shropshire Hills National Landscape area in the Welsh Borders region. Standing at 453 metres, it offers good views of the surrounding countryside despite its relatively modest height. The hill is characterized by its heather moorland and rocky outcrops at the summit.

This summit activation was part of a day trip where I activated five one-point hills in the Shropshire Hills area: Caer Caradoc Hill, Heath Mynd, Burrow, View Edge, and Callow Hill. Heath Mynd was the fifth and final summit of my day.

I parked to the immediate west of the hill near The Hollies, where there’s limited space for a couple of vehicles. From here, a 4x4 track heads north-northeast along the side of the mountain, providing straightforward access.

Following this track for a short distance, a less obvious path turns back on itself and leads up to the summit at 453 metres. The well-established track makes for relatively easy passage through the heather that blankets much of the hillside.

The ascent is not particularly challenging, gaining about 156 metres of elevation over approximately 1.7 kilometres. I reached the top in about half an hour, finding a trig point marking the summit.

The heather and rocky summit doesn’t lend itself well to setting up a shelter for radio operating, but the trig point provides a convenient place to place equipment. On a clear summer’s day like this, the views across the Shropshire countryside were excellent.

Using my Yaesu FTM100D with an MFJ vertical antenna, I made six contacts with regular SOTA chasers on the 2-metre band. Propagation was good, and most contacts reported strong signals.

After completing my activation, I descended back the way I came, completing the entire hike and activation in just over an hour.

This is an easily accessible one-point summit that has been activated many times, likely due to its straightforward approach route. It’s well worth a visit for the pleasant easy walking and good views. The heather is particularly impressive when in bloom during late summer.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Heath Mynd on Saturday 12th June, 2021.

Walking Route for Heath Mynd

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Heath Mynd. The G/WB-007 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 6 amateur radio contacts operating as M1HAX/P from G/WB-007 Heath Mynd on Saturday 12th June, 2021 (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 Heath Mynd:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for G/WB-007 Heath Mynd.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Heath Mynd.
• Google Earth view of Heath Mynd.
• Wikipedia entry for Heath Mynd.
• 360° Panorama near summit of G/WB-007 Heath Mynd.

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