EI/IE-003, Tonelagee – 817m, 10 points
Monday and it was back to the rain. There is good parking for Tonelagee but the path from the road is very wet. Fortunately just after I set off the rain stopped and once past the initial bog it is a very pleasant walk up to the top.
There is a fairly obvious path to follow. The mist never did manage to clear properly but on a clear day I suspect there would be some good views. The summit has a trig point which was a suitable spot to set up the station. I called CQ and soon had six contacts in the log, a mix of Welsh and Irish operators.
EI/IE-003, Tonelagee Log
The trip back to the car is just a case of retracing your steps.
Journey Details
Date – 7th October 2019
Parking (Grid) – O 076 001
Parking (Lat/Long) – 53.041695 -6.3960814
Radio – Kenwood TH-D74 + 50W PA
Antenna – 2 Element Yagi
Band – 144 FM
Contacts – 6
SOTA points – 10
Group – Myself
Distance – 3.9Km
Parking Height – 476m
Summit Height – 812m
Time Total – 1h 52m
Time Up 0h 40m
Time Down 0h 27m
EI/IE-012, Scarr – 641m, 8 points
A short drive into Laragh and back out got me to the second car park beside the Glenmacnass Waterfall which was in full flow after all the recent rains.
From the car park it was another boggy start to reach a fairly obvious path up to the summit.
After a pleasant walk up, the final approach to the summit loomed. There is no trig point but a small cairn offers a little shelter from the elements and somewhere to erect the aerial. Even though this was a lower summit I soon had eight contacts in the log. Probably being a bit later in the day there were more people around.
EI/IE-012, Scarr Log
The return back to the car is straightforward, just dodge the puddles!
Journey Details
Date – 7th October 2019
Parking (Grid) – O 114 030
Parking (Lat/Long) – 53.066576 -6.3393393
Radio – Kenwood TH-D74 + 50W PA
Antenna – 2 Element Yagi
Band – 144 FM
Contacts – 8
SOTA points – 8
Group – Myself
Distance – 5.6Km
Parking Height – 350m
Summit Height – 641m
Time Total – 2h 14m
Time Up 0h 47m
Time Down 0h 42m
EI/IE-035, Trooperstown Hill – 430m, 4 points
Another short drive back into Laragh and out took me to to the start point for the final summit of the trip. There is no car park, just enough room to squeeze one car onto the verge. From this start there is a clear track up to the summit where there is a large pile of rocks marking the top. Not really what you would call a cairn.
At only 430m I wasn’t sure how well I would get out from here but I needn’t have worried. I soon managed to raise enough contacts although mostly into Wales with one final contact to Dec at work in Dublin. This marked the end of four great days in the Wicklow mountains which despite the rain provided some great walks and some great contacts. Thanks to everyone I worked whilst over there.
EI/IE-035, Trooperstown Hill
Journey Details
Date – 7th October 2019
Parking (Grid) – T 157 929
Parking (Lat/Long) – 52.974520 -6.2780240
Radio – Kenwood TH-D74 + 50W PA
Antenna – 2 Element Yagi
Band – 144 FM
Contacts – 5
SOTA points – 4
Group – Myself
Distance – 3.0Km
Parking Height – 120m
Summit Height – 430m
Time Total – 1h 09m
Time Up 0h 22m
Time Down 0h 16m