10 points for 2 SP summits? Hell yes!
Pendle and Boulsworth are both 2 point summits, add in the 3 point winter bonus, and this makes them quite an interesting prospect for a decent day out! Ive been wanting to try some winter bonus for ages, but last time I tried it ended in disaster! So keeping an eye on the weather between Christmas and new year, I formulated a plan!
G/SP-005 Pendle Hill
I decided to kick the day off on Pendle, as I reckoned it would get busy rapidly.. I wanted an early activation but sadly due to my wifes illness issues I went to bed late, and didnt get up as early as I wanted too, I collected William from his mums and we were off up the winding roads to Pendle.
I parked on Barley lane in the vacinity of SD 81453 41610 and was glad I was still early enough to park, as it was already busy, depite the layer of fog covering the landscape! I was hoping this fog was an inversion and the summit would be clear, however as I later found out this sadly was not the case! We donned the waterproofs, and got the gear out of the car... S**T!! Ive forgotten the mast, its still at home Oh no, the day wasnt looking good... Fog, no mast... what next!
We chose the "steep route" to ascend as it would be the quickest, and set off up to the summit, in heavy fog all the way.. luckily the paths are well marked and easy to follow so we pressed on, that and there of plenty of people about doing the same thing! after a bit of a push to the summit, we were soon at the cairn, and my best bodging skills were deplyed to get an antenna up for 2M of some sort.....
Best I could manage was hanging the Slim G off a walking pole, and hoping for the best. Gotta admit, it was slow going! even after some frantic spotting, I JUST managed 5 calls, with some pretty big gaps in between, with the wind and the weather I didnt fancy having to crack the HF out! it would have been very difficult with the antenna essentially on the floor... but we manged it, and bagged the trig too as we were there!
A quick pack up, and were off back down, decided to descend the longer route via the "less steep" way, but decided it was just as steep in places, and im glad i didnt bother going up that way! Still, back at the car, we had a turkey and stuffing butty refuel and we were off to Boulsworth.
G/SP-008 Boulsworth hill (Lad Law)
We parked at the end of what is known as the "Oil Track" Around SD 91491 33766. I heard it called the Oil track when I came across a couple of local lads at the summit, who were also out walking, this set me to wandering.... Why the Oil track?? well, (and here we go into the industrial archeology stuff again) The track was built in 1962 by the Continental oil company, of Texas who had permission for exploratory drilling in the area, with a view to extracting oil! how cool is that?
Anyhow, the fog was still with us, and it been raining on and off, the Oil track was wet and muddy and the fog a varying thickness, we discussed this on the way over the track, and decided if the path should either be difficult to find or fade away, we would turn back, I dont know this moor and didnt fancy loosing my bearings on the moor. at the end of the track we suprised and were ourselves suprised by a large herd of hardy beef cattle, who were feeding from rings put out by the farmer, they were friendly enough and let us be. this is where the path starts!
My over riding memory of this Boulsworth trip was MUD, it was possibly the wettest moorland trip I had done for years! it was rediculous! from this point on were essentially bog hopping up the moor, ankle deep in water in some spots I was thankful for the Haix high leg army boots I was wearing! they kept my feet relatively dry, but most impotantly warm!
As we ascended luckily the path got drier, and we found the fork in the path, Left for the summit and a little steep bit, over the style and follow accross to the trig... The wind was even more horrendous up here, and with the fog, it was heat sapping, we were earning our winter bonus here! Again no mast, so i deployed the Williamast at this location, he held the pole while I got out the wind a bit!
Again contacts were very slow, but we managed 5 on 2M and 1 on 4M (result!!) and we wernt hanging around to get any more!
We descended the same way, with more of the same bog hopping, bovines and the oil track! as we got back to the car, the fog did clear a little (Typical huh!) another turkey butty, and a can of pop, and were off home... a great but damp day on the moors, with no disasters and 2 mountains activated!
And with that, this Blog is fully up to date! please do subscribe and comment, and keep an eye on my X (twitter) feed for updates and activation alerts! heres to 2025, and more adventures.. Watch this space!
As ever, thanks for reading, 73, Alan & WillIam
