F/AB-342 – Dent de Crolles – 2062m (2)

Abstract:

August 20, 2018; 09:35 – 10:15 UTC
My second activation of Dent de Crolles.

Wx:  about 17 C, sunny but the usual cloud on top.
Walking time up approx. 2:15 h, down not known as we took several breaks and visited a cave.

19 CW QSOs on 20m, 7 CW QSOs on 30m, 5 CW QSOs on 40m
Very good condx on 20m, even some RBN spots from VE, lots of QSB on 40m.

Rig: KX3 / 10W, 2200mAh LiPo, Palm Pico Paddle
Ant: EFHW Dipole  (40m, 30m, 20m) as inverted L on a 6m squid pole

How to get there?

From Grenoble take the road to „Col du Coq“ (1434m). Just below, there is a car big park on both sides of the street. Descent a few metres on that street, then turn left to the woods and follow the sign posts towards “Col des Ayes” (1538m) and climb to the summit by the “Pas de l’Oeille” (path on the right) (approx. 2hours)

Activation report:

Dent de Crolles seen from the way to „Col du Coq“.

Because it was a trip with the yl and our daughter Marie I had to be brief.

Dent de Crolles seen from „Col du Coq“ (1434m).

We started at the car park “Col du Coq”, at 9:00 LT.

Dent de Crolles seen from „Col des Ayes” (1538m). The track leads to the notch in the wall.

From there we took the route to „Col des Ayes“, “Pas de l’ OEille” and further to the summit where we arrived at 11:15 LT.

This was already an achievement because Marie never did such a long hike before. She especially enjoyed the passages where she had to scramble.

While the family had lunch I set up the station and went on air. 20m seemed in good shape and produced loud signals. 40m on the other hand was tough going with deep QSB.

After about 30 minutes I went QRT and packed up. Thanks to the permanent cloud on Dent de Crolles it was pretty chilly. The family had already left the summit and waited further down the plateau where it was sunny and much warmer.

We continued down the plateau and further on to a cave “Trou du Glaz“ on a track with spectacular passages.

When we arrived in front of the cave, we could already feel the cold air flowing out of the entrance. We went in as far as we thought it was safe.

After a while we got out again, took some photos and prepared for the way back to the car.

It was a great day with lots of fun. Thanks for the QSOs, cu from the next one here in Chartreuse.
73, Roman – F/DL3TU/p