by Teri (KO4WFP)
As my friend Jon KC1FUU says “Some days are diamonds, some are stone.” The third day (Tuesday, July 16) of my North Carolina trip definitely fell into the “stone” category.
The day began nice enough with a slow but steady pace. As our next overnight stay was at Lake James State Park, it was time to break camp and set out northward for Linville Gorge Wilderness Area (US-10262). According to the US Forest Service website, “the gorge is formed by the Jonas Ridge on the east and Linville Mountain on the west and is bisected by the Linville River which drops 2,000 feet into the valleys below.” The gorge is also known as the “Grand Canyon of Eastern USA”.
When you activate parks out of the state and with which you are unfamiliar, you never know what the actual conditions will be until you arrive. In case we didn’t want to hike into the gorge, I figured there would a parking lot at which we could set up as is typical of many parks. However, that is NOT the case here. The roads that run along the gorge are also not in the park boundary. All the trails to hike are rated difficult except for one which doesn’t go into the gorge.
After the previous day, I was loathe to do any major hiking, especially for Daisy. The weather didn’t help either as it was sunny and warm.
There was one hike – Spencer Ridge Trail – whose description said there was a moderate section. Plan B was to ride to the other side of the gorge and hike enough to be in the park boundary and try an activation on Spencer Ridge Trail.
Have you ever ridden any forest service roads? Whew! They are a rough bunch of characters. This one – Table Rock Road – was no different. Roads like this is why I drive my Crosstrek Kai, as he is made for these kinds of adventures.
We parked in the lot for Spencer Ridge Trail, geared up, and began the hike. A little ways down the trail, we stopped and I set up for an activation. There was no way to put up an antenna in the trees as this was a narrow trail and likely there would be hikers coming along at some point. I opted for the AX1 and hopped onto 20 meters. After 10 minutes of calling CQ with no answers, I thought about moving to 40 meters. However, there was no room for that long of a counterpoise and, by this time, I was ready to admit “uncle” to the gorge. Sometimes, as another acquaintance says, “the juice ain’t worth the squeeze,” and it wasn’t by this point.
We rehydrated, loaded ourselves back into the car for the bumpy, crazy service road ride, and went on our way to the next activation – Table Rock Fish Hatchery (US-8012).
The hatchery, built in 1946, has 17 ponds as well as a flowing water flume for holding trout. Its water supply is nearby Irish Creek. It is the only coolwater hatchery in the state due to its location which raises fingerling smallmouth bass, walleye, and muskallunge as well as channel catfish.
Maybe I should have taken the rain I encountered as an omen this activation was not to be. It poured on the drive to the hatchery and for about 15 minutes at the site. There was blue sky in the distance and the clouds seemed to be clearing when all of sudden, the sun was out! However, with the sun came intense humidity, almost south-Georgia level humidity.
I set up in a picnic area outside the hatchery gates but still on hatchery property. I found a spot I could park Kai under branches for shade. As there were dogs loose on the property and the ground was soggy, I left Daisy in the car with the windows down and the Koonie fan on high to keep her cool.
Due to the rain, there was no lack of wildlife. As I set up, I disturbed a bunch of tiny (and I mean tiny) frogs. During the activation, I kept an eye on the ground while calling CQ over and over and spied a little beetle crawling nearby.
I deployed the EFRW antenna and hopped on the air. I’m not sure if it was the location or bad propagation or both but I had only one nibble. (Thank you Tim VA3UZ for that single contact!) I tried 20 meters for two periods as well as five minutes each on 40 and 30 meters. It was hot and humid. While setting up, the feed-end of my EFRW had dropped out of my pocket unbeknownst to me and I tore my hair out for over 20 minutes trying to locate it. Between the weather, the frustration from temporarily losing the antenna feed-end, and the lack of contacts, I had had enough and called QRT.
We drove onto Lake James State Park to set up camp for the night. What a pretty and open landscape this park has. I booked a spot in the Paddy campground, spot #1 right near the bathhouse. Given the rainy weather we encountered, this proved to be a good spot.
I planned for an evening activation at Lake James; however, the weather had a different idea. It rained several times over the course of the evening. So, the POTA Babe struck out – zero successful activations of the three parks planned for the day.
Yes, it was a stone kind of day. The good thing about stone days is they don’t stick around. At some point, the diamond days show up again. Was day four of my North Carolina trip a diamond day? Stay tuned…
Argh… those are the days that keep POTA interesting.
I’ve had a terrific summer with lots of easy activations. I decided that early mornings (7-9am) were golden, usually yielding an activation in 20-30 minutes and allowing me to activate multiple parks close together.
This past weekend a buddy and I met early to activate three separate parks in two states, all two-fers with the Delaware River, that we could walk between over the course of about 200 yards. I expected three easy activations. Instead I had a total of four QSO’s for the day (plus some P2P with my companion). No activation. Yes to humble pie.
Congratulations on seeing some pretty areas, spending time in nature, and achieving two successful (you went! you set up!) “mini-activations” (fewer than 10 QSO’s).
Todd:
You summed it up correctly – “humble pie”. I had an activation this week for which I’ll share an article in the near future that ran along those lines. Some days propagation kicks our butt, pure and simple. However, if we hit every activation out of the park, there would be no challenge or savoring those activations with lots of QSOs. So, the older and wiser POTA Babe is learning to eat the humble pie, recharge, and be ready to head back out another day.
Thanks for your comment!
72,
The POTA Babe
Teri KO4WFP
Radio, especially portable radio, can be a lot like fishing. If you landed a fish every time you cast your line, they would probably have called it “catching”!
The stone days, challenging forest service roads, etc. are what make for great adventure stories. If we went out, made our required contacts in perfect conditions, and went home, it would get boring quickly.
Keep having adventures!
Tim:
You and I must have been on the same wavelength as I just posted a comment along those lines! You are correct. The stone days are indeed necessary.
Yes, the adventures will continue! Thanks for the comment.
72,
The POTA Babe
Teri KO4WFP
Hi Teri;
Thanks for the contact. You had a good signal here. I did hear others trying to call you, but band conditions…. I do thank you for posting our contact even though you did not get your 10 for a successful activation. I know that is important to both of us and only fair to the hunters. I did a recent SSB 5 watt activation at a local park were I could and have gotten 40 contacts in an hour. My first contact was a twofer with 3 ops. I thought this would be a great day. Wrong! I called CQ for over an hour with nothing. I tried P2P and the few that were there could not hear me. I switched to CW to try P2P (still not ready for CW activation) and was able to get 5 more contacts. I think band conditions are just making things challenging for us now compared to last year at this time. It is good that you and Daisy were able to visit some beautiful parks and enjoy having an activation. Having a challenging day is all part of POTA and the hobby. I thank you for posting this experience as we all have them.
All the best,
Tim VA3UZ
Tim:
You are welcome. If all anyone sees on Youtube or reads about on blogs are successful activations, especially when new to the hobby, then that is what they expect. So yes, the not-so-successful experiences need to be shared because they certainly happen.
With the spotting page, POTA almost becomes too easy at times (not that I’m complaining about that, mind you). Challenges are a good thing.
I am glad to see you did some P2P CW QSOs, Tim. Way to go!
Thanks for your comment, sharing your experience, and you hunting me during my activations. Keep having fun with CW!
72,
The POTA Babe
Teri KO4WFP
Thanks for this well written and entertaining narration of this “activation”. Your pictures add quite a bit to the story.
We with a bit of tongue in cheek, I claim that those who never struck out on an activation either lie or are not challenging themselves enough. I struck out last Saturday with four contacts and barely made it yesterday when I had my doubts if I could get to ten. QRP with a compromise antenna definitely falls into the “challenging“ category.
BTW, the Grand Canyon of the East is Letchworth State Park in NY (US-2096) – it even says so on the official web site. There can only be one 😉
Karl:
I agree with your comments. As for the Grand Canyon of the East, thank you for setting me straight. I read on the web that Linville Gorge is sometimes referred to with that title but maybe that is just in the local circles. Now I know!
I haven’t given up on Linville Gorge. POTA Babes don’t give up easily. I’d like to go back at a cooler time of the year and attempt it again, activating from the bottom of the gorge.
Thanks for your comment and continuing to hunt me during my activations. I appreciate the support.
72,
The POTA Babe
Teri KO4WFP