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by Vince (VE6LK)

It’s time for another return trip to the correctional institution that I spoke about in my last post. And that means only one important detail: more time to POTA en route. This trip will carry me, via a ‘short’ 325km detour from the direct route, into Castle Provincial Park and Castle Wilderness Provincial Park, with a stop or two along the way.

The Research and planning

Castle Provincial Park CA-2971 is within the larger Waterton Biosphere Reserve CA-0109, so any activation I can do is automatically a 2fer. Looking more closely at the map, I see Castle Falls CA-2969 is within Castle PP, and that makes it a 3fer. I printed off the park info sheets from POTA.app, studied some satellite imagery, printed some, and bundled it all together. I have been in this area once before, camping in August (and the bugs were awful, yuck!), so at least I knew three things…where I was going, an expectation of cell service (not great off the main roads) and bugs would be minimal to non-existent, given it’s mid-November.

In thinking about a route that needs to get me closer to my hotel and one that increases the number of unique parks I’ve activated, I decided upon Beauvais Lake Provincial Park CA-0632, another 2fer with CA-0109. A satellite view shows easy-peasy road access, and even if the main gates are closed, I’m still on the property, so it will be a valid attempt/activation.

But I also really want to get to the Castle Wildland Provincial Park CA-2972, as it’s never been activated before. And while there is road access through the entire Castle area, I opt to take paved roads as winter driving and gravel (and no cell service) can be unpredictable at best. I’ve also never been to Castle Wildland, but in my mind, I’m imagining views reminiscent of Waterton Lakes or Glacier National Park, given the very close proximity. As it turned out, I wasn’t too far wrong.

I also tacked on one park at the last minute and was happy I did so, even if I could not activate it.

The drive

I’ve written many times about the Cowboy Trail in Alberta, primarily along Highway 22, as it runs along the eastern edge of the Rockies. I will never tire of driving along this road. With my last trip, I can say that I’ve now traveled along its entire length, and I’ve seen some amazing scenery and sampled some great food. So it should be no surprise that I ‘saddled up’ in my F-150 -complete with leather seat covers and heated seats- and headed south for the longest single stretch of the day’s trip headed to the Castle area.

The activations

Because I was in this area two years ago, I had a reasonable expectation of cellular service for spotting. There was none at the first site, so before I left civilization, I posted an activation plan in order for the RBN to pick me up and create a spot. Upon arrival at Castle Falls, the weather was chilly and minus 9C, so any thought I had to hike, see the falls, and take photos was abandoned. I set about on 10m and did a CW-only activation. Given the time of day and my proximity to the mountains, I was super pleased with the outcome of working a contact in France among many callers in the USA. Pulling away and driving through a few inches of fresh snow, I headed back the way I came, as this was the safer option than backcountry gravel roads covered in snow.

I grabbed a bit of food at the Beaver Mines General Store (the beef jerky is great!) and headed towards Beauvais Lake. This would be another CW stop, however, on 20m as I wanted to compare conditions between the two, given the interval was less than an hour. Before I set up my spot, I went hunting and found none other than K4SWL at his Lake James State Park (US-2739) activation. I tried for a few minutes to get through but backed away when I stopped and listened to his huge pileup. I shot him a quick SMS to let him know I was on the air also and began my activation.

And so many friends and DX came by about then, including, but not limited to K3ES, N3XLS, W9AV, NE1D, KN7D, VE3LDT, VE9CF, K2UPD, N4EX, AE6Z, VA7LM, KJ7RPL, KE6MT, and NZ7Q. 20m was both long and short on this day, something I rarely see.

Beauvais Lake is a pretty place with deer wandering around, but I had a schedule to keep, so I moved on to the next park. My route took me north through Pincher Creek and then southwards. Twenty minutes later, I was turning west onto the road that would take me into the backcountry.

Alberta has a diverse economy, but one thing that keeps the lights on (no pun intended) is our energy sector. And so it happens that there is a large natural gas plant along the route. While I knew that it was there, the sheer magnitude of it caught me off guard. You can take a peek at it here, thanks to Google’s street view.

Just three kilometres later, I was entering the Castle Wildland Provincial Park. It’s an area where the industry co-exists with other backcountry users. I stopped at the first parking lot – Butcher Lake – where I saw a signpost with many wells listed and arrows pointing the correct way at this fork in the road. This isn’t the norm and is strong evidence of industrial use of the road in addition to recreational users like myself.

The weather was overcast, and the clouds were very low. Still, I could see evidence of magnificent mountains close by. It was the most picturesque spot I’d been in this year, and I’ve resolved to go back there when the roads and weather are more favourable.

I worked many more contacts here, starting on 20m CW and ending on 10m SSB. I was nearing the end of my CW portion when a very weak signal came in – I could make out the ‘SWL’ but that was it. With a bit of repetition from the caller, I could make out K4SWL! I swear half the contact was accomplished with cryptaesthesia, i.e., via ESP or Extrasensory Perception, as my volume was wound up full, and the signal was just on the edge of my hearing. I’d later learn that Thomas was standing in the parking lot of the Lowe’s store in Marion, North Carolina, with his KH-1. It’s always great to work a buddy on air – it never fails to put a big smile on my face during the contact!

Soon after, I packed up and reluctantly headed eastwards towards my next activation, Woolford Provincial Park CA-1201. Woolford PP isn’t quite on the way in a direct “from here to there” sense, but a small 20km detour from where I was at versus where I was headed. As it turns out, most of it is along gravel roads, which are, thankfully, in good condition. It’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

Earlier in the week, I had planned to tackle Woolford (and one other) on an out-and-back loop from the hotel after my workday had ended. It would be 2 hours of round-trip driving plus activation time, so a fair bit of that would be in the dark, given the time of year. But on the day of, I left work late and was running out of sunlight, so my out-and-back trip was abbreviated, and Woolford, being the farther away of the two, was left for another time. That time was on this trip.

However, when I arrived, I was instantly deflated. While it’s no surprise the gates were closed at this time of year, my research on the satellite imagery and boundaries failed to show that the gate was on the property line, unlike others I’ve done recently. I would not activate this park today. At that moment, I was really happy I didn’t try to get to this place in the dark on my trip prior! Still, I was dejected as I drove away and headed to my hotel. Mind you, by this time, I’d been behind the wheel, save for a fast stop for lunch and bio breaks, for 7 hours, so maybe this wasn’t a bad thing after all.

Woolford will wait for me until the confluence of it being open and me being in the area.

By the numbers, I logged 77 contacts that day, 35 by CW and 42 by SSB. I activated in 3 locations, which were five parks, and added 325km onto my new-to-me truck’s odometer. I had an amazing sandwich and some beef jerky and got a great night’s sleep!

List of gear used for these activations:

• Yaesu FT-857D
• Yaesu ATAS-120A antenna with lengthened whip
• Breedlove stake pocket antenna mount for the ATAS
• American Morse Products DCP
• Ram Cup Holder mount for key

Summary

Advance planning is everything for a trip like this one. Keep your options open, and don’t be afraid to cut your losses and move on when faced with an obstacle, like a closed park or a boundary, when you didn’t expect it. Enjoy the trip. Take photos. Share them with others.

73 and dit dit,
…Vince

First introduced to the magic of radio by a family member in 1969, Vince has been active in the hobby since 2002. He is an Accredited examiner in Canada and the USA, operates on almost all of the modes, and is continually working on making his CW proficiency suck less. He participates in public service events around Western Canada and is active on the air while glamping, mobile, at home, or doing a POTA activation. You can hear him on the Ham Radio Workbench podcast, follow him on Twitter @VE6LK, check out his YouTube channel, and view the projects and articles on his website.