Allco Park

For today’s adventure Ralph and I set out for Allco Park in Maple Ridge. It was time for a change from the north shore and this was a new park for both of us. It was a 50-minute drive to the park about the same time as the north shore but traffic was not as congested. The drive was pleasant and not overly busy which was nice. We soon pulled into the park a bit before noon. The parking area is quite small but fortunately only a few cars were there and so we had no issue with parking.

Our first task was to scout the park. We followed a nice graveled walkway that makes its way through the park with the Alouette River on the south and a grassy area on the north. The walkway continues the length of the park and eventually comes to a pair of covered picnic areas. One held four tables the other three. The trail continued past and came to a lovely pool mid-stream in the river. It was to here that a mother with her three children which we met in the parking lot were heading. The water was cool but it would be refreshing.

Done with looking over the park, we chose our operating locations. I would be in one of the covered areas, Ralph at the far end of the grass near the car. We then returned to the car and loaded our gear into my wagon. After dropping off Ralph’s radio, I continued walking the path to the covered area. I then found a clear place for my tripod. The graveled area was very hard and would not be an easy place to anchor the mast. I moved just off the gravel where the ground was much softer. I would still have one of my poles that hold the antenna over the gravel. After trying to push it into the ground I gave up and just laid it on the gravel. It held the wire taught enough so I left it that way.

Antenna up, I next set up my radio and then gave Ralph a call. He wasn’t ready yet so I scanned the bands. Cell coverage was low but solid and I could view the posted activations. I didn’t see anyone on the higher bands and could hear no one on 20m.  Ralph called back and we started doing our 10-band pass. We were done in a few minutes and off to our individual calling. I picked a frequency near the top of the 20m band and began calling. I soon had my first contact – a station in New Mexico. It was when I finished with him that I realized I was only putting out 2 watts. I had turned it down for the local contacts with Ralph. After the contact I set it back up to 85.

I made 4 more contacts in quick order, Colorado, Minnesota, Idaho and Tennessee, and I thought things were going great but then no one more came by. Ralph contacted me to say he was having antenna troubles and would be changing to his other antenna. I kept calling but no one came by. I moved frequency but still nothing. Ralph called back saying he had made only a single contact and was packing up. I decided to scan the bands first and then pack. I could hear a few stations but they had small pile-ups and I wasn’t able to be heard. It seemed like things were not very good today as I did hear others complaining about the conditions

I shut down the station and packed it up. As I started out on the path way to the car I noticed that the dogs which were out for a walk were barking more than normal. Checking out the cause I found a woman with three Llamas walking the trail alongside the river. One was quite large. She was talking with people and I took a quick photo before continuing to the car. Ralph was ready as I came by and soon, we were in the car heading to the nearest Starbucks. Which so happened to again be our regular store at Dewdney and 240th. The rest of the drive went well as we were a bit ahead of the normal Friday Traffic.