Back to Campbell Valley

Today I felt like it was time to get out and visit a park. I had been laid up sick for most of the past week and feeling better meant I could finally get out of the house. Though it was a cold day, the sun was out and the day was pleasant, a good day for radio work in a park. My friend Jim was also heading out to a different park and we hoped we could work each other. The sun was busy warming the air and would reach a high of 5 by 2pm so I decided to leave the house at 11am so I could take advantage of the sun’s work.

When I arrived at the park, I found the parking lot quite filled. Being a bit later tends to see more people out and about. I pulled into a stall and loaded my cart. During my walk to the covered picnic area, I stopped to gather a few photos of the ice-covered pond. This year’s winter has been so mild it was a surprise to find the pond completely covered. Passing the pond, I soon reached my favourite table and parked the cart. I then walked out to gather a few more photos where I spotted a coyote chasing a rabbit about mid-way down the grassy field. The rabbit managed to get into the brambles just in time. The coyote then spotted me and stopped to see what I was up to. It then moved off and I resumed my photos and then the set up of the radio.

In placing the tripod, I found the ground to be quite frozen. Use of my hammer was essential to get the stakes in the ground to secure the tripod. I then raised the mast but it collapsed after only a couple sections were lifted. The clip I use to hold the antenna to the mast bent in the fall and I had to use my pliers to bend it back into a working shape. I then started attempt two to raise the antenna. This time I gave a bit more pull on each section as I reached it and the mast went up properly this time. Stretching out the wire had an issue with trying to get my stake in the ground. One side was no problem but for the other I just lay the stake down so it would hold the antenna wire lead. The actual antenna is high enough that this wouldn’t really impact its performance.

I then checked in with Jim who was at a park north of me in Surrey. He was having a tough time. I got his frequency and tried calling him but no connection happened on the 15m band. I suggested trying 10m and this time we were able to work each other, giving both of us a park-to-park. I then scanned the 10m band for another park but could not hear any so I selected a frequency and began my own calling. I soon had a steady stream of responses from Florida, Maine to Alaska and Hawaii. The band was working well and in 42 minutes I had 47 contacts. My second page of the log was almost full and since there was a lull in contacts, I shut down my operation rather than start up a new page. It had been a good run with many small pile-ups of operators throughout the session.

As I was packing up, I got a text from Jim saying he had moved to another park. We tried calling on my 10m frequency and we were able to make contact. That gave us both another park-to-park contact. I then finished packing up and returned the gear to the car. The day was pleasant and I still felt like being outside so I went for a short walk with my camera. I gathered a few more frozen pond photos and then continued to the main picnic area. I remembered being told of a new pond just down the trail from where I was so I decided to check it out. The parks people had dug a new pond in the lower part of the open field. It was a soggy area and the pond made it more enjoyable to view. The work included a small viewing area. I continued along a new gravelled trail back to the car. There were a number of new drainage culverts installed to feed the new pond and some were actively moving water down. I suppose the work will provide better drainage for the upper area and a pleasant attraction in the lower, making the whole area more usable.

Back at the car I stopped to reflect on my recent visits to the park. This was my fourth this month already. It was my 55th activation of the park. I am aiming to reach 60 (the Bear Cave Award) which is the next award milestone, in short order. I also reached 2000 contacts from the park on today’s session. So overall a very good day to be out enjoying the sun, fresh-air and a bit of radio. Taking interesting photos of course is the cream.