Campbell Valley Park at 60

I t was a misty morning with the rain teetering on dripping and misting. I decided it was worth the risk of heading out to the park. I would be under cover should it start raining so I should be fairly safe to go. Just as I was leaving the house the rain came on stronger and I began to second guess my decision, but I was already in the car, so I just kept going. As I neared the park the rain lessened, and the roadways in the park area were still dry. I guess my decision was right. Once parked I quickly transferred my gear to my cart and set out for the covered area.

Along the walk I stopped to gather a few photos. The pond that had been ice covered a couple of weeks back was now completely open. I noticed some marsh plants pushing forth new growth for the year, I guess winter is indeed over. Reaching the covered area, I made for my regular table and began to deploy my equipment. The antenna tripod anchors went in easily today as the frozen ground had thawed and was no longer like rock. Pushing my stakes into the dirt also was no issue today. I soon had the antenna in the air, and I tested it with my analyzer. I had recently fixed a broken wire on it, and I wanted to ensure it was OK.

I finished setting up my radio and checked the bands. My phone was offering only intermittent cell coverage today. I am not sure why it fluctuates so much in this location. So, I couldn’t get regular postings of others operating. I eventually got an update and then checked for activators on the 10m band. I heard a chap in Arizona and called him, he quickly responded, and I had my first two log entries as he was operating a 2-fer. Next came a Missouri activator. Then I selected a frequency and began my own calling, a chap activating a park in Michigan came by followed by Minnesota and Tennessee. I was making good time and by 15 minutes I had the needed 10 contacts. After that, things really slowed down and I wasn’t getting any responses to my calls.

I eventually decided to go hunting myself and I found three activators on the 10m band that I was able to contact. Then I made one more on 15 and on 20m. I had 19 contacts in the log. Not a really great number for an hours worth of operating but it was more than enough to qualify and since I was starting to feel chilled I shutdown my station. I had successfully activated the park for my 60th time. This is a new award level in the Parks-on-the-air program and so I was quite happy with the achievement. Although these awards are rather minor in the scheme of things they still represent a goal to aim for and such it was for me. The next one is at 80 activations.

Done with radio activities I quickly packed up my radio and mast and set out for the car. I stopped to gather a few more photos as I wandered along the trail. It is still a bit dreary out there but if one looks hard one will find something of interest to capture. Finally, back to the car I stopped to chat with the driver in the car next to me. She was a dog walker and was busy unloading six dogs from her car. She saw my camera and commented that we do quite different things at the park. I mentioned that I was mainly here for radio, that she knew nothing about and so I explained what amateur radio is about.

We parted ways, her to wander with the dogs, me to look for a few more photos. I spent a few minutes looking over some of the area near the parking lot but as I was a bit chilled, I wasn’t interested in a longer visit. I did find a couple of small patches of snow that had yet to finish melting which reminded me of winter but otherwise the bushes were started to shed their winter grays and bring some colour back into the world. Back in the car I started off for home passing the dog walker as she traveled a path near the pond I had photographed earlier. It had been a pleasant day completing my radio goal, finding a few photos and even getting some fresh air in the outdoors. Retirement is so nice. Now to look for my next target with the radio program.