Capturing the Art of Nature
Grant Hill Awaits
An easy but still rewarding summit to visit
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
Summits on the Air
2019
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The winter season with its rain and snow forces wimps like me indoors and so it has been over three months since my last hike to a summit. IIt still being early in the year most summits are deeply covered in white stuff and not to my liking, so I am left with a few low peaks to visit. Fortunately, Grant Hill makes no claims to grandeur but there it is patiently waiting for me to visit. I have been trying to find a decent Saturday over the last few weeks when the rain would stop, and one could head out. The day finally arrived, and Ralph and I set out for Grant Hill.
The drive to the locked gate on the road to the summit takes only around 45 minutes so we can start out at a leisurely time and still be on the summit before noon. Today we left a bit before 10am and drove straight to Starbucks before venturing to the hill. Once loaded up with caffeine the rest of the drive went quickly, and soon we were turning around at the gate and looking for a spot to park between the numerous parked cars that had unloaded mountain bikers. Though cool, the day was dry and there was no snow on the ground anywhere we could see.
Once parked we got our packs on and some rain gear pant covers and started up the road. The first hike after a longer gap always leaves me wondering if I forgot anything. After double and quadruple checking my pack and gear, I still was not 100% certain but it was now too late if something was left behind and so it was time to enjoy the fresh air. The walk up the steep road went smoothly we noticed a deep eroded cut across the road in one spot and the remains of a tree that had fallen across the road – now cleared. Soon we were at the top next to the highest of the 5 radio towers littering the summit. After a short walk into the bush along the top trail we arrived at the cleared area to set up in.
Ralph was using his Alex Loop antenna today, his last time with it was not a success and so this time he wanted to give it a better try and see how it would do. While he set that up I got my two-meter Yagi deployed along with a small portable table I got at Christmas. I put out a few calls and was hearing no responses. I was able to work Carolyn before long and then a chap and his wife in Abbotsford. After a long period of calling I only heard a few brief responses but not enough to log the contact. 2m seemed to be quite dead today for some reason. Meanwhile Ralph had gotten his loop set up and using my KX2 was making a number of contacts in CW (Morse). After a while I stopped to eat lunch and then tried a few more calls to no avail.
After lunch Ralph had completed more than enough contacts and so I was able to switch the radio to phone mode and after putting out a spot on the sota list, I started making some calls. I soon had a contact with a chap in Kansas and then a second with a station in Minnesota. So the loop and KX2 were working well with the 12 watts. I tried a few more calls but soon I got crowded by some other stations and since I had enough contacts, I called it quits for the day. So now to pack up and head down. One of the benefits of this location is the number of mountain bikers that take a breather at this clearing. We chat with many of them explaining the fun of radio. One pair of cyclists were quite amazed when I announced my successful working of the two mid-western contacts.
After packing up, we began the walk down and were soon dumping our gear into the car. It was a fun time on the summit in the fresh air, and even though only a low hill the time amongst the trees was still quite rewarding. As we descended back to the crowds on the highway, we stopped at another Starbucks for a warm up coffee and then continued on our way home. Now to plan the next summit before too much time passes by.