The Joy of Sumas

While for years Sumas Peak was ignored and simply driven past while on the way to a more distant location, today it has become an annual event to hike the road and trails to the viewpoint and talk with a few other ham radio enthusiasts. So, it went again for 2021. This year I was watching the snow levels on Cypress which at the same elevation still showed some significant amounts of snow, this made me a bit apprehensive as to what I would find. Well worries were for nothing as I didn’t come across even a small smidgen of snow. I had also originally planned to hike with Ralph but he ended up helping out with a parade so was unavailable for the day. My son Nick felt he could enjoy the hike and so the two of us set off for the summit.

We left the house at the reasonable hour of 9:15 and made for coffee, fuel and the forestry road. All went smoothly as we started up the road. Dodging cyclists is a required driving skill on this road as such, we passed a good number on our way up and later as we returned. When we reached the top parking area and overlook the place was already full and there were no parking spots to be had. Fortunately, we were continuing on another half kilometer to the gate at the end of the publicly drivable road. There we found a few parked cars but my regular spot was open and so we claimed it for the day.

Having parked, we got our gear donned and started along the upper section of road. 45 minutes later we were at the sign directing hikers to the final bit of trail to the eastern summit. After a brief rest we continued along the trail to the viewpoint. I gathered a few photos and then we claimed a spot under the trees next to the open area where Nick spread out to rest. I started to set up my gear but heard a fellow SOTA operator calling from a nearby summit. I had my hand-held with the collapsible ½ wave whip ready to go and as I heard him on it, I called back and had my first contact before I was even set up! 

I quickly set up my beam and mobile radio and started making calls but the trees were constantly snagging things and generally making life miserable. It seemed I just couldn’t get through while under the tree. I moved out into the clearing near the view and started calling again. Here I was able to work a number of stations in short order. It seems that one had to point the beam at the far set of peaks in order to reach the stations behind me! I guess reflected signals are better than ones sucked dry by the trees. I soon had enough in the log to relax.