Redwood Park and its Fairies

Now that Redwood Park is on the Parks-on-the-Air list I expect to make it my home park and spend many days sitting in the sun with my radio talking across the planet from a picnic table in the park. I returned today to operate on my second day in the park. On my first visit I set up near the Treehouse, today I would use a covered picnic table which will likely be my regular location. I had also read about the fairy village not far in amongst the trees. I hoped to visit the village and see if I could spot a local inhabitant.

Being only a 3 minute drive I home and it now being Savings Time I didn’t leave the house until close to 11:30. I then drove to the park only to be confronted with road construction. After wasting some time in the line-up I took a side exit to avoid the rest of the line-up but that landed me at another site waiting for a large double dump truck blocking the road as it delivered sand to the old school site. Finally, past all annoyances I arrived at the park.

The main entrance way has a line of parking spaces along the western side, and I chose one near the inner end of the line which was the closest parking to the covered tables I planned to use. I soon had the cart loaded and was making my way in. I noticed that that small ditches alongside the walkway were full of water and flowing away from the grassy area I was heading to. It had rained in the night and the park was quite wet. I reached the picnic tables and started arranging my equipment. I got my Coax extension in hand and stretched it out from the table to where I planned to place the mast. I then put down the tripod and as I was staking the legs I saw that the ground was so wet and soft it would barely hold the stakes in place! When I raised the actual antenna, it started to lean over as the stake was not holding. I quickly repositioned it hoping it would hold. Once I got the two wires stretched out and secured the mast was a bit more stable. It should be better once dried out.

I finished setting up the radio and checked the bands, 10m looked dead, as did 12m I ended up on 20m and contacted an activator in New Mexico. I scanned for others but didn’t reach any. In looking at the propagation charts 15m should be good so I moved there and started calling. Soon I had an activator from New York respond to me and I had my second park-to-park in the log. Soon after, hunters from Nebraska and North Carolina found me. Over the next 30 minutes I managed contacts from across the States and even one from New Brunswick. It was a good run, and I felt it had gone well. Even the mast had settled down and stayed in place. There were a few people walking by that stopped to chat so I think the location will be a good one for sharing some radio info.

Done with radio for the day, I packed up the equipment and loaded it into the car. Now I set out with my camera to spy on the fairies. First, I wandered through the other covered picnic tables to see how they would work for radio. Two would be OK the third was a bit crowded with trees. My chosen location was definitely the best for radio. Walking past the last table I followed a dirt trail and made my way back to the treehouse and then continued to the fairy village. I soon spotted the first houses as I approached from the south. They were stretched out across the tops of several fallen trees and hung in many crevasses of the roots. There must be 80 plus small homes spread out across the village area. Some were quite worn looking and had likely been there for years others looked very fresh. I did spot one family out of their house, but I didn’t go too close so as to not disturb them, a good telephoto lens helps. After capturing numerous photos of the houses, I returned to the grassy I area I operated in and saw that the washroom facility was being cleaned and opened for the season. No more need for portables.

It had been a fun adventure, whilst the park is noted for its tall history, the little fairy houses have become a new attraction for families. One can hear the kids squealing in delight from a distance as they wander amongst the houses (even with my headphones on). I do not know how the area got started with the small houses, but I guess it is a fun addition to the park, and it is popular with the kids.

Done with today’s adventure in the park, I returned to the car and set out for home. I plan to make several more visits over the next few weeks but will not publish stories for all of them, only ones with special events.