Capturing the Art of Nature
SOTA on Zoa with Cara
Life is good when one can hike a good summit trail with their wife.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
Summits on the Air
2016
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Looking back on my back-country travels by truck and foot has shown me just how much I miss sharing the experience with my wife Carolyn. She hasn’t been able to join me in the hills due to health reasons until lately. Today’s adventure saw the two of us driving to the Coquihalla summit and then up a very steep and severely eroded road to the start of the Mount Zoa summit trail. Our adventure starts a few weeks earlier as we contemplated what we could do together now that her health had been improving.
We had recently hiked a trail to Lindeman Lake to see how things went, our next challenge was to up the ante and try for an easy summit. The Zoa trail met the needs and it would also allow me to do my radio operating in the summits-on-the-air (SOTA) program. So after some planning and equipment purchases we were ready for the hike. The drive along the highway was easy but then we reached the parking area for Falls Lake! There is a narrow opening for a road to service the gas line and after switching into 4x4 mode I started for the gap. Carolyn was wondering what I was thinking but we edged through and started up the gravel road.
The next thing she saw was the very badly eroded and deeply rutted remains of a road. I continued along as though it was nothing serious, I did have to carefully plan my way along it but generally not too difficult. Then we turned up a steep side road that required shifting down to low gearing. Once up on the gas right-of-way I turned the truck around and parked. It was quite an eye-opener for her. We quickly got our gear on and started for the trailhead just a short distance down from where we were parked. The first bit of trail involves climbing some steep slope to get off the gas line right-of-way and into undamaged forest. It was quite a start for her. The trail itself is fairly easy to hike as it is well marked and not too steep. We made decent time along the trail and soon we were passing the actual summit for an area with some nice views. Here we stopped to rest and eat lunch.
After a short bite and rest I set up my 2m yagi antenna and pointed it to the SW and the Sumas Peak repeater. It came in clear and solid and I was able to chat with some club members as I prepared to get my HF antenna in the trees. I had a small net bag with me that I filled with a few rocks to act as a weight to get a line into a tree. It broke on my first throw! I tied a rock to the rope and tried again. After a few throws I had the rope over a good branch and I was able to pull the antenna up. I stretched out the wires and attached it to my KX2 radio. I could just barely make out a few stations. Chatting on the handheld through the yagi I coordinated my efforts to be heard by the home crowd and they started calling. I could just make them out but they couldn’t hear me at all. So frustrating. After trying various frequencies and bands I was finally able to make a contact with a station in SE Oregon! So I had succeeded in activating the summit but not the needed number for getting points.
There were a few other groups that came by while we were resting. Carolyn had a chance to explain what I was doing with the radio gear. Some seemed interested. Carolyn had her knitting with her so while I was operating she was knitting! Quite a set of photos! Well we had rested enough and fed the flies with our blood long enough so we packed up and started back. The trek back went faster than on the way in as is expected it being mostly down-hill. We didn’t push it as Carolyn was still developing her hiking legs and so was being very cautious picking her steps. Once back to the truck we were able to hide from the biting flies though we were both covered in bites. She then remembered that we had difficult road to traverse back to the parking area and wasn’t looking forward to it. Well that road section went without problem though one hole did jar her a bit. At the parking area a chap came by to ask about driving the roads. I said it was fine and he thought he would try the drive to the lake. We drove to the highway and were soon soaring along the highway for Hope. Not far past the summit pass we drove past a car and trailer engulfed in flames. It was on the other side heading up but now was well consumed by flame with huge amounts of black smoke billowing high into the air! A poignant reminder that these steep roads can be hard on a vehicle.
We made our way down the highway to the town of Hope and there we bought some refreshments at the Blue Moose Café. Next was the final drive home, but it was the end of a long week-end and the highway was running very slow in sections so we turned off it once past Chilliwack and drove the rest of the way home on the side roads. A lovely day and fun journey shared together.