Visiting the Stewart Farmhouse

Recently the Parks-on-the-Air program added the historic Stewart Farmhouse to its list of parks. This large house was built in 1894 for under $2000.00. The house and yard are popular places for couples taking wedding photos. I had been to the house and surrounding park a few times over the years, but it was not a regular for my adventures. My friend Ralph liked walking the trails in the park and over the years he commented on how nice it would be if the park got listed. Recently I was working with the mapping manager for the BC POTA program, and we agreed that the house met the criteria for being included on the list and so in a matter of a few hours the park became an active site. We also added two other close-by parks.

With three new parks on the list, I hoped to become the first activator on some of them. I decided I would let Ralph become the first at the farmhouse while I went out and operated at the other two, both of which I managed to be the first. Meanwhile Ralph was unable to get to the farmhouse and someone else got there ahead of him.  The day finally came when Ralph could get out to the park, and we agreed to meet at the farmhouse and then activate the park. We agreed to meet in the parking lot near the house at 11:50am.

When I arrived, there was some city workers crowding the entrance with construction vehicles working on the water pipes. I wasn’t sure I could get in, but I eventually found a narrow path for my car to squeeze through into the park. Once inside I picked a stall and parked. I then started a wander around the house area while gathering a few photos. I soon saw a nice, covered picnic table on the far eastern side of the yard near the Nicomekl River. There was a chap sitting at it, but it looked promising. I continued around the area and saw that the closest parking to the covered table was reserved for marina patrons. I continued along the parking area and reached the point that the reserved area ended and there right in front of the stalls was another covered table! It was ideal for my plans.

The stalls in front of the covered table had several open spaces so I returned to my car and moved it into one of the spots. I then got out to further review the grassy spot next to the table. It was at this point that I called Ralph to see where he was. He was almost at the park, and I directed him to my location. Once he arrived, he also looked over the area and we talked about where he would set up. He would go to the western parking lot which could be seen from the table across the marshy area. I gave him my tri-band hand-held, and he set out for the location.

I then set about putting up my mast and antenna and then getting my radio ready. Once set, I checked over the spots list to see if I could hear any other park activators and try and work them. In a surprise find I saw Jim activating a park, the Stewart Farmhouse! He was just across the way where Ralph had gone and was in fact parked only a few stalls from Ralph. He had been having a very slow go. Having completed his tenth contact just before I called him and after almost two hours. By my calling, he and I now had a park-to-park contact. I suggested we work a few more bands together and now we had 7 more in our logs. It was about then that Ralph finished setting up. I started the multi-band contacts with Ralph. He and I have worked out 11 bands that we can communicate on and so we proceeded to do so. Meanwhile Jim packed up and came over to visit with me.

Once done with Ralph we both continued on our own for a half hour. I worked stations on 15m He stayed on 10m doing CW (morse code) contacts. I soon was making constant contacts though not overly quickly but in a half hour I managed 14. Jim was surprised that it was coming so much faster for me even though my location had more local interference. I mentioned that he likely had just started too early. The bands are not yet primed by the time he was out there. It was the reason I wanted to meet around noon. I guess experience helps one to know when to do things.

Ralph and I planned to operate for a half hour and then check with each other to see how things were going.  The planned contact time arrived, and I tried calling him numerous times with no response, I decided to just pack up and then head over to Ralph. Jim helped me take down the station and soon we were parking in Ralph’s area. Ralph was still busy on a rise trying to make contacts. We wandered up to him and he decided to pack up a bit disappointed at only making 4 contacts. While he packed up Jim took me to the trail area where he had once had a memorial bench located for his son who died in a motor-bike accident many years back. The city had removed it after a five year period, apparently you need to repay for the bench every five years! Seems pretty pathetic to me. The bench was in a lovely location for people to sit and enjoy the view of the river!

We returned to Ralph who had now finished packing his gear and we decided to visit a local restaurant for a coffee. We had a nice visit in the Belle’s Café. Ralph had never been to it, so it was a nice change for him. Done with radio and solving world problems we each returned home having enjoyed a nice time in the sun with our radios. The park is actually very scenic and a nice place to enjoy nature along with some interesting history.