After a bail of heading up to McLean Hill this past Thursday a conversation started with Janelle and her parents about their Good Friday hike up to Ravens Head on Mount Yaminuska. After some thoughts on this i felt comfortable pushing from Ravens Head up to the summit to tag a 4 point SOTA activation. We planned on hiking the North side route up the chimney to Ravens Head. This allowed us to avoid the big open scree slope that has been degrading due to high traffic from 2020.
Read MoreVE6/JF-087 (Stony NW3)
With the warmer weather still holding in before what could be the last winter storm of the year. I quickly got a plan together to check off Stony NW3 aka Horton Ridge. Jumping in the truck loaded up with Janelle and Derek we headed for the trail head.
Trail head? What trail head, we parked at my GPS coardinants and climbed straight up to gain the ridge. This was a grunt, and had lots of complaints from the group. But once on the ridge we made quick time, and enjoyed the hike.
We passed through some very unique rock formations and rock bands before gaining the top of the ridge. Once at the top of the ridge, I setup and started calling CQ CQ CQ. I was able to grab a few contacts quickly but that then slowed down as there was a DX contest on 20meter that day. I jumped over to 40meter to give that a try but the band conditions where not on my side. Hopping back over to 20meter i got 4 more contacts and finished off the day with 8 total contacts. Talking with people from Calfornia all the way to Arizona.
Back down the ridge, with some unique route finding near the end due to being cliffed out, we had a fun easy hike and got more SOTA points.
Thats all for this adventure. 73.
VE6/RA-014 (Prairie Mountain)
This past Tuesday, Mallen VE6VID reached out to me asking if I wanted to head up to the top of Prairie Mountian to get some more winter bonus points. I said “heck ya” and loaded up the gear and headed to the mountains meeting Mallen at 8:30am on route 66 at the gate. Geared up we headed up to the top, the slug up was a little slow due to a fresh 10-15cm of snow that had come down the night before. So that had us moving a little slower. The other issue was ice, the snow was hiding the thick sheet ice that was on the main path to the top from hikers weeks prior in the warm sun.
Once at the top we split up so we could both activate at the same. Taking my time setting up and getting comfortable allowed for no mistakes and for me to get my contacts very quickly and efficiently in 20meter band. I can think of the last time it had been blue bird and hardly any wind at the top. Very rare and very lucky.
Back down we went, hopped in the truck and stopped at Allen Bill to hammer out some emails and catch up on work. Another fun hike in our backyard.
Triple Threat SOTA Activation
Since day one I had heard of Mallen (VE6VID) crazy tripple summit activations. Being the crazy adventure head I am, this has been in the back of my head or a while now.
After a solid night sleep i woke up and decided it is time to do this. Jumping onto Caltopo i divised my plan and started to put this into reailty. In a 10 hour span we where going to hit 3 Summits on the Air locations. This will give us a grand total of 10km and 868 meters of elevation. If sucsefull this will bring me 21 points in one day.
I pitched the idea to Janelle on a Monday and with out hesitation she said “I am in”. Due to our busy lives these days we choose the day to be Sunday March 21 which is fitting for a 21 point day.
We intended to head up to Lusk N2 first but where unable to find that uptrack. With that we deviated to Stony Peak. Most of this side was dry with very little snow. We hit the summit, set up and got 4 contacts very quickly on 20 meters.
Then we headed over to Lusk N2, this involved post hole walking through snow and some creative route findings to get up top. But we made it. Setup once again and grabed 5 contacts on 20 meter very quickly. The fun part of this activation is when my antenna guide wire and throw weight got stuck in the tree and I needed to climb up to retrive it.
Thanks to Mallen (VE6VID) the uptrack from Lusk N2 to Lusk was flagged and we made quick work getting to the top. As we neared the top of Lusk the wind kicked in and things got real. I new I needed to setup and get out as quick as possible. Thats what I did, grabbing 11 contacts on 20 meters, packed up and headed back to the truck.
Another fun activation, was happy to get all 3 summits and a total of 21 points on the day.
VE6/HC-261 Corkscrew Mountian
Warm weather, great people and some bushwhacking made for an amazing Saturday last week. I meet up with two other amateur radio operators to tackle a summit named Corkscrew Mountian. This is located an hour north west of Caroline, Alberta. Janelle and I hit the road the Friday prior to enjoy some camping and relax prior to Saturday's adventures. With that warm weather it was such a solid sleep in the roof top tent compared to -30 adventure about 2 months ago. Second plus was when we woke up we didn't need to drive 2.5 hours to get to the trail head.
As we packed up Mallen (VE6VID) and David (VE6DTS) showed up at our spot just off the gravel road. We finished packing up and headed to the trail head for todays Summits on the Air activation. Online there are a few different ways to get up to the summit. We choose the most direct route possible. This felt like a stair machine, gaining elevation insanely quick.
Janelle and I hit the summit first, found a sunny spot and setup. I jumped on 40meter again, and just like the other times the 40meter band was silent. Once David had jumped off 20meter I switched over and was able to get 4 contacts mostly from California.
I unplugged and Mallen setup of my antenna, and it was quiet. But then out of the blue something very exciting happened. He had a QSL from an operator in France. Ya thats right northern Alberta to France. Hopefully this is a sign of the band conditions to come in the coming year.
We enjoyed the sun for a while and then headed straight down, which as you can imagine took no time at all to get back to the truck.
Another activation in the books to score winter bonus points.
VE6/JF-088, Barrier Lake Fire Lookout
After Saturdays successful activation, Janelle and I decided to tackle Barrier Lake Fire Look Out. I was worried this might be hard as we struggled with 20m and 40m at Three Carins the day before and only managed 2m FM contacts.
We started out our day on the #1 heading out to the trail head to get our hike on. But we hit a snag very quickly. I commented " I hope there is not a fire on the reservation" as I pointed out the black smoke billowing over the horizon. We then rolled up onto a massive semi fire with the cab burnt to the ground.
Thankfully we where one of the first in the area and only got delayed by 5-10 minutes. But in true #1 fashion the highway backed up quickly behind us. Weirdly enough this played a positive part in our trip as it slowed people getting to the Barrier Lake parking lot.
Off to the trail we hustled up the hill in hard packed conditions. Some spots where icy but I was able to avoid putting traction aids on my boots for the entire trip. The first view point is your false summit. But the views are priceless, and worth it even if you only get this far. Once passed this lookout you go straight up, climbing rock and navigating the steeps. This puts you up on the second lookout of this hike, and for 99% of people they turn around at this point or exit through Jewel Pass. But we kept heading west up the unmarked and maintained trail to the fire lookout. This was my first time at the fire look out and wow my mind was blow with the views of the area and of Yaminuska across the valley.
I grabbed a bench, and set up my HF rig to chase on 40m and 20m. I was struggling to get through as all bands where insanely busy as mentioned the day before do to some contesting in the USA. But somehow I was able to grab one contact on 20m.
Okay so now I need 3 more to collect points today, over to 2m 146.520, calling CQ CQ CQ. Nothing, the radio is crickets. I decided to give up on my Long Ranger antenna and put up my J-pole. I then realized I was able to hit the VE6RYC repeater now. I hit the repeater asking for contesting contacts on 146.52. Boom I got two more, at this point I am like "dam I am so close". The weather was starting to change, I was getting cold and grumpy. But I just needed 1 more contact to get my points, so I made one last ditch effort calling in on RYC repeater and bumping back to 146.520. SUCCESS! I got one more contact.
DONE AND DUSTED! I was so relived when the 4th contact was made. It blew my mind the struggle I had to go through to get the contacts.
Packed up and hiked back down. Down was a lot slippery then going up as the snow had melted with the temperature change through out the day. But we made quick time getting back down to the truck to enjoy a nice cold adult beverage.