A Bee in the Winds
Special to The ARS Sojourner
My friend Doug and I are three days into a nine day backpack trip. Following the success of our trip to California's Sierra Nevada last summer, Doug and I decided to head to Wyoming's Wind River Range this summer. The Flight of the Bumblebees would fall on the third day of the nine day trip. My equipment this time would consist of my new Elecraft K1 with a band module for 20 and 40 meters, a ten AA cell NiMH battery pack, a 1.8 watt solar panel, and a fishing pole vertical. The K1 seems to be a nearly ideal rig for backpacking. Since it is dual band, it's possible to have both a daylight and nighttime band. The optional KAT1 auto antenna tuner consumes almost no power, and eliminates the weight and bulk of a separate tuner. In forested areas, I'd been using an 80 foot end-fed wire with 33 foot counterpoise, but since we would be spending most of the trip above timberline, I decided to try my new 20 meter vertical. This antenna is based on a Cabelas 14 foot panfish pole, using a radiator and eight short radials made from #26 Teflon wire. Not surprisingly, the K1 autotuner would not match the antenna on 40 meters, so I made an 18 foot extension, which could be clipped to the top of the vertical and suspended from whatever was handy. The antenna then tuned on 40 as well as 20 meters and seemed to hear well on both bands.
Rather than use throwaway alkaline batteries, as I had last summer on the Sierra trip, I elected to carry the 12 ounce solar panel so I could recharge my batteries during the trip. The solar panel fits perfectly on the top of the lid of my pack, and is connected to the battery pack inside the top pocket, so the batteries get charged during the day when I'm hiking. My new Mountainsmith Specter internal frame pack, seen here at the trailhead, has a lid that easily detaches with four buckles, so that in camp or at lunch stops I can remove the lid and place the solar panel in the sun. During the sunny four hours of the Flight of the Bumblebees, the solar panel nearly kept up with the drain on the batteries, despite a lot of CQing.
Another new item is a pair of Paddlette Backpacker paddles. These are the best lightweight paddles I've used- I can send nearly as well with them as I can with my trusty old Bencher paddles.
From the trailhead, our trail followed the shore of gorgeous New Fork Lake, then headed into the forested valley of the New Fork River. Our first night's camp would be the only camp we would have below timberline. We were definitely spooked by the reports of problems with black bears invading camps this summer, as well reports of grizzly sitings in the area of our loop hike. Doug was well prepared with a bear proof plastic food container and a can of pepper spray, but I had to rely on hanging my food stuffsacks out of reach in a tree. After dark, we heard a large animal across the canyon, but never caught sight of it.
Just beyond our campsite, the trail led through New Fork Park, which offered us fine views of the 2000-foot granite walls of New Fork Canyon. The canyon is a classic, U-shaped glacial valley, and it's pretty awe-inspiring to think of the entire canyon filled with a river of ice just 100,000 years ago.
After lunch, a couple thousand feet of steady climbing on a good trail took us to Lozier Lake and my planned Bee operating site. We camped in a fine little meadow about half a mile from the lake, and enjoyed the fine views of the lake and the distant crest of the range. The next day, I moved the vertical to my planned operating site, and set up the K1 by a slab of glacially-polished granite that would serve as a backrest during the contest. Conditions were marginal on 20 meters, with signals dipping in and out of the noise floor. Each one of my 27 contacts was a lot of work, and required patience on both sides. After a hour of hunt and pounce, I programmed the K1's keyer and started CQing. This seemed to be the most effective method of coping with the band conditions, as several stations would call me each time the band came up. The rechargeable battery pack really proved its worth, as I wouldn't have been willing to deplete throwaway batteries on such a long trip. I checked 40 meters occasionally, but heard no activity at all. In any case, it certainly was a treat to participate in the Flight of the Bumblebees from such a fantastic place. During the contest, Doug took a hike around Lozier Lake, and afterward, I took a cross-country walk to Kelly Lake, a deep blue lake set in a stunning granite bowl a mile or two from our camp.
The fourth day of the trip found us on the trail headed east toward the crest of the range. We climbed over a minor pass, then dropped into the headwaters of the Green River. The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail parallels the crest here, but we elected to continue east on a less-used trail, which eventually led us to another scenic camp on well-named Vista Pass. I'd been having some doubts about my antenna because of the weak signals during the Bee, but then I worked Alex, UR7GW on 20 meters, which put an end to my doubts. A bit of rain during the night freshened the air, and we were delayed a bit in the morning while our tent flies dried on the rock slabs surrounding camp.
On the map, the trail was marked as unsuitable for stock. Not being stock, we didn't expect to have any problems. Nevertheless, a half-mile section where the trail disappeared into a rock slide did give us a workout, as did the climb over the two highest passes of the trip, Cube Rock and Shannon Passes. Camp that evening found us tired but happy near two-mile-long Elbow Lake.
We were now at the easternmost point of our loop. The return trail took us past lake after gorgeous lake, always right at timberline, my favorite part of the mountains. Doug even started to regret not bringing a fly rod, though we joked nervously about what a great bear attractant frying fish would be. Along this stretch, we ran into a wilderness ranger on patrol, who informed us that the entire range was now closed to campfires because of extreme fire danger. (The Wind River Range is always closed to campfires above 10,400 feet, for good reason. Wood up here takes centuries to grow and the scars from campfires last for decades.) Actually, we are very happy cooking on our stoves. I can't even remember the last time I built a campfire. Too lazy, I guess!
More scenic trail wound through the timberline country as we worked our way west on the last couple of days of the trip. Our eighth and as it turned out, final camp was a bit rushed as a storm rolled in and it proceeded to rain for most of the night. But we stayed dry and the dawn was sweet and clear- a fitting end to the trip. The trail climbed over a high and very scenic plateau, then passed beautiful Rainbow Lake before dropping back into New Fork Canyon to close the loop. A final stroll along New Fork Lake brought us to the trailhead, where Doug proceeded to pontificate[ about the advantages of leaving a pair of Teva river running sandals in the car for the long drive home. It seemed to me that what we both needed most was a couple of showers- each! A motel in nearby Pinedale was happy to oblige us.
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Bruce Grubbs, N7CEE, a veteran QRPer, builder, outdoorsman and writer, is a a contributing editor to The ARS Sojourner. He lives in Flagstaff, AZ.