Snowy Adventure on the Appalachian Trail
Special to The ARS Sojourner
Now that I am defrosted, I can share a short story about my Appalachian Trail experience in Pennsylvania. I was near Strausstown about one half to three quarters of a mile south of Route 183 on the Appalachian Trail. I was near the Fort-Dietrich Snyder landmark:<http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=106&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=515>
When I started to hike to my operating location I found
2" of snow, 1" of ice and 3" of fresh snow on top of
everything. This made it for a hard time to hike, so after going about
200' I turned around and went back to the car.
Yes, I went back to get my snow shoes I purchased last
year. It really was not snow shoe cover but it did make hiking very
easy on the snow covered ice. I hiked in about _ to _ of a mile, I did
not want to be too far away of the safety of the car due the extreme
temperature.
The temperature was around 20' F with a light snow falling.
I arrived at my location and set up my VBWFPA created by Ed, WA3WSJ.
You can find this antenna at www.wa3wsj.com
It took me a few minutes to setup the antenna and I
was on the air calling CQ by 17:00 UTC on 20 meters. I was using my
K1 at 4 watts on 20 and 30 meters and 5 watts on 40 meters. I was using
a 2.3 Ah sealed lead acid battery which was at 12.7 VDC at the beginning
of the operation and an hour and half later was down to only 12.2 VDC.
I had the battery and rig sitting out in the cold and on a folding table I carried. The K1 worked great and the battery did not let me down in the calm 20' F temperature. At this time the sun was shinning and there was some snow falling from some distant clouds. Oh, I did have a back up 2.3 Ah in my coat next to my body incase the one I was using decided to get too low. This is the log and reports from the stations I worked.
Note: Ed was using a K2 tuning into a 40 meter vertical, not a good match.
When I worked WA3WSJ the wind started to pick up. By the time I worked KD2JC the winds were gusting to 20 MPH.
That means I was operating in a wind chill of -6' to -9' F. I told Joe that I had to pack up and get out of there. But first I had to take some pictures. I should have the pictures up on the web by Sunday morning. I will let everyone know so you can check them out.
Overall I had a Great time. I guess you must think I am a little crazy. Well I really like the cold weather, it does not bother me too much. For the first three quarters of an hour I was sitting there with my coat open and no gloves on. When the wind kicked up I closed the jacket and covered up the hands. This trip was my 47th consecutive trip out since March 2000. I have been out on the Appalachian Trail at least once a month for the past 47 months. I have 350 QSO's from the Appalachian Trail. I have worked several countries from across the pond and most of the states except a few of the western ones. I enjoy the hiking and QRP radio out on the Appalachian Trail.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ron Polityka, WB3AAL, is an expert and frequent visitor to the Appalachian Trail. He lives in Reading, PA. For more on Appalachian Trail operations, visit: <www.n3epa.org>
I had the battery and rig sitting out in the cold and on a folding table I carried. The K1 worked great and the battery did not let me down in the calm 20' F temperature. At this time the sun was shinning and there was some snow falling from some distant clouds. Oh, I did have a back up 2.3 Ah in my coat next to my body incase the one I was using decided to get too low. This is the log and reports from the stations I worked.
| K5MVR | Ron in Fort Worth, TX | 14.062 | my RST 569 |
| N0TU | Steve in Monument, CO | 14.062 | my RST 569 |
| K2PQ | Frank in Waterford, NJ | 10.106 | my RST 599 |
| WA3WSJ | Ed in Reading, PA | 10.106 | my RST 559 |
Note: Ed was using a K2 tuning into a 40 meter vertical, not a good match.
| W8RYB | Bob in Belington, WV | 7.043 | my RST 579 |
| K3NG | Goody in Lehighton, PA | 7.043 | my RST 599 |
| KD2JC | Joe in Howell, NJ | 7.043 | my RST 579 |
When I worked WA3WSJ the wind started to pick up. By the time I worked KD2JC the winds were gusting to 20 MPH.
That means I was operating in a wind chill of -6' to -9' F. I told Joe that I had to pack up and get out of there. But first I had to take some pictures. I should have the pictures up on the web by Sunday morning. I will let everyone know so you can check them out.
Overall I had a Great time. I guess you must think I am a little crazy. Well I really like the cold weather, it does not bother me too much. For the first three quarters of an hour I was sitting there with my coat open and no gloves on. When the wind kicked up I closed the jacket and covered up the hands. This trip was my 47th consecutive trip out since March 2000. I have been out on the Appalachian Trail at least once a month for the past 47 months. I have 350 QSO's from the Appalachian Trail. I have worked several countries from across the pond and most of the states except a few of the western ones. I enjoy the hiking and QRP radio out on the Appalachian Trail.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ron Polityka, WB3AAL, is an expert and frequent visitor to the Appalachian Trail. He lives in Reading, PA. For more on Appalachian Trail operations, visit: <www.n3epa.org>