Hiking in the Red River Gorge Geological Area

This would be my first trip to the gorge, so I did some careful research. I learned that it is a popular destination for the younger set, and that an average of one life is lost every year when somebody wanders away from camp in a drunken stupor after dark and steps off of a cliff. As my trip was planned for Memorial Day weekend and perfect weather was forecast, I expected crowds. I therefore decided to eschew the more popular trails in favor of the more remote (and hopefully peaceful) Clifty Wilderness section of the park.

As a wilderness area, Clifty is managed to preserve its natural conditions. There are no modern facilities and very few signs. A good map, compass and backcountry skills are essential. Swift Camp Creek, a tributary of the Red River, has carved a deep and rugged gorge through the center of Clifty. The creek earned its name from the legend of Jonathon Swift's lost silver mines, which are said to be in the vicinity. I planned a first-day hike of about four miles to what seemed to be a suitable primitive camping site on my map.

Rig selection was simple, since I own only one, an Elecraft K2. With integrated 3 AH gel cell battery, the K2 weighs in at a hefty 7 pounds. Not the most trail-friendly rig, but on the positive side, I get all-band coverage, a receiver that is bettered by few rigs in any class, 7-10 hours of operating time on a single battery charge, 15 watts of transmit power, and SSB capability. The latter is important to me, as my CW copy speed is not much more than 15 WPM. One of the pleasures of operating from the field is that I am never at a loss for something to talk about!

I arrived and parked at the northern trailhead at 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. I quickly downed a sandwich and an apple and eagerly headed off down the trail. The first mile or so was on level ground and I hardly noticed the 40 pound pack on my back.

Yes, 40 pounds is a heavy pack for an overnight trip in warm weather, even taking the K2 and accessories into account. I have not yet fully invested in lightweight camping gear, and I was carrying all of my water in with me. At the one mile mark, the trail joined up with Sons Branch Creek and began its lengthy descent towards Swift Camp Creek. Large sandstone outcroppings began appearing alongside the trail.

Along the ridge tops, Oak and Pine predominated, but in the cooler, moist valleys Rhododendron, Hemlock, Holly, Mountain Laurel and Bigleaf Magnolia vied for space and a few rays of sunlight.

Once the trail reached and began running parallel to Swift Camp Creek, I encountered several delightful little grottos which invariably had a rivulet of deliciously cold water running through them. These are nature's refrigerators, and were ideal oases to rest and cool off in.

It was at about the midpoint of my hike that I had my MSE (Major Snake Encounter). I had been keeping a wary eye on the trail, and suddenly found a Copperhead snake smack in the middle of it. It was completely motionless -- an apparent defense mechanism, as it was well camouflaged. Copperhead bites are rarely fatal, but are said to be exquisitely painful and debilitating. To the left of the trail was a steep 50 foot drop to the creek, while on the right was a dense Rhododendron thicket, known as "Rhody Hell" in these parts. I struggled through the thicket, and left the Copperhead in my rear view mirror.

At the 3-mile point, I switched to a side trail that ascended from the gorge, and my legs began to rebel. By the time I reached the top about a mile later they were beginning to cramp and I was ready to make camp. I found a nice level spot beneath an Oak tree and set up my tent.

The next priority was my antenna. My field antenna of choice is a 66-ft doublet fed with 33 feet of ladderline, coupled to my K2 via an Elecraft 4:1 current balun and a short length of RG58 coax.

The antenna and ladderline are made of two continuous 99-foot lengths of 24 AWG Teflon-insulated (and tangle resistant) stranded wire. I use 6-inch pieces of plastic coat hanger as line spacers. With this wide spacing, I only need a spacer every two feet or so, and losses due to SWR are very low. For storage, I wrap the antenna on a piece of cardboard that fits nicely in a gallon-size Ziploc bag.

I used a slingshot to launch a 2-oz lead sinker over a branch in a dead Pine tree, and hauled the antenna up using some very slippery fishing line, in inverted-V fashion. A nearby Wood Thrush entertained me with its mellifluous voice while I completed this task.

With my tent and antenna erected, I finally relaxed, and treated myself to a hearty supper of freeze-dried chili macaroni prepared on my new isobutane-fuelled micro stove. Then the K2 came out of my backpack. The built-in ATU matches this antenna easily on most bands. I tuned to the 20 meter phone band first, and for the umpteenth time marveled at the ultra-low noise levels afforded by a wilderness operating location. My CQ was quickly answered by KN4LK in Florida, and we exchanged 5x9 reports. My next contacts were with KE1HG (Charlie) in New Hampshire and KQ6XA (Bonnie) in California. Charlie and Bonnie both offered to send emails to my wife, Lylah, letting her know that I was safely encamped for the night. Dusk had arrived and a Whip-poor-will began a monotonous soliloquy somewhere in the woods. I wrote off any chance of getting a decent night's sleep. I switched to 40 meters and had a nice chat with KK6KV (Andy) in northeastern Ohio. By now I had talked myself out, so I wandered over to the 41 meter broadcast band and spent the next hour just listening to music and voices in many languages wafting into my tent upon the ether. The Whip-poor-will eventually decided that it had had enough as well, and I slept peacefully under the Milky Way.

Sunday morning's dawn chorus included Hooded, Pine and Black-throated Green Warblers, several Ovenbirds and an Eastern Towhee sternly instructing me to "drink your TEA". I'm not much of a tea drinker, but a mug of hot chocolate set me up nicely. I connected my Palm paddle to the K2 and answered a CQ by W0TUP (Nels) in Minot, North Dakota on 30 meters. Nels reported that my tone was unstable, which puzzled me, as I had never heard this complaint before. QRM forced us to cut short our QSO, and then I noticed that my battery voltage had dropped to 9.5 volts! The tone mystery was solved, though I was left with the new puzzle of why my fully charged battery had run low after just a few hours of use. Subsequent testing at home revealed that the battery capacity had dropped to just 1 AH, probably due to improper maintenance on my part. Lesson learned!

I broke camp, taking care to leave no trace of my brief stay, and completed my loop hike with a leisurely 2-mile hike back to the car. The Red River Gorge is now in my blood, and I look forward to many future explorations of its wonders.

Notes:

If you are planning a visit to the gorge, I highly recommend the set of five detailed topographical maps sold by outrageGIS mapping. I found the trail elevation profiles to be particularly useful in planning my hike.

The best book on backpacking that I've found is Chris Townsend's The Backpacker's Handbook, 3rd edition, ISBN 0071423206.

Learning to identify birds by their songs and call notes has added immeasurably to my enjoyment of the outdoors. I have found Peterson Field Guides' Birding by Ear to be a great learning aid.

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Mark Volstad, AI4BJ, is a native of Canada but has made the Bluegrass State his home since 1988. He has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 2003.