Well, about two weeks ago, I was invited to go on a quick backpacking trip up in the mountains of eastern Washington. More specifically around the Engalls Creek trail.
In total the hike was supposed to be about 5.5 miles long and about 1500′ of elevation gain. We ended up seeing a really nice spot to camp at about 4.5 miles in, so we decided that we’d stop there.
I brought my IC-706, a battery, and an antenna in the goal of getting on the air and trying for some contacts on 15 meters. However, when we got to the camp site, I was exhausted, so I took a nap, and by the time I got up from that it was getting darker and the propagation was surely on the decline. So no contacts, but I rationalize it by saying it was extra exercise hauling a lead acid battery and a steel cased radio up a mountain.
Here’s a photo I took along the trail. Maybe a mile or so in.
And here’s another I took at about the 2.5 mile point. This big scree field has a lot of ice and snow underneath the boulders, cooling the air. As the air cools and flows down the slope, out the bottom blows a reasonably substantial and cold breeze. A welcome relief on an 85 degree day.
