Last Weekend, I spent 3 days on the road doing a survey of possible
operating sites for the upcoming 2002 June VHF QSO Party.
I took extra time off to spend Thursday, playing tourist in Las Vegas.
Every time I come to town there are new and bigger things to see and do.
Through Expedia.Com I managed to find a great room at the Tropicana
resort hotel right next to New York New York, The MGM, and Excaliber.
Friday AM I set off North on Hwy 93 to Calente NV, A sleepy little
railroad town in a canyon. 7800' Mt Ella in DM27 is 14 miles S.E. of
town on a long, steep, bumpy, and windy road. From up top near the
forest service lookout I managed to work W6OMF in CM98 on 2M
with a 170W brick and a broken 4 ele beam missing its reflector.
Arriving in Pioche NV near dusk I had dinner and rented a room in
the Overland Bar - Casino - Hotel. Everything in the room was from
the 1890's except the mattress, box spring, and TV. What a cool
place!
Saturday AM, After a huge breakfast at the Wilson Cafe (Where they
have a autographed guitar from the "Dixie Chicks" on the wall), I'm
off to the top of 9800' Mt Wilson in DM28. The access road is 42 miles
of dirt road. Unlike Ella, this one is in very good condx. The last 10 miles
is very steep and full of switchbacks. With my right front hub not working,
I have no choice but to scratch my way up in 2WD.
What amazes me to this point is the complete lack of snow. Only in the
shadows on the very top can I find any trace of it, very little at that.
Very
rare for so early in the season. As I looked north only the 13000'+ mtns
show any signs of the white stuff.
I spent time exploring all the possible operating locations then went down
about half way where I found a dumpsite from the old mining days. A perfect
place to break in my newly aquired Romanian .22 target rifle. I gather up
handfulls of 50 year old tin cans and spend the next 2 hours plinking like
a young kid. Some of the best fun I've had in years!
After packing up, I made my way back home thru Pioche, Caliente, Racheal,
Tonopah, and Gabbs. On a whim I tried a new route utilizing the "Gabbs
Powerline
Road", which shaved over an hour off the return trip, arriving home at 9:30
PM.
Sunday was spent sleeping in and relaxing from my 1000 mile loop through
the wilds of central nevada, weighing the Pro's and Con's of the two
different
mtn tops. After much deliberation, reviewing the photos, and a long talk
with
my contest partner Dave - W7KK, we have agreed on Mt. Ella in DM27 as our
first choice for this year with Mt Wilson in DM28 as our first alternate.
Tuesday morning I dropped the truck off at the mechanic. He replaced the
broken automatic hubs with manual ones (Much stronger), installed new rear
brakes, gave the engine a tune-up, and fixed alot of little things that have
been
nagging me for some time. Having 4 wheel drive operational again will make
life a whole lot easier!
A complete announcement will soon follow....
Hope to work many of you from this location!
73s for now....
http://k7xc.tripod.com/VHF_Records/
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