w6csn’s outdoor amateur radio

In a previous activation report. I described what a special place Mt. Tamalpais is for me. Today the XYL and myself went up the mountain for some easy springtime hiking around the Rock Springs area on Marin Municipal Water District land.

Of course, I was prepared to attempt an activation should the opportunity arise. After hiking through beautiful shaded canyons with streams still running from winter rains and across warm grass covered hillsides, we returned to the vehicle at the crowded Rock Springs parking area.

I popped the trunk, refilled my water bottle then loaded the radio gear into my pack and grabbed my One Tigris folding camp chair. We crossed Ridgecrest Boulevard and walked a few hundred yards up the fire road into Mount Tamalpais State Park land.

I set up the recently acquired Gabil GRA-7350T antenna on 14 MHz with the LNR Precision MTR-4B being the radio of choice today. I wasn’t really impressed with the number of signals I was hearing on 20m, but I spotted myself regardless and set to calling CQ POTA on 14.062 MHz.

As I called CQ and worked the occasional station, the XYL was content to enjoy a book while relaxing on a picnic blanket laid out on the grassy ridgetop. The temperature was a little cool when the wind blew, but absolutely perfect when the breeze died down.

Eleven stations found their way into the activation log in just under an hour of operating. In contrast to my activation of K-7889 the previous day (actually the same UTC day), most all of the QSOs this time were from western states.

For a while there I thought I might be stuck with only five contacts, but after keeping at it and QSY’ing a couple of times to get away from what sounded like big stations, the QSO rate picked up a little bit enabling me to complete the activation.

The station packed up easily and we headed back down the mountain, stopping at the Mountain Home Inn for a little refreshment. Any day spent hiking on Mt. Tam is a good day, but if you can get a POTA activation done, then that’s even better.