Climbing Trip with KX1

[John, KI6WX]

I took a KX1 with me on a solo climbing trip into the Wind River Mountains
in central Wyoming in late July.  The KX1 was used to send a GPS position
each night so my location could be tracked if anything went wrong.  N6KR and
N0SS contacted me each evening at 0200Z to get the position.

The weather was bad with two thunderstorms per day.  This left a lot of
standing water around which was very popular with the mosquitoes.  The
mosquitoes were the worst I have ever seen, including an Alaskan trip.  The
only way to avoid them was to keep moving or to hide in the tent.

I met most of the trip objectives except for a climb to the summit of
Fremont Peak.  The weather wasn't going to permit the climb, so after three
days of mosquito attacks, I bailed out early.  For those interested, a brief
summary of the reason for the trip is at then end of this message.

I carried the KX1 with a set of lithium batteries, the portable paddle, and
a 30m dipole made from 50' of #24 speaker wire.  The speaker wire was split
at one end to form the dipole and the rest of it was used for feedline.
Total weight was a little over a pound including a plastic carrying case.
The antenna was strung up about 6 feet off the ground using any convenient
nearby trees.  The antenna loaded up well on both 20 and 30 meters using the
KX1 antenna tuner.

We primarily used 10108 kHz, but had backup frequencies on 20 and 40 meters.
The KX1 frequency accuracy was quite useful.  On Monday evening, I got the
antenna up and was on frequency about 10 minutes early.  I hit the antenna
tune button, and N0SS came right back on the frequency.  I sent the info and
Tom passed it on to Wayne when he arrived at the correct time.

On Tuesday, I knew we were in trouble from solar activity.  I could only
hear WWVH on 10 MHz, no WWV, and both 30 and 20 were dead.  No luck on
either band.  On 40 meters, I could hear both N6KR and N0SS calling (both
were weak and not 100% copy), but they were unable to copy me.  A more
efficient antenna on 40 meters would have helped.

By Wednesday evening, I was on my way out so no attempt at a contact.  The
mosquitoes were so bad that I was averaging about 5 kills per minute while
hiking out.  Even moving wasn't much help.

The total trip covered about 30 miles.  I was carrying 55 pounds including
the KX1 and another half pound of a 2 meter FM rig that would have been line
of sight to the Pinedale repeater once I was on the upper slopes of Fremont
Peak.  My border collie as carrying another 10 pounds.  We could have gotten
by with less weight, but we had everything we needed to survive the storms
that were pounding us each day.

The storms each day put on quite a show.  We would have lightening strokes
followed by earth shaking thunder, several times with less than a second
separating them.  The thunder would echo around the mountain valleys and
sometimes would still be audible 50 seconds after the initial stroke.  Most
of the storms would also drop hail along with heavy rain.  The water
collected everywhere and mud was a problem.

The purpose of the trip was to gather some on the ground data on John C.
Fremont's military mapping trip into the Wind River Range in 1842.  On
August 15, 1842, he had climbed a mountain that he believed to be the
highest point in the Rocky Mountains.  There has been a historical
controversy about which peak he climbed.

Fremont took a number of scientific measurements on his trip.  I have
re-analyzed these measurements and believe they point to the answer to this
question.  I was able to locate the two points at which the drawings
published in Fremont's 1843 Senate report were done.  I was also able to
locate Fremont's 1842 campsite at Island Lake based on his written
description of the site (its unlikely that there will be any archeological
remains since the site was only occupied for 3 nights).  I got a good WAAS
corrected GPS position on the location and elevation of the campsite.

-John
 KI6WX


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[lbailey]

John...thanks for giving us a backpack trip report.  Sounds like the
lightning was life-threatening.  What's the key to surviving a lightning
storm in the mountains?  We got caught in one at about 10,500' when we
were hiking near Silverton, CO......we also got hailed on.  You must've
been within a few hundred feet of the lightning strikes.

Would you do anything different with the ham gear?  Maybe take a 40 mtr.
dipole, too?  Also wonder what the CW abbreviation is for mosquito?
QRN/SUX?

Or maybe you could make one up.....QMQ

73 de K5AVJ
Lynn (K2 #1411)
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[John, KI6WX]

Lynn;
For the worst storms I had a fairly protected campsite.  A much higher rise
behind the camp would have taken most of the hits.  The best thing for
mountain lightning protection is to make sure you are not a high point.
Valleys are good places for campsites.  If you have to lean your neck back
to look up at a nearby summit, you are reasonably safe from a strike.  Also,
don't leave the antenna feedline in the tent during a storm; the
electromagnetic field from a nearby strike can induce significant amounts of
current flow which could be hazardous.
-John

----- Original Message -----
From: <[hidden email]>

> John...thanks for giving us a backpack trip report.  Sounds like the
> lightning was life-threatening.  What's the key to surviving a lightning
> storm in the mountains?  We got caught in one at about 10,500' when we
> were hiking near Silverton, CO......we also got hailed on.  You must've
> been within a few hundred feet of the lightning strikes.
>
> Would you do anything different with the ham gear?  Maybe take a 40 mtr.
> dipole, too?  Also wonder what the CW abbreviation is for mosquito?
> QRN/SUX?
>
> Or maybe you could make one up.....QMQ
>
> 73 de K5AVJ
> Lynn (K2 #1411)
> _______________________________________________

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