Spring Hike Along the Winnipesaukee
April 2014

I walked on bare ground for the first time in four months today.
It was glorious. I worked Iceland, Ukraine, Belgium and a bunch
of stations in the Missouri QSO Party and a few in the QRPARCI
Spring Contest.

 

The river is swollen with spring run-off. A couple of kayakers have just left 
for the three mile run through the rapids to Franklin. I hiked along the old
rail trail that runs alongside the river. Parts of the trail are snowy still. It's
still squishy in many places. But it's 52F and a perfect day for the first real
spring outing. 



I hiked about a mile and whistled back and forth with a chickadee as I went.
I turned through a gate toward a farmer's field. I tramped through eight inches
of snow on the way to a warm spot I knew would be free of snow. The sun
had melted all the snow in a warm corner of the field, and I sat down under
a large pine tree. The rest of the field was still covered with six inches of white.



I had tossed a line over a pine branch and was using the KX3. I tuned
a 33 foot wire with the earchi.org 9:1 unun and the internal tuner on the
KX3. Rather than detailing each QSO, I've attached my log below:

6 Apr-14 1921  21.037 N0M    CW 599 599 MO    
6 Apr-14 1922  21.039 N0O    CW 599 599 MO  
6 Apr-14 1924  21.042 W0E    CW 599 599 MO   
6 Apr-14 1927  21.060 N4BP   CW 599 599 FL 
6 Apr-14 1932  14.006 TF3JB  CW 599 599 Iceland   
6 Apr-14 1940  14.025 UR9IDX CW 599 599 Ukraine 
6 Apr-14 1942  14.062 AB8FJ  CW 599 599 OH  
6 Apr-14 1945  21.018 ON4IA  CW 579 599 Belgium

I operated for about 25 minutes and had a fantastic time in
the warm sun. The little thermometer attached to my backpack
read 65 degrees in the sun! 



As I made contacts around the world, I could see the last remnants of the long winter melting before
me. Most of the snow in the open areas will be gone in 10 days or so. It will linger for several weeks
in the woods. I will get out every chance I have.