Summer Morning at Knox Mountain
June 2014

I took a quick hike to Knox Mountain this morning. It was a rare, beautiful day... but the bands were lousy.
After a struggle I made one QSO with New Jersey. But the hike was worth every moment. Days like this
don't come very often.



I made a fast trip up the trail and I didn't stop to take any photos because of the mosquitoes. But at the pond
there was a nice breeze and the mosquitoes were scarce. The pathway to the cabin was strewn with ox eye
daisies. Along the pond there was a patch of wild irises. At one spot an entire field of clover... purple and
honey fragrant.                                                          




Anyway... you get the picture. Flowers, sunshine, sparkling pond, blue sky.

I tossed my line over the branch of a cherry tree over-looking the pond, and I pulled up a 33 foot wire.
I was using the KX3. I tuned across 20, 17 and 15. Only a couple of signals... and not very strong.
W1AW/0 was calling on 17M but not hearing any answers (although I could hear a few.) So I tried
calling CQ on both 17 and 20. Back home I could see 15 spots on 20M on the Reverse Beacon Net.
But I didn't get any answers. I called CQ on 17. No answers there either... (although I had 4 spots
on RBN.)

At last I heard a signal booming in. W2RM Ray in NJ in QSO with another station. When they were
finished, I called... and he answered. He was running a KW! He gave me a 579. Thank goodness I
wasn't skunked.

When the QSO was finished, I snapped this photo of my view.



I packed up and headed home for lunch. A woodpecker was calling CQ on a dead tree near
the brook. A veery sang its silvery flute song in the deep woods. The veery is a woodland
thrush with a song that sounds like the ripples of a mountain brook.

I had a perfect hike. And thanks to Ray W2RM for that single QSO!