Hello Ken, WA8REI, and all! This is Ed, WA3WSJ. We had a great time up at Pulpit Rock on the AT in PA. I only had around six QSOs because I was on 40m CW and there must have been a RTTY contest as they were all over the band. My very first QSO was with Carl, K1EYY in CT. Carl won the Polar Bear Claw Replica. Thanks for being my first Polar Bear Contact. Ron, WB3AAL, and myself hiked the ravine trail up to Pulpit Rock. It took us around 1.5 hours due to the snow and ice. Yes the trail had only about six inches of snow left on it after the rain storm, but the top layer was crusted ice. This made for a slower ascent as we had to break through the top ice layer to reach the AT on the ridge. As we arrived at the observatory, it was clear that this Polar Bear Outing was going to be a very cold one. We had temps in the low twenties and a very cold, biting wind that just smacked you in the face. Both Ron and myself had to immediately change out of our wet gear and into some dry gear to keep from freezing. I must say that after we took off our shirts and jackets to expose bare skin, it felt really great as the sweat evaporated off our bodies. But, this only lasted for a few minutes and then I put a dry shirt on. I then put a light fleece jacket on and a heavy fleece jacket over that. I also had a light pair of gloves on over which I had a heavy pair of gloves. I kept the right heavy glove off to send cw and tucked it in my jacket pocket to keep warm at times. On my head I wore a ski mask which covered my entire head down to just below my neck. On top of this I wore my Santa cap! This outfit kept me from freezing, but not warm! Mark, NK8Q, W3HF, his son and Ms. Morse couldnt make the drive up the mountain. The ice was just to much for their vehicles. So Ed, K3YTR, drove back down the mountain and they loaded all their gear up in his van for the trip to the top. We had a great time making contacts as the sun sank over the horizon. But then the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. As I glanced towards the rock, I could see a completely red moon! Yes the moon was all red. I told Ms. Morse to turn around and take a look. The first word out of her mouth was WOW! We all decided to meander out to the rock for a look and it was just gorgeous! Every couple of minutes you could hear geese flying over, but we couldnt see them. Yes, it just doesnt get much better than that. After awhile we all packed up our gear for the trip back down the mountain. Ron and myself decided to hike back down and we arrived at the bottom around the same time as the rest drove down. It was very icy and I almost fell several times. From there we all drove to a local pizza place and had hot pizza and cold beer! Santa even stopped in for a visit and I took a picture of the motley group. Check out our Polar Bear Yahoo Group Photo Section for a look at it. So thats the Pulpit Rock Polar Bear Xmas Story. Until I hear you again in my earphones Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Everybody!
72, Ed, WA3WSJ Polar Bear #1 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kenneth A Louks Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 2:32 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PolarBearQRP] Great Photos, fellow BARS Fellow Polar Bears, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I enjoyed the many FB photos the PBs have posted on the Yahoo Groups so far. Tnx, Ed, for posting some of mine. I was just too tired to post 'em on the PB Groups page last night. I added several more photos to the WA8REI album which PB#1 started, notably to show everyone the terrain from which I operated. The trail goes pretty much north/south. To the west of the trail, it's all woods. To the east of the trail, loggers have deforested hundreds of acres, and just since ARRL Field Day! I operated FD from this QTH, parking east of the trail, which was then mature forest! I had planned to take my GPS to get an elevation reading, but the door locks of my motor home are all frozen and the GPS is inside! Drats. Snow depth at my PB QTH was about 11 inches, but with snow drifts 3 feet deep. My cousin proceeded to get his new Arctic Cat stuck in a snowbank! ;>) Martin, VA3SIE, had GOBS of snow at his Gatineau Park QTH. How much snow on top of Pulpit Rock? --Ken, WA8REI YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "PolarBearQRP" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
