It was a long week-end and Monday was an ideal day to go hiking in the hills and operate radios. That is unless it is raining. Well it wasn't too wet in White Rock so Ralph, Eric and a fellow SOTA Manager, John, set off for an easy hike to Sumas Peak. We made good time driving to the end of the logging road but the weather kept getting wetter as we got closer to the end. By the time the truck was parked the cloud layer was around us and we were being pelted with a fine drizzle. Well we were here so we geared up and started up the road. The hike went quickly and soon we were at the east-lookout where a party of 10 were already enjoying the non-view. We started setting up our antennas after a brief moment to catch our breath. Ralph tossed his line into a close-by tree but it got snagged and needed John to climb up the tree to get it fixed. Soon Ralph was making contacts in New Mexico and Quebec and eventually 8 more. I got my Yagi setup and realized I was missing my radio! Fortunately John loaned me his and I got my four VHF contacts to successfully activate the summit.

Meanwhile, John was working with his set up, he got his dipole strung between two trees and though he heard some activity he wasn't able to contact them. He tried a number of things all to no avail. Eventually Ralph was trying a few ideas as well. Eventually he gave up with his HF radio and put out a few 2m calls. Fortunately John was able to get the needed four contacts on 2m and so he also successfully activated the summit. Having completed our task, we packed up the gear and started back to the truck enjoying some good conversation as we walked.

For a longer story see my article in scenicart,.ca: http://www.scenicart.ca/content/sumas-fog