Our western grid expedition has come to an end. We traveled 7300 miles from Cleveland to Mesa, Arizona, which is normally a 2000 mile trip. Operations took place on AO-7B, FO-29 and SO-50 in 27 different grids. We didn't plan to go all the way to the Pacific coast in Washington but circumstances changed so we altered the route. We camped as time and weather conditions permitted and we saw the beauty of the country we live in. I would say that 75% of the visitors we saw in our National Parks were foreign travelers.
Weather conditions ranged from 32F to 90F. We had a whiteout snowstorm in Glacier National Park due to a polar vortex sweeping in. The road through the park was closed. We experienced rain, thunder, lightning, hail, wind and fog. A thunderstorm hit Bryce Canyon on our way out and water was pouring off the sheer cliffs onto the road; quite the sight.
Except for one problem with a weak battery, every attempted pass was successful. It's very difficult to work in a large number of grids when we don't have that many birds operational. Hopefully that will change soon.
A Journal article will be written about the trip. There are many ways to do this kind of expedition but it helps to hear about what works and what does not. A special QSL card will be designed for the trip. As mentioned in an earlier post, you can send individual cards or a log excerpt of all the contacts you made. Be sure to indicate which grid I was in for each contact. Cards will go out in December.
Thanks to all that got on to work me. It makes it all worthwhile when there are a lot of callers who need the grid your operating from. And a special thanks to Frank, K4FEG, for posting updates on my operations.
73, John K8YSE/7