Boy, the state of Delaware sure has been good to me this week. After my failed attempt at activating the Captain John Smith Trail (TR21) in Maryland, I rebounded the other day with great activation at First State NHP (HP12) in Delaware two days later. I had an even better activation in Delaware today along the White Clay Creek National Wild and Scenic River (WR39).
This morning I drove down to the White Clay Creek Nature Center near Newark, Delaware. (Thanks to N2CX for recommending this spot.) I headed to the side of the parking lot closest to the creek and parked under a large shady tree. Despite the heat wave we’re experiencing, I had a nice breeze through the truck for the first hour and a half or so. It took about five minutes to set up my 30-foot vertical and KX3.
I got off to a slow start on 40 meters but once I got spotted, things picked up in a hurry and stayed busy for the next hour. Propagation on 40 meters was interesting; I worked a lot of Pennsylvania and New Jersey stations with the vertical and then worked Florida. Go figure.
I was getting ready to take a break before changing bands when a park ranger approached my truck. Apparently, someone reported some suspicious activity in the Nature Center’s parking lot. I explained to her what I was doing and what National Parks on the Air was all about. She was very nice and said she would be back if the Park had any problems with what I was doing. She never came back.
I spent another hour working stations on 20 meters before packing up. I ended the day with 58 QSOs in the log, including a park-to-park QSO with N2CX at AA17 in New Jersey. I took a walk around the Nature Center before heading back to Pennsylvania. I need to do a non-radio visit here sometime to explore more of the park.
So, I had a couple of fun activations this week and one not-so-good one. As the singer, Meatloaf, would say: “Two out of three ain’t bad.”
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 