Our loosely-knit group of QRPers, known as the Boschveldt QRP Club, gets together each year in January for a weekend of operating and socializing in the woods. We rent a small cabin at the Mohican Outdoor Center (MOC) in the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area in Northern New Jersey. The MOC, which is adjacent to the Appalachian Trail, has been the site of this annual gathering for the past 12 years or so. This annual event has come to be known as “Camp Run-a-MOC.”
In attendance this year was K3YTR, WA3WSJ, NK1N, NU3E and me. Walt KB3SBC was there on Friday but, unfortunately, had to leave to deal with a plumbing emergency at home.
When I rolled into camp on Friday afternoon, Ed K3YTR was busy setting up his gear for the ARRL VHF Contest and John NU3E was setting up an end-fed halfwave antenna for some JT65 & JT9 operating. Ed WA3WSJ and Glen NK1N were operating pedestrian mobile near Crater Lake. It turned out to be a rainy hike for them. After a dinner prepared by K3YTR, there was a lot of catching up and story swapping.
After breakfast on Saturday, WA3WSJ, NK1N, NU3E and I made the two-mile hike up to the Catfish Fire Tower on the Appalachian Trail. Although we hiked through dense fog on the way up, the weather cleared up a bit when we reached the top of the ridge.
I set up my KX3 and AlexLoop at a picnic table, while WA3WSJ and NK1N operated pedestrian mobile. NU3E came along for the hike and caught a short nap on the bench of the picnic table where I was operating.
After we each had made a few contacts, the sun went in, the temperature dropped and a dense fog rolled in. We packed up our gear and made the trek back down the trail.
Back at the cabin, K3YTR and NK1N made more some contacts in the VHF contest before we headed into town for dinner. By the time we headed back to the cabin, the heavy fog and limited visibility made for some tricky driving. When we got back to the cabin there was some more VHF contesting and more tall stories. On Sunday morning, we all enjoyed NU3E’s famous Belgian waffles before packing up for the trip home.
So, another fun Camp Run-a-MOC get-together is in the books. The weather wasn’t great but at least it didn’t snow this year.
The next outing for the Boschveldt QRPers is Field Day. I’m already looking forward to that.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 