July 22, 2002 AT Trip

Ed, WA3WSJ & Ron, WB3AAL

July 22, 2002 AT Trip. (2^nd Leg Part 2)

Pictures Below

Ron's story

Ed and I started hiking our last 5 miles of the second leg of the Appalachian Trail in PA around 14:00 UTC on Saturday. We were in the Little Gap area heading to the Lehigh Gap area, the Lehigh River near Palmerton, PA. It was an overcast day with showers to the north of our location. Before we knew it we hiked up the 400 feet to the top of the mountain. This was a easy climb as far as we were concerned. The trail up the mountain was a little rocky but not as bad as we seen in other areas. To our surprise the trail turned into a dirt road lined with trees on either side. To our surprise the landscape beyond three feet of trees turned barren. We knew that the area is a Super Fund Site but we were amazed to what we have seen. We stopped and took in the view several time. The unfortunate part of man's devastation to the earth did provide us with some spectacular views of the adjacent mountains.

We planned to stop around the 4 mile mark to rest and make some contacts on the HF bands. We covered the 4 miles in 1 3/4 hours. Now the area being a Super Fund Site the trees we just 2 to 4 foot stubs. So I carried a DK pole along with me for a mast.

I had the 66' doublet up and on the air by 16:00 UTC. I had the antenna in a inverted vee configuration facing the North South direction. The center was about 20 feet up with the ends around 6 feet off the ground. I called CQ on 15m, 20m, 30m and 40m with no returns. I went back to 30m and finally made a QSO. The band seemed to disappear as soon as I completed the QSO. I then went to the 40m band and started calling CQ. I made 2 more QSO's before I shut the station down. I was using my K1 with a 4 aHour battery. The transmission line I was using was 20 feet of 300 ohm twin lead connected directly to the back of the rig.

Ed strung up a dipole about 5 feet off the ground between the stubs of trees. He called CQ on 20m for about 45 minutes with no replies. But Ed still had fun.

We only planned to operated for one hour due to the hike down the mountain and the weather. So we packed up and started to hike down into the Lehigh Gap. This would be a hike of a mile to our vehicle. To our surprise the hike took 1 1/2 hours with several stops to take in the view and pictures. Shortly after we started to hike we had to make a decision on which route to take. There is a winter trail and the regular trail. We decided on the regular trail. Wow, what a hike.

This hike was great section to hike. I would recommend it for anyone to try except they should take the winter trail down the mountain through the trees.

72 Ron de WB3AAL

Ed's story

WOW! What a nice hike I had on the AT Saturday. Ron and myself hiked the five miles from Little Gap to Lehigh Gap and had a ball. For me, the hike was like a double edge sword. We hiked across the "waste zone" which was caused by human pollution. At the same time, because there are no or few trees on the mountain, the views are just fantastic!
Because of this, I had mixed feelings during the hike. If you get the chance to hike this section, please do. I recommend this hike to all. You see the complete devastation done to the environment by humans, yet the beauty all around you on the other mountains just overloads your senses! Even on polluted ground life goes on. We saw rabbits, birds and many other forms of wildlife on this mountain. Take a good look at Ron's pictures from our trip.

As far as the hike is concerned, it is a rather easy hike until the end. You only climb about 400' from Little Gap to the summit. After that it's a straight hike on a road like trail to " the rocks." This is where you have to make a decision, go straight down over rocks or around the cliff through the woods. We picked the rocks! As we hiked the "waste zone," it reminded me of my NH hike above tree line. I think this section of the AT is the most interesting section of the AT that I hiked to date. Try it; you'll like it!

72 Ed, WA3WSJ

Top of Little Gap Looking Northwest Top of Little Gap Looking North

Top of Little Gap Looking Northeast

The trail from Little Gap, East Same spot looking North

Same spot looking South Same spot looking West

Super Fund Site Easy Path to Hike Mans devastation

The source of the pollution Life in the devastation, Butterflies mating

Trail West Ed says this is an easy Trail to Hike

Ron says, have DK Pole will Travel

One spot looking North Same spot looking South

Beacon Hill in the distance, our operating location

Ron is setting up the DK mast DK and 66' doublet