Fox Mine – Nature Said No!
How D Everyone. Got a good start last Friday morning heading out for the Fox Mine. Mostly sunny, low 70s when I started out and a slight breeze. The Fox Mine is about 30 minutes south of my QTH. It is down Hwy 141 near the missing town of Uravan. A former Uranium mining town that was so radioactive, the government scraped the area clean and it is nothing but a flat strip of land with tumble weeds.
From the point where I parked and dropped off the ATV, it is about a 20 minute ATV ride. A very cool area with lots of history laying around and a whole slew of mines. I enjoy the Fox Mine because of the very cool entrance to the mine. Mining rails running down the cliff and then a sharp turn into the darkness. Something right out of Indiana Jones!
I got the usual setup going. Although this time I and some extra parts for my Buddistick which allowed me to convert it to a Buddipole. So I setup a 20m dipole, the FT-891 and the Bioenno Power Battery. I was setup at about 5,600 feet in the shade of a decent size Juniper. Had only been calling CQ MOTA for a minute or so when a strong call came back from W1RK, John, who was in Carlsbad Canyon. While chatting with him I noticed a few crashes coming over the radio and figured there was a storm somewhere between us. A few minutes later I noticed I could hear the thunder via the radio and my ears! Bummer, I had only been setup for about 20 minutes. I could see the dark cloud slowly moving over the top of the mountain.
Mother Nature won this contest. I packed up as quick as I could. The Junipers, topping out at about 15 feet, are the tallest thing up there. Figured I was a close second for a grounding rod and needed to move on. Took a few more pictures on my way out and just beat the rain back to the truck by about 10 minutes.
Kind of a short trip but anytime I can get out and enjoy my hobbies is a good time. I will definitely be back to activate Fox Mine again. Hopefully this year.
Thanks to everyone over at 100 Watts and a Wire that listened and tried to contact me during my short HF run. Much appreciated. Thanks to John, W1RK for the contact. You will be getting a custom QSL card in the mail soon.
141 Overlook
73 Everyone.
JohnnyF, WJ0NF
100WAAW ID: 1849
