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Saturday being PI Day 3.14 on the calendar and with still major remnants of cabin fever after what seems to be a very long and never ending winter I decided to head out to a place South of Thunder Bay towards the ON/MN border.

The site is located off of Memory Road and is a slight walk up to the top of the hill and from there is a beautiful look at Pine Bay and Lake Superior.

The wind was quite strong but at 4C and bright sun peeking through the clouds made this outing a great one.  I snowshoed in as the snow was soft but had to take them off when I got to the hill for the last part of the climb to prevent sliding down. Once at the top the view is awesome, there is also a Shrine that was built many years ago now and serves as place for people to go and share some thoughts I guess, as well on the way up are benches for resting with the words, LOVE,HOPE and FAITH on them, As well there are various pictures of Jesus carrying the cross.

I brought my PRC-104 with me and the PRC-74 antenna with counterpoise and figured that since we were in the time frame for both RaDAR and the HFPack roundup on 18157.5 I would call CQ if the band was not busy, I used cw first and was able to work KC5UN, after that I worked WB4ETT on voice. I then tried the other bands but no joy. I then went and checked into the MMN on 20 meters on 14.300 and checked in with NCS.

PRC-74 antenna

PRC-104 Radio

So once again another good day to take the radio out and enjoy the day and just to get out. The video of my outing can be seen on my YouTube Channel at:

I do say Trout Bay in the video but it is Pine Bay, Trout Bay is just a bit further down the road from where I was but is also a bay along the shores of Lake Superior. I thanks all those who listen and work me, and for all the others who enjoy the hobby as much as I do. Portable Ops have really taken the front seat for me and I have no ambition to be cooped up inside the house in a room, but would much rather be outside. The cold I can kinda deal with in my outings, but come summer it brings along the mosquitoes, ticks and blackflies that really have no way to stop or get away from, unless you wait till after 11 PM at night when things cool off and the bugs slow down. But lets see how things work out. See you all down the logbook and have fun. Next RaDAR event is April 4th and I look forward to operating from the same place my winter survival shelter is located near Prince-Jarvis Bay.

73

Fred

VE3FAL

Thunder Bay, Ontario