How I Ended Up In Arkansas
Recently I went on a road trip down from Wisconsin to Arkansas and back. It was a combination business and personal trip. I was going to Iowa for a family wedding, and a last minute business trip to Arkansas came up for the following week. Long story short. Due to the location I was going, the distance I had to quickly drive back to catch a flight that would still require a long drive in a rental car; it turned out to be more feasible to just drive to Arkansas from Iowa. Then take a few days off on the back end to see some of the country.
The Road Trip Back with a Radio
Of course when packing for the trip, I radio was a must to be included. I opted for bringing my QRP kit built around the Icom IC-705 with the idea of doing some hiking and possibly doing some Summits On The Air. There was a SOTA summit about a half hour from the hotel I would be taking up residence for the week. While timing did not allow for that SOTA adventure, I will most certainly be going back down there for work. Hopefully in the winter, so I could take advantage of the cooler temps!
Cross Some States Off the POTA Map
After a week of work, it was time for my little vacation that would include a multiple state POTA rove. While I really want to do some SOTA; there were no summits close to the route I want to take. There is always next time. I chose a route that would give me the opportunity to add several states to my POTA activation list. So far I've activated parks in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I really don't have a desired to "fill the map" for some award. However activating a park in a different does sound like a fun thing to add to travel plans, now that I'm into POTA and SOTA.
The route I was going to take back home have several POTA park close to the highways in Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa. I booked a room in Davenport, Iowa for my last stop, that way I could hit a small POTA park on the Mississippi River, in the Illinois side.
Buffalo National & Scenic River
So to make time, I left the hotel I was staying at for work early in the morning and headed north. I did not know which POTA park I was going to attempt for crossing Arkansas off the list. What was driving my agenda was needing to be someplace with cell reception at 11:00am for a conference call I could miss, even though I was on vacation...
I saw signs along the highway for Buffalo National & Scenic River and pulled off to scout it out. It was close to the highway I was traveling and had good cell signal. There were a series of hiking trails along the river that looked promising. I had several hours before my conference call, so I was fairly confident I would have the time for a QRP POTA. Even if I didn't have the park activated before my appointment, I could take a little break from playing radio for taking the call.
I am really glad I stopped at this location! The hiking trails were nice. I saw some great views of the Buffalo River and was able to check out the remains of an old farmstead. A very enjoyable hike.
The Activation
Now the part that you probably came here to check out...
I sat up my station at an overlook not too far down the trail that provide the above view. Being QRP and not knowing how the bands were going to behave; I figured if I was not going to make the activation or struggle, I should at least do it by enjoying a great view!
I had to grind at it, but I got the park activated in a decent amount of time. No pile up, but was able to make 8 contacts calling CQ, including a station above the Arctic Circle. Pretty cool for operating at 10 watts of power SSB.