Pilgrimage To Holy Cross Wilderness

On Sunday, September 3, I parked in the trailhead parking area at Tennessee Pass, and coaxed group of mountain bikers to take a photo of me at the trailhead.

I followed the trail through a subalpine forest a little over 6 miles to the boundary of the Holy Cross Wilderness, where I filled out a wilderness use permit. A short distance beyond this, along the creek in Long's Gulch, there was a nice clearing on a low rise above the trail, and I walked up to this site to make camp.

I hung a 67' end fed wire (two shorter segments joined by disconnects) for an antenna and spread a couple radials, hoping to make an 80 meter contact, then set up the rest of my camp. After, enjoying the evening meal and hanging the food from a tree limb, I fired up my QRP rig (an AT Sprint 3). I wasn't able to raise anything on 80 meters, but had a short contact on 40 meters with W0QVQ near Omaha, Nebraska.

After breakfast the next morning, I broke camp and prepared some water for the day (using iodine tablets to treat the water). The trail climbed a low ridge between Long's and Porcupine Gulches. As the trail descended into Porcupine Gulch, there was a small scenic lake on a plateau on the edge of ridge.

The trail reached the creek on the bottom of Porcupine Gulch, then began climbing the other side. This section of the trail offered some dramatic views of the upper reaches of Porcupine Gulch, with the peaks of the Sawatch along the Continental Divide in the background.

Lower down, the gulch was heavily forested, with US Highway 24 and Tennessee Park at the foot of the gulch.

Gradually, the trail climbed to the top of a high ridge extending eastward from Galena Mountain.

From this ridge, the trail descended to a plateau high above Turquoise Lake. Galena Lake was seated on this plateau.

The trail began climbing again, up a south-tending ridge on a shoulder of Galena Mountain, gaining the top of the ridge. I decided to make camp on this high ridge instead of descending to Turquosie Lake, as I was pretty beat. As well, this was a much better site from which to play in the Spartan Sprint! How's that for rationalizing?

I put up my tent in a sheltered area in some trees and set up camp. For an antenna, I just put up a 34' inverted L for 40 and 20 meters, and set out some radials. Although this camp was dry, I had a couple quarts of water, which was enough for camping overnight.

In the evening, I had a short QSO with John, K4BAI, in Georgia, which confirmed the QRP gear was working okay. Then the Spartan Sprint began. This was my first time to participate in the Sprint from bona fide "Adventure Radio" QTH, and I had alot of fun. I completed 8 contacts on 20 meters and 12 on 40 meters. But I began falling asleep before the contest ended; so much for the best-laid plans!

In the morning, I broke camp, and began the return trip, following the same route on which I came in. As I descended into Porcupine Gulch, I took this nice shot of a creek crossing along the trail.

I crossed the creek at the bottom of the gulch, and began the ascent of the low ridge dividing Porcupine and Long's gulches. I had the idea of looking for a nice camping spot on this ridge, but didn't find any spot suitable, and finally made camp in Long's Gulch at the same camp spot I had stayed at 2 evenings earlier

I made a couple QSOs with the QRP rig; on 30 meters with WB5BRD in Mena, Arkansas, and on 40 meters with K0JEM in Kansas City, Missouri.

The next morning, I continued the hike out. Just outside the wilderness area, I found this ruin of an old cabin that I hadn't even noticed during the hike in.