Abused in Maple Ridge Park

Ralph and I felt like doing a second new park activation this week and decided to visit the Maple Ridge Park in the Northen part of Maple Ridge. Though not a huge park it was well developed and had lots of trees to provide adequate shade. Going there traced most of our route from earlier in the week as the parks were close to each other. We left home around 12:30 and reach the park about 1:15. The drive was good with minimal delays.

Upon reaching the park we saw that the parking lots were quite full. The park was full of people making use of all the features of the park.  I was able to find a parking stall in the south lot and once parked we went for a stroll around the area. We first set off towards the Alouette River which forms the southern border of the park. There were a number of families along the bank and a few kids in the water. We came by a grassy area that was nicely shaded and was quite close to the parking area. Ralph thought he would operate there. We then continued our walk through the park following alongside the river. Before too long we spotted a nice table that was well shaded and next to the open playing field. It would be ideal for my set up.

Having found our locations, we returned to the car to pick up our gear and set out to our operating positions. We first dropped by Ralph’s location and left his gear. I then continued on to the table we had spotted earlier. It was still available and I claimed it for the day. I set up my antenna along the edge of the open field and parallel to the river which happened to be flowing in the direction I like to run my antenna in. Soon I was scanning the bands for some other parks. I could hear a few faint stations but nothing I could contact. I then selected an open frequency and started calling.

It took 15 minutes to get my first contact in the log! Not a good start to the day. 5 minutes more and another park activator came by and we worked each other, he was at a double park and so I had two contacts for the work of one. I continued calling and had no responses, I tried the 17m band for a while and had nothing there. I returned to the 20m band and did a scan across the band again. This time I heard another park activator in Wisconsin and was able to work him. Another park was coming in strong but they never heard me so I moved on to a third park which I could hear. This chap in Arizona was strong and he reported that my signal was also quite strong. That left me wondering why I was getting no responders.

I then picked a new frequency and started calling again. By now I had been trying for over an hour and had made only 4 contacts. Ralph was also struggling but he had 7 by this point. We decided to keep going for a while longer. Calling on the new frequency brought in 4 more contacts over 20 minutes. It was brutal trying to raise some one. A bit before 2pm Ralph called to say he had 12 and was going to pack up. I had only 8 contacts plus one bonus from the dual park, so I needed one more to get credit. I gave up on calling and scanned the band again for any new parks that I might be able to hear. I found one in Missouri. I tried responding to him but others kept being taken. Eventually he heard my park-to-park cry and called for me. We were able to complete our contact just as Ralph wandered up from his area. That was my 9th contact. Barely enough with the double. But I did have the required 10 when including the double park. It was a very tough session for both of us.

Done with the radio calling Ralph helped me take down my station as we reminisced over the difficult time, we had trying to make contacts today.  It was one of the hardest sessions I have done, but at least we both got enough contacts to qualify. After a quick walk back to the car, we asked the navcom for the nearest Starbucks. It was about 2.5km away, not far at all and we set out for it. It was a new one to us, the parking was a bit of a challenge but once inside we were able to relax in the cool air. We chatted with a fellow coffee drinker who was having issues with his iPhone bringing up the Starbucks app. He was out with his wife enjoying the day, they recently had their 53rd anniversary.

It was a very tough go at the park but it was still a pleasant day out. The Maple Ridge Park was very busy with people enjoying the sun, lots of kids and laughter all around. The drive home wasn’t too bad, a few slow points but generally a reasonably fast drive.