Lake Superior Circumnavigation Radio Shenanigans

I have just returned from a sixteen-day road-trip where the family and I made a circumnavigation of Lake Superior. I, of course, took a high-frequency (HF) transceiver with me to activate parks and summits along the way. Here is a quick summary:

US-1949 East Harbor State Park

This is a beautiful area right on Lake Erie. We camped at the state park and on the morning of our departure (5 July) I ran down to the beach and set up my kit to make a few contacts before hitting the road.

Stations worked:

KD9EFO
W2FN
KQ4PEP
KO4O
KK4DUP
W3KKO
W9AV
N8JSN
KO4RJE
K2B - Thirteen Colonies Special Event Station

W8M/LP-003 (Indian Springs Lookout) - US-6732 Marsh Creek / Beaver Lake Flooding Wildlife Management Area

This wasn’t a fantastic location as some other SOTA summits have been. We arrived at the "base" of the summit and was greeted by a sand ORV trail that was actively being used. Ugh! The entire "summit" was engulfed in fumes and dust every time they came by. Managed to get my SOTA minimum.

Stations worked:

N4ZHM - ~213.4km
KV4AN - ~213.4km
W8UC - ~1,112km
K6FA - ~3,114.5km
VE4ZIM - ~1,112km

US-1528 North Higgins Lake State Park

Wish we could have spent more time here and explored but, alas, we had places to go and people to see. We stayed in the campground here and the kids did some fishing in the lake. Set up right at the campsite on a picnic table.

Stations worked:

AF0E - ~2,025.5km - P2P - US-4410 White River National Forest
AE5FM - ~1,111.2km
KY0R - ~1,838.2km
K9JP - ~863.1km - P2P - US-6636 Brownstown Prairie State Wildlife Area
KC8ZKS - ~619.9km - P2P - US-1937 Buck Creek State Park
KC8IQ - ~797.8km
WA3WNT - ~754.5km
K2J - ~557.6km
N3XF - ~851.2km
K0CJH - ~1,104.8km
K4WY - ~841.6km
K0VM - ~1,398.5km

US-0766 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

If you’ve never been here before, put this place on your bucket list. Absolutely beautiful, historic, and packed full of earth science. I found a parking lot that wasn’t busy at night and set up along the side for a quick activation.

Stations worked:

W6GRE
VA3GHB
KE8PX
KD4EBL
WM3PEN
W0WXZ
K2M
NN4H
K2J
K2L

VE3/NW-052 The Chest - CA-1627 Sleeping Giant Wilderness Area

I’ve driven up to the summit of 10 pointers and walked up to 1 pointers. This one was different. KC3UJB and I rode nearly four miles on bicycles, through wilderness, to get to the foot path that would take us up to the summit. It was more than a mile on foot to reach the top. And, of course, you had to get out and back to civilization. All-in-all, the route was nearly 10 miles (16km) round-trip. Whew!

Stations worked:

N4EX
KD4L
W9AV
WB0RLJ - P2P - US-4011 Chalco Hills State Recreation Area
K4AKC

CA-1627 Sleeping Giant Wilderness Area

Because I was only able to get the SOTA minimum earlier, I went back out and re-activated CA-1627 to get the required contacts for POTA, although not from The Chest.

Stations worked:

KC8DIB
W6YW
N6PM
K5LJC
KN4WOW
NN8M
KA0AZS
W1MJC
K0OTC
K3VAT
K8HF
KI8M
VA2EYD
KC8IQ
KQ4PAK

US-3305 Bay City State Recreation Area

I had hoped to work another park in Ontario but road conditions didn’t allow for it. Bay City State Recreation Area was our last camping stop before heading home. I worked from the campground and conditions weren’t awful.

Stations worked:

KF6UF
WB9RAS
KN8DMK
KC1DOY
K8ACC
K7ACT
AF0G
K4QAL
AG4DW - P2P - US-0716 Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park
K4YT
AF0E
AA5HH

Summary

POTAs - 7 attempts, 5 activations, 5 P2P contacts
SOTAs - 2 activations
Contacts - 69

Sparks's Journal

Other articles

2024-10-13 - Activating Lambs Knoll

Activating Mount Philo

Activating Whiteface Mountain

SOTA activation of Lambs Knoll