Zebulon Pike’s Purple Mountain Expedition

    Zebulon Pike's expedition in 1806 to the mountain we now call 'Pikes Peak' was the reason for this anniversary operation.

   This is the same Mountain that Katharine Lee Bates was looking at when she composed the song "America the Beautiful". This is America's Mountain, The one with the 'Purple Mountains Majesty'.

   On your map Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet in elevation, actually it's now 14,115 feet (4305 meters) in elevation. They have regraded the parking lot.

   This hike took me up on a trail on the north side of the mountain from the Crags Campground at 10,000 feet.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/colorado/devils-playground-from-the-crags

   At the top of the Crags Trail, there is a place called the ‘Devils Playground’ at 12,000 feet. https://crazyaboutcolorado.com/devils-playground-colorado-hikes/

    I was operating pedestrian mobile as I hiked up and trying to get off the mountain before the afternoon lightning storms.  

    ‘Devils Playground’ was so named because of the way lightning jumps from rock to rock during a thunder storm. It is a magnet for lightning, so am I.

   Here is some history of Pike and his Peak:

   On November 27, 1806, a young Army Captain named Zebulon Montgomery Pike and three companions shivered atop a mountain southeast of today's Pikes Peak. Pike finally could see that deep snow and the daunting scale of the mountain he dubbed "Grand Peak" would turn him back. In his journal he admired, "the sublimity of the prospects below", and admitted defeat. "The summit of the Grand Peak…covered with snow now appeared at a distance of 15 to 16 miles from us, and as high again as what we had ascended…I believe no human being could have ascended to its pinnacle".

   This poignant moment guaranteed Pike's place in history as one of the first Americans to explore the West. His 1810 report and map described the "Grand Peak" and other adventures and established an enduring connection between the young captain and the prominent Rocky Mountain peak he failed to climb.

   Eventually, Pike's "Grand Peak" became "Pikes Peak." Few men have been so honoured for mountains they did not climb.

   On July 15, 1806, Zebulon Montgomery Pike left from St. Louis to explore part of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. Pike's trek took place at about the same time as the famous Lewis and Clark trip.

   The original Ute Indian owner of Pikes Peak was Chief Manitou, but his web site is down. They named another mountain and a city after him.

See additional information at: https://coloradosprings.gov/drivepikespeak

  Here are the results of my hike:

     I left the Crags Campground at 10,000 feet, https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/?recid=12623

heading up the trail early in the morning, in the first half mile some overhanging tree got the top part of my whip.

   So, all contacts were made on a 7-foot whip which handled the trees better anyway. My Li Ion battery pack lasted the entire trip.

   The trail is pretty steep, and it took me 3 hours to get up out of the canyon.

I would take a trail break every hour to configure my radio for a different band or mode, then back on the trail. I was in a deep east/west canyon on the trail which explains most of my contacts were with AZ and CA during that time.

    As I climbed up the trail, I went through the Spring Climate zone and there were many wildflowers. I saw a brown rabbit and a grey camp robber bird that had a song like a horse whinny. What a great place to hike.

No antenna obstructions above tree line.

Temperatures were about 60F.

   The equipment I used during the Purple Mountain expedition.

(Any hike that takes me all day is an expedition) was a PRC319 backpack radio.  The pack weighs 30 pounds with the Li Ion battery.

   The antenna is a segmented 7-foot whip that is attached to the pack. I use a 13 foot drag wire for a counterpoise.

   For SSB I used a H-189 handset which weighs more than my Elecraft KX-1.

   On CW I use a Whiterook single lever key, I hold it in my left hand and send with my right hand.

  The PRC319 is a 50 W solid state fixed frequency radio, and I cannot reach any of the controls when I am hiking. This is why I am always on a preselected fixed frequency. 

    The Li Ion battery pack was a 29V, 8AH, battery that clips on to the bottom of the radio. It contains 14 Sony US26650 hard carbon Li Ion cells. This battery pack weighs 3 pounds.

   You can see more information about the PRC319 at G0OZS’s web site.

 https://g0ozs.co.uk/mdwiki/clansman/#!prc319.md

Yes!   God Bless America ... God Shed His Grace on Thee.

Paul  w0rw

Colorado