DN19-DN29 Grid Expedition
British Columbia, Canada
Nov 16-19, 2024

On Nov 16-19, 2024, I enjoyed a warm leisurely trip through some grids in southern BC along the border. No, actually, I didn't. I had three days of cold-but-pleasant driving with moments of sheer terror in winter conditions in the mountains. Here's my trip report.

The Plan

The goal was to add three BC grid activations to my logs by driving from East to the West through DN29, DN19 and DN09. And, as long as I'm going through the area, I might as well call a VHF Luncheon in Spokane and visit my sister in Post Falls.

PNWVHFS Luncheon

Saturday, 11/16, the lunch at Frankie Doodles Restaurant was nice although lightly attended. One ham showed up, Bob K7TM, a longtime rover friend that's been all over Idaho. Bob and I are the only ones who've achieved the Sacagawea Certificate for activating all 20 grids in Idaho. Over lunch, we shared a joint dream of adventuring further north into BC in the summer. Saturday night I visited my sister for a convenient overnight stop in Post Falls, ID.

DN29 Cranbrook, BC

Sunday, 11/17, I crossed the border by Bonner's Ferry, ID. It's open 24 hours year-round and all I needed to show was my Enhanced WA driver's license and answer a few questions: purpose of trip? any guns, booze or drugs? where will I stay?

I scouted my way northeast on Hwy 95, Crowsnest Highway, stopping frequently, but although there's ample turnouts it's all deep in a narrow valley and there's no chance of using the radio.

My first activation was in Cranbrook, BC, DN29cl49, at the Elizabeth Lake Visitor Center. A lovely place to visit and to admire the migrating birds relaxing on the big lake. I made seven contacts in challenging band conditions.

Note there is a Cranbrook Radio Club Society for ham radio that has repeaters. See their facebook page and the Cranbrook RCS website, and get in touch with kevin@cranbrookarc.ca to find repeater frequencies.

DN19 Creston, BC

Monday, 11/18, in early morning I almost hit a deer and there was really nothing that either of us could do about it. I had started driving westbound from DN29 to DN19 at 6 am. Dark, cold, and everything frozen. The highway was black ice, and I knew it, so I was driving 20 below the speed limit. I saw her on the centerline and tapped the brakes but clearly it would barely slow my 7,000-lb juggernaut, much less stop in time. Swerving wasn't an option. She saw me and started running - but it was cartoon running where her legs were going like crazy but she had no traction and remained in one place exactly like the coyote in Road Runner cartoons. At the last moment, one hoof caught something, and she did barely get out of the way.

I reached Creston, BC without further ado. As a side note, I was surprised along the way to see several Tesla Superchargers in the Kid Creek Rest Area, deep in primitive forest and miles from anywhere.

Once in Creston, I found a nice upper-hillside residential development with empty lots which made a good place to set up. However, other hams said my signal suffered severe multi-path distortion and they had trouble decoding my FT8. This was a recurring theme this trip - it's difficult to get a signal out of the valleys and the reflections foul the signal. Next time, I'll try lowering my antenna get a higher take-off angle over the mountains.

Trip Cancelled

By 4pm Monday afternoon, it was widely known that a bomb cyclone was headed toward Seattle and will be highly likely to close Snoqualmie Pass on Wednesday. I cancelled the rest of my trip, packed up and started home.

Driving south from Creston back to Post Falls, a heavy snow squall almost took me out. The weather always gets warmer as you go south, right? On average, yes, but with large standard deviation, no. It had been clear sailing and easy driving, until it wasn't. It became very dark with fast heavy traffic, one lane each way, lots of big semis, and blizzard conditions that covered lane markings. I think my knuckles are still white.

I finally reached Post Falls without further incident and overnighted at my sister's house again.

Snoqualmie Pass

Tuesday, 11/19, my sister made another fine breakfast and I left by 8 am. The rest of the trip home was easy; Snoqualmie Pass was barely wet with light traffic. I got over that hill long before the bomb cyclone got there. Good thing, too - our neighborhood was hit hard and lots of trees went down. Over 35 thousand homes lost power. We had no power, heat, lights or internet for four days. My wife doesn't tolerate those conditions very well, so it's a good thing I could be there to manage our emergency power sources. Our 95yo and infirm neighbor lives alone and I made many trips to bring her flashlights, supplies and a Jackery-style power pack.

Bomb Cyclone

On Wednesday, 11/20, the "bomb cyclone" hit Seattle causing widespread power outages for four days and many trees were damaged.

Results

From DN29: Calvin VE7CTE, Mark W7MEM, Paul K7CW, WB7UNU, Bob K7TM, Mac K7MAC, John VE7DAY

From DN19: James K4NNX, Doug VE7VZ, John VE7DAY, Bob K7TM, Mac K7MAC, Bob N5KO

Farthest contact was 880 miles to N5KO in CM97aa. All other contacts were 100-300 miles.

It's nice to be home. It was a good trip despite only fourteen contacts for a thousand miles of driving. Hey, DN19 and DN29 are checked off and confirmed in my activator list and that was two-thirds of my main goal. I'll have to go back for DN09 in better weather.

Thanks to everyone that found me on the air or kept me company on the Slack VHF-Chat channel. It sure helps to coordinate contacts in real time.

Barry K7BWH