VE6AB Portable Ops
Bearing 168 Degrees
Early morning finds me on the slopes overlooking the river valley that the Bow river flows through southeast of Calgary.
With my Yaesu FT-897D equipped manpack system along for the ride, and once I reach my destination, I plan on setting up to work some distant HF contacts.
From my high vantage point, I'm checking the bearing and distance to the next waypoint that lies on the path that I've laid out for myself.
If the range between waypoints exceeded 1100 meters (1200 yards), the capability of my 7X20 laser rangefinder, I also am carrying my 8X36 tactical monocular equipped with a MRAD ranging reticle, having the capability to read the distance in kilometers (or miles) if required.
I also don't leave home without my Silva Ranger CL compass with included mirror for sighting on distant landmarks and easy plotting with any topo map.
Route finding is something that I've always enjoyed beginning in my youth roaming the grasslands of what is today Grasslands National Park located in southern Saskatchewan, and continuing on when I moved to Alberta and first was employed in the seismic industry, where I spent time working on a survey crew for several years.
The job required that we lay out seismic lines on new prospects with the use of survey instruments, running elevations, turning angles, and measuring distance between shotpoints.
Today, and whenever I'm out hiking, whether it be in the mountains, or out on the plains of southern Alberta, I continue to practice my routefinding abilities with the skills that I've acquired over the years and enjoy practicing still.
Of course it goes without saying that I have my Kenwood D72 along with me, its APRS beacons being digipeated by my mobile set up as a fill-in digi, and parked at the trailhead some distance away.
Click on the photo for a closer look.....
