[PPRAANet] The Purple Mountain on the Air

[W0rw at aol.com]

   This Saturday will be the 200th Anniversary of Zebulon Pike's
Expedition in 1806 to the mountain we now call 'Pikes Peak'.  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'.
   Pikes Peak is 14,110 feet in elevation, (4303 meters).

   The Pikes Peak Radio Amateur Association (AF0S) will be operating a 
special event station on 14265kHz on July 15, 1500z to 1900Z. Those who make contact 
with AF0S will receive a special QSL card. The card, stamped on the back of 
an official US Postal Service Zebulon Pike commemorative postcard, is a limited 
edition. A color reproduction of a painting that depicts Pike and his 
entourage gazing at the peak is displayed on one side, with the QSL info for the 
contact stamped on the back.

   i will be hiking up on the north side of the mountain, only a few miles 
from the top, around 12,000 feet from 1500z to 2100z. i will be operating pedes
trian mobile with a 10 foot whip and trying to get off the mountain before the 
afternoon lightning storms. My 10 foot whip makes the receive path pretty 
lossy too, so don't be afraid to use some power to make it easier for me to copy 
you.
Look for w0rw/pm on SSB: 14342.5 (or 18157.5 if it is open) on the odd hours:
1500z, 1700z, 1900z, 2100z and on CW: Exactly on 14059.0 on the even hours: 
1600z, 1800z, 2000z.
(You must be exactly on my frequency for me to copy you because i am using a 
fixed frequency receiver with a narrow CW bandpass).
If the RTTY contest has the frequency jammed, i will be down at 14039.0.
   A special w0rw/pm on Pikes Peak QSL Card will be available.

   You can see a picture of me on top of Pikes Peak at http://www.qrz.com,  
Enter "w0rw" . Maybe you can spot me on Earth.Google.com at W105 06', N38 53'.
   You can read about my last trip up the Peak: "High Altitude Pedestrian 
Mobile" article at:
http://www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/back_issues/2004_text/1204_text/W0RW.html

   Here is some history of the 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 
honored for mountains they did not climb. (Botanist Edwin James made the first 
recorded ascent in 1820 as a member of Major Stephen H. Long's expedition.) Yet 
Pike's arduous explorations in the Colorado Rockies in 1806 - 1807 deserve 
remembering.
   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, but Pike published his 
journal four years before the official government-sponsored team published theirs. 
On November 15, 1806, he sighted the "grand" mountain that would later bear 
his name.

   See additional information at:

http://www.experiencecoloradosprings.com/travel.asp?pageid=12|238|242
or  http://www.gazette.com/pikespeak/
The original Ute Indian owner was Chief Manitou but his web site is down.
Paul  
w0rw at aol.com