The Kickapoo River Valley, about 120 km west of Madison, is one of my favorite cycling areas. The river flows southward about 100 straight line km to the Wisconsin River. This unglaciated part of Wisconsin is basically a rolling plateau, with deep valleys cut into it by erosion. Some of the valleys, including the Kickapoo, are up to 150 meters deep, creating some beautiful scenery, and sometimes a lot of work for cyclists. My plan was to operate the three CWT's on Wednesday from different locations, taking advantage of Cashton's location on a high ridge for 19Z.
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| Kickapoo Valley near Readstown |
I started in Readstown, on the river, followed the West Fork of the Kickapoo up to Avalanche, climbed over the ridge, and ended up at Esofea County Park. It's a beautiful, isolated place in a valley, but fairly high up in the drainage.
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| Esofea QTH, 13Z CWT |
Wednesday morning, I set up for the 13Z CWT in a big clearing. There was another spot a bit higher, but surrounded by trees, which looked to me like good attenuators.
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| 13Z Antenna |
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| 13Z Operating Position |
It was cool enough at 8 AM that sitting out in the sun was comfortable, and the mosquitoes weren't too bad. RBN's looked pretty good.
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| Esofea RBN's |
The results, however, were a rather disappointing 49 QSO's and 40 mults. Good enough to top out the QRP scores, though.
The day's ride was a modest 65 km, with a stop in Cashton for the 19Z CWT. With all the time taken to set up, operate, and tear down twice, one has to keep moving this time of year to get the antenna up for the 03Z CWT before dark.
From Esofea, the route climbs up over another ridge, then plunges back down into another valley.
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| Heading Back Down |
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| Back in the Valley |
That didn't take long!
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| En Route to Cashton |
Oboe Ave climbs up out of the valley again to the ridge on which sits Cashton. I expected this to be a great QTH for the 19Z CWT.
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| Cashton, 19Z CWT QTH |
The park in Cashton had a big shelter next to a big open space for the antenna, a common setup.
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| Cashton Operating Position |
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| Cashton Antenna |
RBN's looked very good:
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| Cashton RBN's |
The lawn mowers kept a respectful distance this time, but there was some QRM from the guy who showed up with a truck to pick up an enormous number of aluminum cans collected in the shelter from some event. Still, I can't really blame him for the mediocre result of 44 QSO's and 33 mults. I probably should have gone to 40 earlier.
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| Ridgetop Road to Wilton |
Most of the route to Wilton stays on the ridge, then drops down to the Elroy-Sparta rail trail at Norwalk, which I followed to Wilton. Along the way, I passed a bunch of Amish kids walking home from school, on the road, barefoot. It looked like they walked a ways, too.
Wilton is on the Kickapoo, not far from its headwaters.
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| Wilton QTH |
There's a great campground in the park in Wilton, and a nice shelter right next to the volleyball courts. I simply lashed the fishing pole to the fence, and got the antenna up just before dark.
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| Wilton Antenna |
I didn't really have the radio set up for the pictures, as I had to take them before dark, but you can get the idea.
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| Wilton Shelter |
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| Wilton Operating Position |
The RBN's around 0Z looked pretty good, but I checked 20 again just before 03Z to see if the band was open. It was, in spite of the fact that I heard very few signals before the CWT started.
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| Wilton 20 M RBN's |
After 9 QSO's on 20, I went to 40. The total of 38 QSO's and 31 mults was better than I expected at 03Z without 80 meters.
After the CWT, I took down a very dewy fishing pole in the dark. I'm glad I was sitting under a roof.
(End of ham radio content. Skip the rest if you're not interested in bicycle touring or Wisconsin scenery.)
Thursday's route back to Readstown followed the Kickapoo Valley all the way. On the average, it's downhill, but there are some challenging hills where the road cuts off the river's meanders.
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| Kickapoo River Crossing |
The old highway through the Kickapoo Valley Reserved is closed to motor vehicles, and a very nice ride. This part of the valley was to be flooded by a dam in the 70's, but the project was cancelled after the federal government acquired the land, so it became reserve. (That's a very complicated story.)
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| Kickapoo River along abandoned Highway 131 |
(Just a week after the ride, heavy rains flooded the Kickapoo Valley, the river in the photo above rising some 5 meters/16 feet. The road there would have been way under water.)
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| Kickapoo Valley Reserve |
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Last Bridge in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve
(Note shadow of fishing pole by bike.) |
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| Kickapoo River Valley near Readstown |
