July 27, 1997, Adventure Radio Society hosted "Flight of the Bumblebees". I was number 37. My goal was to find some remote location to hike to and send "CQ BB de KB0VCC/BB" around 7.040 that day and work as many folks as possible. I had originally chosen the knife edge of Nokhu Crags, about 12K' ASL, in Colorado as my destination, but the WX predicted sounded dangerously severe. Here's what I did instead... For safety sake, I drove NE to the Pawnee National Grasslands. The weather wasn't so severe, but it was raining and WINDY!!! I hiked in a mile or so, until I found a prime operating location. My antenna was an inverted VEE with the feedpoint supported by 20' of PVC. The rig used was my "OHR-100 backpack rig". I sat among the cactus and cow patties with a clipboard on my lap with a key attached. My results were less than spectacular. 40m went flat during the day. Most other "Bumblebees" had multi-band capability but I was limited to 40m. I got wet from the rain and so did my gear. The family came with me for the hike so I had to contend with a fidgety 2 yr old and a board XYL. The wind dropped my antenna 4 times thru the event. I was interrupted by passing hikers who wanted to know what I was up to. Once while I was in the middle of a QSO. The kid tossed her lunch in the back seat on the drive out to the highway as we zig-zag'd across 25 miles of bumpy one-lane dirt road, shared only by open-range cattle and antelope who were not even slightly intimidated by my SUV as they tried to hold their claim in the middle of the road by staring me down. What I learned for next time... -Choose a contingency location BEFORE the day of the event, and one that's closer than 75 miles from home. -Choose a location where hikers won't notice me. -Scout out the locations BEFORE the day of the event so time won't be wasted that day searching for just the right spot. -Leave the XYL and kid at home even if they beg.-Use antenna gear that'll withstand hurricane force wind.-Use a multi-band rig even if predicted MUF says the band I plan to work will be ok. -Bring some sort of shelter from rain or sun-Be SURE the gel cells hold a charge so I don't have to rip the motorcycle battery out of the bike again for the event (it worked GREAT tho'!).