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'!).