July 15 through the 18th, 2025
Monterey, California
July 15th, 2025
As I approached Monterey northbound on the Pacific Coast Highway, “PCH”, on a lazy downhill descent my breath was taken away. Monterey is nestled on the northern bay formed by the Monterey Peninsula. PCH was framed in the verdant green of the trees and other foliage highlighting the dazzlingly beautiful blue waters of the bay contrasted by the white sands of the beach. I had not expected this view, and it came as a surprise. This was my introduction to the spot I would become somewhat familiar with in the next few days.
My hotel was in the downtown area of Monterey where curving streets, double yield signs, one-way streets, and unexpected zigzags made for a challenging driving experience. As expected, the area has a pronounced Spanish flavor, with shops and eateries blending into a somewhat common motif. That said, the London Bridge Pub at Fisherman’s Wharf was quite a surprise. And what was even better was their Fish & Chips. I substituted the chips for a bowl of clam chowder. The meal was great, and the fish was awesome!
US-3539 Point Lobos Reserve State Conservation Area
July 16th, 2026
Early Wednesday morning I left the hotel to get some breakfast and hopefully get to the park before too many visitors showed up. The first park I went to was closed so, I came to this one. It was also closed, but I was going to wait the thirty minutes for it to open. The wait was worth it as I was the first visitor to the park, which afforded me a most primo parking spot in which to set up. I was quite aware of the nature reserve status of the park.
The road to the parking area meandered through what seemed an old forest, with knurled trees at odd angles and others straight and tall. Once I parked the car, I immediately chatted with some park staff about setting up an antenna. Explaining my intentions and getting an “okay” from three staff members, I put up my 35-foot mast with the CHA 40-10 EFHW antenna. Needless to say, it did draw some attention. I tied off the antenna to a metal fence, or boundary marker, marking the limits of the walking paths. Once again, I checked with the park volunteer working at the nearby kiosk. Getting the thumbs-up again, I went about my activation.
The spot was beautiful. It overlooked a small cove, one side of which was defined by a rocky protrusion into the waves. Here I could hear the seals hidden from view by the outcropping. The air was heavy with moisture as one could feel supper-fine water droplets hitting your skin. The sky had a heavy overcast with the occasional seagull making an appearance. A beautiful hawk captured my attention as it silently flew above amongst the sounds of seals and waves.
I set up my station in the usual manner and began calling CQ. In over thirty minutes of calling CQ I had one QSO. Remarkably, I got a hunter whose callsign I verified a couple of times, it was HA9RE, Elemer, from Hungary! No one else. I then changed frequency because someone else started calling CQ over top of me. I continued until a gentleman visiting from India struck up a conversation. As always, I take the time to chat with folks who stop by. Once he left, however, I started using FT8. I was running FT8 for over 30 minutes without a single contact! I could not believe this, but indeed Mother Nature was not going to let me talk to my friends.
Amazing, I can talk to Eastern Europe, but not across the US, from the edge of the Pacific Ocean no less. Mother Nature is fickle! My initial plans of activating three parks on this day were dampened. I still wanted to visit two other parks so I QRT-ed. I’ve been here for about two hours with only a single bite–it was time to move on.
US-6452 Carmel River State Park
July 16th, 2026
This was the first park I went to and found it closed as I was an hour early. So, I went to the second park on the list first. Now I’m on my first park second. Abbott and Costello anyone? The Carmel River empties into a shallow lagoon prior to the flow opening up into a wider bay. There was a markedly stronger breeze here, and where I did not listen to Mother Nature.
While setting up my antenna, the CHA MPAS 2.0 in the vertical configuration, a couple of gentlemen approached me incredulously asking if that was a fishing rod. “I don’t think so,” responded one. “It’s too long even for fly fishing.” I was a bit too far from the shore for fishing anyway, and the conversation turned to ham radio. They were somewhat familiar with the subject. Then the questions started. VHF? UHF? Short wave? All their questions answered, and a little more chit chat, I was back to finishing my set up.
Once again, my radio was on 20 meters. About ten minutes into the actual activation, I was recording my process when Mother Nature reminded me who was boss. That breeze which I spoke about earlier, suddenly became a strong wind. As pretty as you please, Mother Nature took her pinky and knocked over my Pocket 3 camera onto the hard pavement. I remember looking at my camera on the ground, momentarily frozen into inaction. That thing was expensive. Screen broken. The camera part was in free motion around its three axes. I put it back in its case, as if that would solve anything, and continued my activation.
My continued attempts at activating mirrored that of the earlier park, minus the contact. I am now hungry and started thinking too much about food and the camera. This is my own fault, the camera that is, as I should have put the backpack on the legs of the tripod. I’ve done it before so why did I not do it this time? Stupid human trickery and not focusing cost me $800
By the time I packed up and checked my surroundings, it was early afternoon, three-ish maybe, so I headed back to the hotel for a shower, went out to eat, and relaxed by licking my wounds.
US-3479 Monterey State Historical Park
July 17th, 2026
The next day I went to a breakfast place in Seaside, a suburb of Monterey. Wait…this area is conglomeration of small towns, none of which is big enough to have suburbs. Whatever… The area is once again covered in a heavy marine layer blocking out the sun. It’s kind of like a blanket, giving the area a cozy feel. Once I was done, I went to old town Monterey to see the historic park. Now the park takes up several city blocks, but from what I could tell, those blocks are not contiguous. Not only that, but parking was on city streets. I managed to find parking less than forty meters from the spot I set up.
The grounds are immaculately kept, and knowing the persnicketyness of our historical park, I decided to use the AX3 antenna. Setting up was easy. I was in a circular garden with a low wall and benches that provided me with a makeshift bench and table. Keeping things simple, logging was going to be via paper and pencil. And off I went calling CQ. Of course, being out in the open I drew attention and so had stares and visitors.
No, I am not a scientist taking field readings. I did, however, chat with a couple who were interested in ham radio and explained the POTA program. About fifteen minutes later they left as I then continued to cast my RF net. I managed to contact AB6SV, Dan, responding from Oregon. As cool as that was, he was my only contact. I was also restricted to time as my two-hour parking time limit was ending. In all, I think I was there for about an hour and a half before I needed to get back to the car. Coincidentally, I was directly across from California’s first theatre—man, that place is small!
US-3477 Monterey State Beach
July 17th, 2026
That said I drove over to Monterey State Beach, which by the way had free parking. Arriving at noon, I was lucky that I found parking right away. Later in the day, people were using their Costco training as they were “sharking” for a parking spot. To actually activate here, I needed to get on the sand. Backpack on, I carefully walked to the only bench in the area. It was next to the lifeguard stand and had a gentleman in a brown coat sitting there. I asked him if he minded me sitting there to which he said, “not at all.”
I started setting up my gear again using my AX3 antenna. I would use my computer for logging but found that the reflection was too much and I ended up putting it away. Paper logging it is! I was calling CQ POTA around 1230. By now the sun had beat back the marine layer, so much so that I left my jacket in the car because it was warm. So now I’m on the beach about forty meters from the crashing waves facing a strong offshore, cool wind. In some cases, the wind and waves made it hard to hear the speaker, let alone QSB and QRN. But onward I went.
Eventually, I was able to make three contacts as I was slowly losing the war with thermodynamics. Once again, I was at it for a couple of hours on different bands with nothing else to show for my efforts. I slowly packed up my gear, walked back to the car, lit up a cigar, put my jacket on, and went back to the edge of the sand to enjoy my smoke. While there I chatted with a prior marine. We exchanged war stories for about an hour or so before I left.
My Last Day
July 18th, 2025
My drive back home took a little over six hours. I stopped at Camp Roberts, my most common training area, when I was in the National Guard. It brought back memories, and I even got a memento from the post PX. Actually, I traced the route back to Los Angeles my unit usually took after a weekend of training or our annual two-week romp in the field. I had a lot of time to think as I realized I had an average of 1.25 contacts per park. That’s right, four parks visited with a combined total of five contacts. Needless to say, there was no activation.
All was not lost. I visited some beautiful parks, had some wonderful views, ate some good food, and enjoyed the quaint, historic beauty of Monterey. As I am writing this, between pauses, I checked out the camera to figure out how bad it was. I am happy to say that, although the screen is kaput, the camera seems to respond normally. I can control it through my cell phone which is the normal operating configurations anyway!
There is always tomorrow. Ciao for niao…
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