K-0594

Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge

The Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge is located along the west side of US-97 a few miles south of Toppenish, WA. It is managed for wildlife and not people, and it shows. There’s parking and a honey-bucket, but not much in the way of amenities. There is ranger station that appears to me mostly unused with a modest grassy area, but if you want any tables or seats, you’ll need to bring them yourself.

With the onset of fall weather, I decided to try operating from the cab of my F-150 pickup. My hope was to get shelter from the wind, and if I could park in the sun, enjoy some passive solar greenhouse warming. That part worked out quite well, but the physical layout needs some refining. The center consoled seemed to be generously sized until I actually tried to operate on it. Suddenly, it shrunk mysteriously and developed potholes to swallow up gear. There wasn’t really a flat spot to rest my key, nor was there really room to log comfortably. I made it work and had good success, but after an hour my back was twisted and tired. I think I can do better.

Once again, I began my activation by looking for P2P opportunities, finding a couple with little trouble. And once again, I forgot to try again at the end of my session.

One other small lesson learned is that I need to throw a few garbage bags in my kit. There was a fair bit of litter near the place where I parked and I was sorry not to have a bag handy so I could leave the place a bit cleaner than I found it. As soon as I got home I added a few trash bags to my go-kit, so that’s a mistake I hope not to repeat.