POTA from a private park?

Apologies for the clickbait title :-)

I have been writing many posts about how much warmer than normal this winter has been here in Southeast Michigan. I have been enjoying many activations in the relatively warm weather. Well today winter came here with a vengeance! We had our first snowstorm of the year overnight; we experienced anywhere between 4 to 8 inches of thick wet snow. 

Today after clearing up the snow, I had to drop my wife off to work and pick up some pet supplies that were running low. My journey would take me close to my favorite park: K-1518, Maybury State Park. So I decided to stop by and have a go.

Before leaving, I checked VOACAP for propagation and noticed that 30m and 20m were the best bets for the time of the day. This suited me fine as I can get a good match on my JPC-12 for those bands.

After dropping my wife off and picking up the pet supplies, I headed towards the park. The drive up there was much slower than usual.  The roads were being cleared and were drivable. But, high winds created some squalls and near white out conditions. Surprisingly, almost all drivers were sensible and I did not encounter any spinouts.

Marginal driving conditions on the way to K-1518

When I finally reached the park, I was happy to note that there was a snow plow clearing the parking areas. I found that I had the park all to myself; in effect my own private park. I found a place that was already cleared and set up for the activation. The snow plow had piled up the edge of the parking lots with snow, which made setting up my antenna a little tricky. I had to climb up on piled snow and plant the antenna. The winds were howling; I was glad to get back into my car and begin the activation.

All alone in the park; my own private park...

 

I started off with 30m and got the required 10 contacts within minutes. When the contacts started dying down, I switched to 20m and worked several more stations mostly on the eastern side of the continent. I did manage to work a few stations for the first time. When I get back home I find that these are newer CW operators. I am glad more are entering the fray.

A warm car makes even a bleak view enjoyable!

At the very end of the activation, I tried to prove VOACAP wrong. I switched to 40m and put out calls. I got just two responses in about 15 minutes; both gave marginal RSTs for my signal. Well sometimes going contrarian pays off; that was not the case today. Time for me to pack up and head back home for a warm meal. 

Is a public park on which you are the only one a private park? It at least felt that way for me today!