US-6984 Black Hut WMA

Over the weekend I activated two wildlife management areas, one in Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts. I'd never really paid much attention to WMAs, but POTA has really brought them to the top of my list for both ham radio and general hiking. In both states the WMAs are built for access by hunters, trappers, and hikers, so there aren't any amenities and often very limited parking. There are maintained trails but many are small, overgrown game trails. These spaces are so beautiful and relatively untouched, it's such a shame more people aren't out enjoying them. It's really the mountain- and dirt-bike enthusiasts who lay down most of the trails I walk on around here, a tip-o-the-hat to you.

Saturday's excursion was to US-6984 Black Hut WMA tucked up around the northern border of Rhode Island, just east of Burrillville. It's a very large area surrounding, but not including, Spring Lake, a popular summer 'beach' spot. At the trailhead there's parking for about a dozen vehicles. I hiked in about 1.2 miles, looking for inspiration. Just over a mile in I ran into a cool abandoned dug-out building, it was empty inside but had a compact floor and a fireplace that had been recently used.

Not far from the hut I ran by chance into a 19th century granite quarry with a 50-60 foot drop to the bottom. There are so many quarries in this part of New England! Many were slate, and often small, used for local needs. This one is a large granite quarry with several tiers ending in a deep pit. The ledge I was on was around 550 feet, and I decided to set up on the lip overlooking the quarry below.

I hoisted my 20m hamstick dipole onto a nearby branch, about 12 feet in the air. I hoped that the overhang would give me a bit of a boost. It was a quick setup, I adjusted the whips, hoisted the coax, and it was off to the races. I thought it would be cool to try a wire antenna with the far end floating on a balloon over the quarry, but, alas, no balloons in the pack today.

I am convinced that sitting in Rhode Island adds +3dB to my signal. There was a fun pileup to work through, including a moment where I was working two stations simultaneously – they both thought I was talking to them, so they sent over each other, but I was able to copy both and basically gave them the same signal report. It was pretty weird! If I could only bump that up to three or four simultaneous contacts my QSO rate would skyrocket!

Like a lot of the beautiful spaces around populated areas, this one has evidence of humans, like the hut, and the quarry itself. I climbed down to the bottom and was sad to see many of the walls covered with graffitti, but then thought that it had its place, too. This view is looking up from the bottom, in front of the pit. The antenna is on the pin to the left of the top line in this shot.

I ended the activation with just over 30 QSOs, most on CW. I usually end up firing up a site around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and on 20m I have a pipeline into the midwest at that time of day, so the log is full of 8s and 9s and the random DX. A few days ago I was out much later and definitely noticed the shift westward in propagation at that time of day. To be fair, an earlier activation means that the west coast folks might still be having breakfast and not paying attention the the radio.

And here's the operating position. I set up so that I could get a nice view over the ledge. This view is looking back into the woods from the rock I was sitting on.

It was really starting to feel like fall this time out, no more shorts and a t-shirt!

ID: US-6984 Black Hut WMA
Location: Burrillville RI, Providence County
Activation date: 28 September 2024
Activated by: W1GRD