This has to be one for the record books…Most engineers drive to their transmitter sites in a truck.  Some take a snowmobile or snow cat when a truck won’t make it through.  Others can only get to their transmitter sites with a helicopter.

Sometimes we just have to do things the old fashioned way out here in Wyoming…By Horseback!

Late last week, I received a call that our site on Copper Mountain (91.3, KUWT) was off the air.  The transmitter was on but there was no audio.  This could be caused by one of several things, the most likely being the satellite receiver or dish.

We had just suffered a severe snow storm and all of the roads around the state were closed.  On Friday, we were finally able to get out on the road again but had no way to get up to this particular mountain top.  Copper Mountain was snowed in and would be until about April or May.  There was no snow cat available to get to this particular site.

Our Program Director keeps horses and offered to help us get up to the site by means of horseback.  I decided to take him up on the offer.  Since I was busy fixing ANOTHER one of our transmitter sites that went down during the severe weather, I sent my assistant up to the mountain with him.

They left for Thermopolis (the closest town to the mountain) on Saturday.  On Saturday evening they boarded the horses for the night and headed for the hotel.  Sunday would be a full day of riding up the hill to the site, fixing the problem and then riding back down.

Getting ready to unload the horses for the evening…
“Buck”, a gray Percheron gelding pokes his head out of the trailer

Horses comfortably boarded for the night at the Bar None ranch near Thermopolis.

The next morning, Reid and Roger headed out from Thermopolis for Copper Mountain.  The road through the canyon was icy in spots but they managed to make it through.

Icy roads through the canyon…

Finally arrived down at “Birdseye Pass”…Gateway to Copper Mountain.

Heading up the road to the site as far as possible with the truck and trailer…

Looks like as good a place to unload as any…

Reid unpacks the gear (tools, spectrum analyzer, spare satellite receiver)

“Pepa”, a light bay mare hauls the equipment

Reid starts up the trail on Buck.  Major drifts!  The truck wouldn’t have made it through this…

Almost there…Lots of wind!

Roger rides Billie, a dark coffee colored mare while guiding Pepa up the trail.

Up at the site, horses hitched to the tower.
Standing next to the building gives them some relief from the driving wind.

Roger stands outside the shack with the horses.

Look at the ice on the tower…Brrrrr!

Reid starts investigating…No signal on the satellite receiver!

The dish had blown off point…
Reid adjusted it while Roger gave him signals from inside the shack.
It was literally so windy that they could not hear each other.
A series of “whoop” signals was used instead.

Success!  Time to get out of this icy wind…

BRRRRR!!!!!

Finally…Heading back down.  Plenty of drifted snow on the trail!
At least the skies are starting to clear up…

Loaded up and on the way back to Laramie.

Thanks to Reid Fletcher and Roger Adams for a bit of Wild Wild West engineering!  When all was said and done, it was a 2 hour ride up the hill, 2 hours at the site and another 2 hour ride back down.  This doesn’t even include the 10 hour round trip to Thermopolis from Laramie…