For my first VHF contest I operated QRP Portable from Bald Peak near Hillsboro, Oregon (CN85). I know the location from my SOTA activations.
The best thing about the weekend was the great weather - it certainly got chilly at 1600 feet after the sun went down but it was dry and warm enough inside the van with the sun shining - the entire effort would have been a lot less fun in the rain.
The rigs used were an FT-100D for 6, 2 and 0.7m and an Alinco HT for 125 and 33cm FM. Antennas were a two band, 2m/70cm 3 el/5el yagi on a paint pole at about 17 feet AGL with a homebrew Moxon below that for 6m. At the top of the Armstrong-rotated pole was a 125/33cm dual band HT whip - a Diamond SRH229. I splurged on low loss feedline and I'm glad I did.
I enjoyed the pace of the contest - it was mellow enough to have a nice chat with rovers when they dropped by and not to worry about sharing RF space with them. Still I was able to make many more contacts that I hoped - a total of 183 after dupes into a total of 14 different grids.
I could hear many more than I could work - even on CW my 10W did not make the grade many times. Best DX looks to be VE7JH/R on 144 CW - at about 230 miles I was delighted to get CN78.
Thanks, thanks and more thanks to those that gave me good advice from the Pacific Northwest VHF Society and all those that worked me for the contest. It was a great time.