I arrived at 7:30am, only to find that the gates didn't open until 8:00. I managed to work the special events station on 20m, and was listening on 15m when I was informed that I was leaking antifreeze. I think I just filled the tank too full. Here's a picture of all the cars waiting in line.
Once I got through the gate, it was another 20 miles or so to the actual site. Once at the site, I stopped by and visited the amateur radio club that had set up the special event station. Near the gate was the largest piece of Jumbo, a giant steel container which was placed near the blast.
After a few minutes of chatting, I walked over to ground zero. The actual bomb was suspended from a tower when detonated. One footing of the tower is all that remains, as the rest was vaporized by the blast. An obelisk was constructed where the tower once stood.
Around the border of the original crater, a chain link fence was put up to keep the tourists from wandering too far. Along that fence were pictures and signs about various historical tidbits about the development of the bomb.
A tractor trailer had a 'Fat Man' on it, which was similar to the one used against Japan during World War II.
The blast was so hot that it transformed some of the gypsum-derived sand into a glass, which is called trinitite.
Then, the all-out craziest part of it all was that I ran into my friend Shomir, from Virginia Tech, who was out with his father touring the site.
