Biggest E-skip opening of the year! 7/17/2026, mostly from Ellensburg and Kittitas County

[crainbebo]

I am still processing logs, don't have time to look at recordings today as I have to work 10 hours delivering for Amazon. Nevertheless...it's time for a report from the biggest E-skip opening of the season so far. This blockbuster 2 1/2 hour+ opening resulted in dozens of new stations and I surpassed *1000* FM logs from Ellensburg.
Yesterday, I drove up to the mountains and hiked my usual yearly tradition at Manastash Lake. I've been there so many times, it's 20 miles west of Ellensburg and popular with hikers and dirt bikers alike. But the E-skip made this trip many times more interesting.

Only one log made it to the *Yakima* logbook, the rest for Ellensburg/Kittitas County. Starting at 8:35AM PT:

8:35 - 92.7 KBMW Breckenridge, MN; with B92.7 ID heading north out of Selah on I-82. NEW Yakima FM #972, 6KW at 1139 miles.
8:45 - 96.5 KJJK-FM Fergus Falls, MN; with mention of Fergusnow.com. Relog, 100KW at 1168 miles.
8:49 - 95.1 KUSQ Worthington, MN; RDS match in car. Relog, 100KW at 1226 miles.

In Ellensburg
9:02 - 93.5 KITN Worthington, MN; TOH ID. Relog, 50KW at 1239 miles.
9:03 - 101.1 KCLP Luverne, MN; with Fall Out Boy and RDS "KCLP." Relog, 100KW at 1195 mi, last heard as KLQL.
9:05 - 103.9 KUOO Spirit Lake, IA; Weatherology forecast and Okoboji mentions. NEW Ellensburg FM #975, 50KW at 1257 miles.
9:05 - 103.7 KRRO Sioux Falls, SD; immediately found a 103.7 the KRRO RDS match here. Relog, 38KW at 1181 miles.
9:06 - 107.9 KELQ Flandreau, SD; with KELO AM 1320/107.9 ID. NEW #976, 21KW at 1163 miles.
9:06 - 100.1 KUYY Emmetsburg, IA; Y100 ID over KQFO Pasco. NEW #977, 16KW at 1274 miles.
9:07 - 102.3 KKQQ Volga, SD; jingle ID for K Kountry. NEW #978, 25KW at 1149 miles.
9:07 - 98.7 KISD Pipestone, MN; "A Horse with No Name" America, RDS match. Relog, 100KW at 1205 miles.
9:15 - 101.5 KCGN Ortonville, MN; with Focus on the Family, RDS match "praise fm". NEW #979, 98KW at 1125 miles.
9:17 - 90.1 KSRQ Thief River Falls, MN; Pioneer 90.1 ID over KOLU. NEW #980, 24KW at 1125 miles.
9:17 - 92.5 KTWB Sioux Falls, SD; Dairy Queen commercial, Miracle Treat Day, proceeds going to kids at Sanford Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls. Relog, 100KW at 1186 miles.
9:18 - 92.7 KGFX-FM Pierre, SD; local ads. Relog, 50KW at 989 miles.
9:19 - 93.1 KHMY Pratt, KS; new path with KHMY RDS, My 93.1. Relog, 100KW at 1287 miles.
9:19 - 93.9 KSOU Sioux Center, IA; ID. Relog, 50KW at 1207 miles.
9:20 - 94.7 KKCK Springfield, MN; RDS match. NEW #981, 50KW at 1224 miles.
9:21 - 107.3 KQRN Mitchell, SD; with KFFM on low power, this one pummeled into Ellensburg with an obituary of an appliance (or furniture) store manager in Mitchell who passed away. Station mentions too. NEW #982, 100KW at 113 miles.
9:21 - 107.7 KICD-FM Spencer, IA; midday farm/agriculture report with "Big Country" RDS. NEW #983 (prev. heard in Yakima), 100KW at 1260 miles.
9:24 - 105.1 KAOC Cavalier, ND; with Borderland weather, Manitoba references. NEW #984, 100KW at 1048 miles.
9:24 - 105.1 KARL Tracy, MN; southwest Minnesota ads mixed with KAOC. NEW #985, 45KW at 1199 miles.
*also had an unid 104.9 with a local ad, will check tape*
9:28 - 103.7 KGIM-FM Redfield, SD; RDS Pheasant Country. Relog, 100KW at 1051 miles.
9:30 - 104.7 KFGO Hope, ND; NewsRadio KFGO ID. NEW #986, 100KW at 1084 miles.
9:31 - 97.5 KDKK Park Rapids, MN; StarStation KD Double K ID by the late Ed De La Hunt...later heard with a live remote from Park Rapids. An awesome standards station and finally bagged them! NEW #987, 100KW at 1197 miles.
9:32 - 107.1 KDBX Clear Lake, SD; with ID The Hawk, mixed with other stations. Was hoping for most-wanted KMGK Glenwood, and thought I heard a format match, but couldn't confirm. Still, NEW #988, 9.9KW at 1156 miles.
9:40 - 92.9 KSDR-FM Watertown, SD; over KDBL with Watertown ads. NEW #989, 100KW at 1130 miles.
9:40 - 107.1 KNWI Osceola, IA; very strong with Life 107.1 and Christian music. NEW #990, 30KW at 1380 miles.
9:43 - 98.1 K251CX (KPHR-HD2) Milbank, SD; a nice surprise! Mixed with multiple UNIDs, Weatherology weather and "The New Star 98.1" ID. NEW #991, 250W at 1131 miles.
9:45 - 99.5 KBHW International Falls, MN; Psalm FM RDS. NEW #992, 100KW at 1238 miles.
9:47 - 100.1 KOLV Olivia, MN; with a farm report sponsored by Danube Auto Works in Danube, MN. NEW #993, 50KW at 1216 miles.
9:48 - 103.5 KRXW Roseau, MN; very strong signal with MPR News, RDS. NEW #994, 48KW at 1165 miles.
*Had an unid 89.1 that I will be posting at the top of the hour...plus another unid on 103.9, and others*

The next logs were along the forest road leading to, and then from, the initial 1-2 miles of hiking up towards Manastash Lake. I had a huge opening here in July 2020, this was very similar to it. 20 miles from Ellensburg but still counts for the logbook.

10:14 - 95.5 KAHE Dodge City, KS; RDS. Relog, 100KW at 1230 miles.
10:15 - 94.3 K232FK Brighton, CO; just a ridiculous signal for a translator...song/artist on RDS, PI match, local tree service ad...repeats KLVZ 810. NEW #995, 250W at 938 miles. And no sign of the KATS translator. It's pretty weak up that way.
10:15 - 100.3 KRDQ Colby, KS; WIPED OUT LOCAL KXAA!!! (first time EVER!), RDS match. NEW #996, 100KW at 1130 miles.
Also heard KKJQ-97.3, KSKZ-98.1, KZRD-93.9, all relogs from Dodge City, not going into detail.
10:21 - 93.7 KAZY-FM Cheyenne, WY; with heavy metal and RDS "High Voltage Rock". Relog, 25KW at 900 miles.
10:30 - 103.9 KHYM Copeland, KS; Praise & Encouragement, Steve Hamilton with a weather forecast. Relog, 100KW at 1225 miles.
10:35 - 94.5 KSKL Scott City, KS; WIPED OUT 100,000 WATT KATS YAKIMA (FIRST TIME EVER), with John Tesh, Mix 94.5. NEW #997, 100KW at 1167 miles.
10:37 - 94.7 KRKS-FM Lafayette, CO; sermon programs and The Word RDS. Relog, 100KW at 913 miles.
10:40 - 105.5 KJAC Timnath, CO; RDS match. Relog, 50KW at 892 miles.
10:43 - 103.9 KRKA Severance, CO; brief RDS match, Air 1. Relog, 16.5KW at 892 miles.
10:45 - 101.9 KIGN Burns, WY; with 101.9 King FM ID over KNHK. Relog, 50KW at 902 miles. But hasn't been heard in years and years...

 

[crainbebo]

10:47 - *assumed* 93.1 KRJN Log Lane Village, CO; heard this 20-30 minutes prior as well...sounded like an AM radio feed, with a talk or religious program in English (not Spanish music as online), and heard mentions of Sterling and some auction. Perhaps repeating KSIR-1010 now? Based on the ads, this is NEW #998, 11KW at 979 miles. Will share recording soon.
10:49 - 97.5 KSRX Sterling, CO; BOB FM ID. Relog, 38KW at 994 miles.
10:49 - 98.3 KATR Otis, CO; Kat Country RDS (no sign of Ellensburg LPFM or KEYW). Relog, 100KW at 1003 miles.
10:50 - 100.9 KNEC Yuma, CO; wiped out KARY with RDS match and an ad for a dental clinic. NEW #999, 23KW at 1028 miles.
10:50 - 104.5 KIMX Centennial, WY; as mentioned on the other thread, this was logged with an RDS PI match. And it is the 1000th FM log from Ellensburg! 13.5KW at 862 miles.
10:53 - 91.9 KTCC Colby, KS; way over KDNA with Mr. Mister song, T92 RDS. NEW #1001, 3KW at 1128 miles.
10:54 - 88.1 CKSB-10-FM Winnipeg, MB; WIPED OUT LOCAL KCWU (ALSO first time ever!!); French programming and RDS match. NEW #1002, 100KW at 1087 miles. In fact, KCWU was wiped out earlier by two stations, one religious. Intense, crazy skip!
10:55 - 88.9 KRFC Fort Collins, CO; WIPED OUT LOCAL KCSH (ALSO for the first time!); RDS match. NEW #1003, 3KW at 912 miles.
10:56 - 89.1 KGOH Colby, KS; Divine Mercy over KFAE. NEW #1004, 24KW at 1128 miles.
10:58 - 89.3 CBW-1-FM Winnipeg, MB; CBC RDS PI match, Radio One. NEW #1005, 2.8KW at 1087 miles.
10:59 - 90.1 KCFR Denver, CO; CPR News mention. Relog, 52KW at 933 miles.
10:59 - 89.9 KUWI Rawlins, WY; massive signal way over local translator. Wyoming Public Radio promo, Science Friday coming up, and TOH ID only for KUWR Laramie. I assume it's this one and not Torrington, given the ID. NEW #1006, 15KW at 769 miles. I was hoping it would shorten even more to Cody or Billings, alas it didn't.
11:00 - 90.1 KZNK Brewster, KS; HPPR ID. NEW #1007, 90KW at 1119 miles.
11:01 - 89.7 KXGR Loveland, CO; start of sermon program, GraceFM RDS. Relog, 80KW at 892 miles.
11:02 - 93.1 CHPO Portage La Prairie, MB; TOH ID. Relog, 27KW at 1049 miles.
11:03 - 94.3 CHNW Winnipeg, MB; way over KATS translator at 4800 ft. plateau, with Alt 94.3 ID. NEW #1008, 100KW at 1097 miles.
11:06 - 102.3 CKY-FM Winnipeg, MB; RDS Kiss 102.3. Relog, 100KW at 1104 miles.
11:09 - 94.7 CKLF-FM Brandon, MB; RDS, and proclamation that Brandon stands on Cree Nation land. NEW #1009, 100KW at 974 miles.
11:12 - 102.9 CFGW-FM-2 Wapella, SK; RDS PI match. NEW #1010, 14KW at 892 miles.
11:12 - 105.5 CICY Selkirk, MB; NCI FM, RDS. NEW #1011, 100KW at 1113 miles.
11:18 - 91.5 CKLQ-FM Brandon, MB; with RDS PI match over local translator. NEW #1012, 100KW at 974 miles. Caught them on AM 880 once or twice, but they are permanently on FM now.
Took a break...turned on the radio around 11:35 after Lost Lake and found more skip to Saskatchewan. It's a rare place to get skip from.

11:35 - 92.1 CHMX-FM Regina, SK; RDS PI match, HarvardMedia.com. Relog, 100KW at 782 miles.
11:36 - 91.7 CBK-FM-3 Yorkton, SK; classical music, RDS PI match. NEW #1013, 57KW at 870 miles.
11:38 - 91.3 CJTR Regina, SK; Access, CJTR ID. NEW #1014, only 480 watts at 779 miles.
11:39 - 94.5 CKCK-FM Regina, SK; wiped out KATS AGAIN!! Jack FM, with Tom Petty, RDS PI match. NEW #1015, 100KW at 782 miles.
11:41 - 94.1 CFGW Yorkton, SK; Cruz FM ID. NEW #1016, 100KW at 885 miles.
11:42 - 92.7 CBWY-FM Jackhead, MB; with stand-up comedy skit, RDS PI match, CBC Radio One (not Brandon MB, which airs CBC Music). NEW #1017, 40.32KW at 1107 miles.

Then it finally faded...but not before the tropo enhancement...which resulted in three MORE new logs: 104.7 K284BW Moscow ID (Jack FM, KHTR-HD2, only 100 watts at 191 miles), 94.1 K231CU Spokane (KJRB The Bear, 99 watts 176 miles) and 102.3 KICR Coeur D'Alene with CDA ads...only 172 watts at 192 miles! Looked for 106.7 in Sandpoint, as well as Montana FMs. No sign, unfortunately.

Tons and tons and tons of audio coming. What an event.