From the Lake Hope State Park website:

Lake Hope State Park offers a truly relaxing, yet rustic getaway from the high speed of modern life. The entire park lies within the Zaleski State Forest in the valley of Big Sandy Run. The park's heavily forested region is marked by steep gorges and narrow ridges with remnants of abandoned mining and iron-producing industries.

The park surrounds the lake and boasts a wooded family campground and a variety of cabins for families and gatherings of all sizes, including the roomy Laurel Lodge. No visit to the park is complete without a stop in the dining lodge for a hearty meal.

From the Zaleski State Forest website:

The 27,822-acre Zaleski State Forest is the second largest forest in Ohio's system of state forests.

Zaleski State Forest operates the only state-owned sawmill in Ohio. The mill produces rough sawn lumber for use by Ohio’s state forests and state parks as well as other government agencies.

Historic Moonville Tunnel is located within Zaleski State Forest on the Moonville Rail Trail right-of-way.

Pictures

Eric's station
Little Theo-dog sleeps

Description

On Saturday, January 15, 2022, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park and Zaleski State Forest in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited Keeton Cemetery within Lake Hope State Park on a cold but sunny afternoon to perform his two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park and Zaleski State Forest. Eric was accompanied by his small dog, Theo.

Eric arrived at Keeton Cemetery at about 1813 UTC, parked his car, walked Theo, and quickly set up his 28½' wire vertical on his Jackite 31' telescoping fiberglass mast and drive-on mount, and set up his KX3 inside his car. Eric was on the air at 1821 UTC.

As at his previous visits to Keeton Cemetery, Eric found he had sufficiently-strong cell-signal to allow him to use the POTA Spots website (link) to spot himself and to look for possible park-to-park (P2P) QSOs.

Eric began operations by looking for P2P opportunities and almost immediately made a P2P QSO on 20m with AB9CA who was activating Saguaro National Park (K-0060) in Arizona.

Finding a frequency to run on 40m, Eric's first QSO there came at 1829 UTC with WB2FUA in Pennsylvania. QSOs came slowly at first, but then more rapidly, with Eric's twenty-third QSO on 40m coming at 1856 UTC with N4RKK in Florida. This run included a P2P QSO with K3RTA who was activating Silver Run State Wildlife Area (K-7651) in Delaware, QSOs with Eric's friends K4SWL in western North Carolina and K8RAT in central Ohio, and QSOs with operators in Tennessee, Virgina, New York, West Virginia, Michigan, Connecticut, Missouri, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and New Hampshire.

Finding a frequency to run on 20m, Eric's first QSO there came at 1901 UTC with W0JAZ in Utah. QSOs came steadily, with Eric's sixth QSO in this run coming at 1908 UTC with KC4HCH in Alabama. This run included QSOs with operators in Oregon, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, and Alabama.

In all, Eric made thirty QSOs, including two P2P QSOs, in just under an hour. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at the 5-watt level.

Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for Lake Hope State Park, KFF-1968.

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