by William Eric McFadden
From the forest's website:
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Whether you come to ride APVs (all purpose vehicles), go horseback riding, hunt, or just visit, you will have an enjoyable forest experience. Perry State Forest features 4,706 acres in Perry County with 24 miles of hiking trails, 8 miles of bridle trails, and 16 miles of APV trails. Much of Perry State Forest was strip mined for coal prior to existing reclamation law, resulting in very rugged, sometimes barren terrain. Since the state acquired the area in 1961, some reclamation has been accomplished, including a large area along County Road 48. Several reforestation and test tree plantings have been established on the forest.
The Perry APV area is the most popular public riding area in Ohio. Miles of challenging trails are open. Picnic tables and latrines are provided at the parking area. The APV area at Perry State Forest is closed from the second Monday morning in December until the first Friday morning in April.
Perry State Forest has a very scenic day-use bridle trail system. Parking for horse trailer rigs is provided along County Road 48. The Miles Lake water is suitable for horses.
The diversity of forest cover encourages a variety of wildlife species and hunting opportunities.
Pictures
Description
On aturday, December 23, 2023, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team
performed a successful activation of Perry State Forest in Ohio as part of the
Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.
While waiting for his daughter at a gathering in New Lexington on an unseasonably warm but rainy mid-Winter day, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, visited the APV area within Perry State Forest for an activation.
Eric arrived at the APV area at 2010 UTC to find the parking area gated and locked, with a sign indicating that the area is closed for the season. Since Eric was well within the state forest boundaries, and since there was space outside the gate for his car, Eric chose to stay at that APV area for his activation. Working quickly in the rain, and while trying to avoid the worst of the mud, Eric deployed his 28½' wire vertical on his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast on a drive-on base. Mounting his Elecraft KX3 on his car's dashboard, Eric was on the air at 2018 UTC.
Despite an S5 noise floor on the band, Eric chose to start his operation on 20m. Finding himself a frequency to
run, he began calling CQ and was quickly auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO came at 2019 UTC with
K0YY who was performing a POTA two-fer activation of North Toledo Bend Wildlife Management Area (K-6589) and
Sabine National Forest (K-4416) in Texas. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric's thirty-third QSO coming at
2051 UTC with W8TK in Arizona. This run included QSOs with operators located in Texas (3), Missouri,
Connecticut (3), Washington, Massachusetts (5), New York (3), Michigan, Florida (6), New Hampshire, Colorado,
Mississippi, Wisconsin, Ontario, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Maine, and Arizona.
Having received a text from his daughter that she was ready to be picked up earlier than anticipated, Eric ended his operation without hunting for P2P QSOs or changing bands.
In all, Eric completed thirty-three QSOs, with two P2P QSOs, in just over half an hour of on-air time. All Eric's QSOs were CW and were made at the 5-watt level.
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