- Outbound:
- Activation:
- Inbound:
by William Eric McFadden
From the Moonville Rail Trail website:
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This 10-mile rail trail takes visitors through the beautiful woodlands of southeast Ohio, including Zaleski State Forest; the communities of Zaleski and Mineral; and the Lake Hope State Park wetland areas. The corridor holds water on both sides of the trail, creating a wetland area that is home to numerous species of flora and fauna.
Additional points of interest along this trail are two unique and historic tunnels. King’s Hollow Tunnel (also known as King Switch Tunnel) is a 120-foot structure carved through the rock and lined by a series of 12x12 wooden beams. The Moonville Tunnel is brick-lined and has a long history of train accidents, earning the tunnel a reputation for being haunted.
From the Lake Hope State Park website:
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Though the roar of the iron furnaces no longer echoes through the hills of Vinton County, there are many reminders of days gone by at Lake Hope State Park. Situated at the northern edge of Ohio's Hanging Rock iron region, the park reflects the rich history of southeastern Ohio's industrial past. Built in 1853-54, the Hope Furnace processed the iron ore extracted from the region’s sandstone bedrock. The iron resulting from the ore smelting process was used to produce many different items including ammunition and cannons for the Union Army during the Civil War. Hundreds of men labored, cutting timber, working the furnace, and driving teams of oxen hauling iron ore to the furnace. Charcoal fires, needed to fuel the furnace, were tended 24 hours a day. So much wood was required for this process that the surrounding hillsides were almost completely stripped of their timber.
At the height of the Hope Furnace’s production, Ohio was one of the nation’s leading producers of iron. As time passed, iron ore was discovered farther west, and Ohio’s reputation as a major iron producer waned. The Hope Furnace shut down in 1874, after only 20 years of operation. By 1900, nearly all the major furnaces in southern Ohio were shut down. Today, the Hope Furnace chimney and some of the foundation are all that remain of the structure. Near the chimney, one may find pieces of slag, the cast-off residue from the smelting process. These pock-marked, glass-like pieces have now become a part of the forest floor.
The forest we now see is one that has grown back in place of the primeval forest that once stood hundreds of years ago. For a time, coal was an important Vinton County export. Many mines tunneled into the hills and large quantities of coal were transported out utilizing ox-drawn coal cars, and later the railroad. Most of the mines were abandoned early in the 20th century. Lake Hope Forest Park was created in 1937 by the Division of Forestry. The lands became Lake Hope State Park in 1949 when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was created.
From the Zaleski State Forest website:
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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
Description
On Sunday, September 20, 2024, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful bicycle-portable simultaneous activation of Lake Hope State Park (US-1968) and Zaleski State Forest (US-5455) in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.
Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed his bicycle-portable two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park and Zaleski State Forest on the Sunday of the Parks on the Air Fall Support Your Parks Weekend.
Eric began his bicycle ride at the Moonville Rail Trail trailhead in Mineral, Ohio at 1632 UTC, when the temperature was about 73°. While the Moonville Rail Trail itself is very smooth, the rail trail is still missing two bridges west of Moonville Tunnel, and Eric was forced to detour onto the hilly Hope Moonville gravel road for about a mile before rejoining the Moonville Rail Trail. Upon reaching the intersection with Wheelabout Road, Eric left the Moonville Rail Trail and detoured onto Wheelabout Road to Hope Schoolhouse to take advantage of the available facilities. Leaving Hope Schoolhouse, Eric rode a short distance on Wheelabout Road and Shea Road and entered Lake Hope State Park at the recently re-built dam. After pausing to admire the view of Lake Hope from atop the dame, Eric continued his ride to the main park entrance and climbed the long hill up Park Road 9 to the picnic table near Keeton Cemetery, a location where cell-signal is available.
Approaching King's Hollow Tunnel.
The entrance (outbound) to King's Hollow Tunnel.
The exit (outbound) from King's Hollow Tunnel.
The entrance (outbound) to Moonville Tunnel.
The exit (outbound) from Moonville Tunnel.
Lake Hope as viewed from atop the newly re-constructed dam.
Anglers fishing Lake Hope as view from atop the new dam.
Eric arrived at the picnic table near the Keeton Cemetery area at 1735 UTC to find the picnic table to be unoccupied. For this activation, Eric had brought his KH1 Micro Travel Kit, and he had felt comfortable enough with the Elecraft KH1 and the contents of the tiny KH1 Micro Travel Kit that he had not carried a back-up station with him for this outing. Eric deployed the KH1 Micro Travel Kit's ad hoc EFRW as a 35' sloper, with the high end supported atop his modified Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast bungied vertically to his bicycle, placing the 13' counterpoise directly on the ground pointing away from the radiator. Setting up his KH1 on the picnic table, Eric was on the air at 1744 UTC.
The view from Eric's operating location.
Eric's KH1 station.
As he had expected, Eric had good cell-signal at this location and he was able to verify that he was spotted on the POTA Spots website (link) and could use POTA Spots to identify possible Park-to-Park (P2P) QSOs.
Eric began his operation on 20m and, while trying to find himself a frequency to run, heard KX0R calling CQ. Eric anwered him and was rewarded with a QSO at 1745 UTC. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and was quickly auto-spotted on POTA Spots. Eric's first QSO in this run came at 1748 UTC with K9FHG in Missouri. QSOs came very quickly, with Eric's twenty-first QSO in this run coming at 1811 UTC with NO4DE in Tennessee. This run included a P2P QSO with KG2MM at Jennings State Forest (US-4625) in Florida, a QSO with OH1MM in Finland, and QSOs with stateside operators located in Missouri, Florida (2), Arkansas, Tennessee (4), Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, Illinois, Maine, Virginia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ontario, and New York.
Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1817 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with Illinois QSO Party participant K9I at Carlyle Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area (US-4114) in Illinois. At 1821 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with W2NR at Pawtuckaway State Park (US-2672) in New Hampshire. Finally, at 1822 UTC, he completed a P2P QSO on 20m with WJ0L at Birch Lakes State Forest (US-4785) in Minnesota.
Eric tore down his station, repacked his bicycle, and began the ride back to Mineral, detouring to view Lake Hope and to again visit Hope Schoolhouse.
Hope Schoolhouse.
The entrance (inbound) to Moonville Tunnel.
The exit (inbound) from Moonville Tunnel.
Fall color along the Moonville Rail Trail.
Approaching King's Hollow Tunnel.
The entrance (inbound) to King's Hollow Tunnel.
The exit (inbound) from King's Hollow Tunnel.
In all, Eric completed twenty-five QSOs, including four P2P QSOs, in about thirty-seven minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with a power output of five watts.
As at previous operations with the station, Eric was very pleased with the performance of his KH1 Micro Travel Kit. The KH1 transceiver is a dream to operate, the ad hoc 35' EFRW deployed easily on the Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 carbon-fiber mast and the KH1 could match it easily on all the bands he had tried it on, and the Whiterook MK-33 single-lever paddle worked well as a table-top CW paddle. Eric needed nothing he hadn't packed as part of the KH1 Micro Travel Kit—the mast and paddle excluded, of course. This activation was Eric's third bicycle-portable operation with the KH1 Micro Travel Kit and it was first one in which he hadn't also carried the KX2 Mini Travel Kit, and Eric's legs appreciated not having had to carry a second complete station.
Eric also submitted his log to the World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio (WWFF; link) program for an operation at Lake Hope State Park, KFF-1968.
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