From the Limberlost website:

To famed Indiana author Gene Stratton-Porter, the Limberlost Swamp was the perfect playground, laboratory and inspiration for her acclaimed articles, fiction and photographs. At a time when most women were homemakers, Stratton-Porter created a lasting legacy of northern Indiana's vanishing natural history through her writings and photos. In the 25 years that she lived at Limberlost, she wrote six of her 12 novels and five of her seven nature books, including the best-selling "Freckles" and "A Girl of the Limberlost." An estimated 50 million people worldwide have read her works, and many of her novels were produced as motion pictures.

Born in 1863 near Wabash, Indiana, Geneva Grace Stratton grew up with a passion and love for the unspoiled outdoors — a love she kept throughout her life as a respected author, naturalist, photographer and illustrator. After the birth of her daughter, Jeannette, Gene and her young family moved in 1888 to Geneva, near the Limberlost Swamp — an area once described as a "treacherous swamp and quagmire, filled with every plant, animal and human danger known — in the worst of such locations in the central states."

Stretching for 13,000 acres the vast forest and swampland was legendary for its quicksand and unsavory characters. The swamp received its name from Limber Jim, who got lost while hunting in the swamp. When the news spread, the cry went out "Limber's lost!" The Porters lived here until the swamp was drained in 1913.

Pictures

The State Historic Site sign
Eric's station inside & outside the car
The Visitor Center
"In Memory of..."
Two views of Limberlost Cabin: 1 | 2
The stables
A directional sign
A whimsical carving

Description

On Sunday, March 9, 2025, one member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team performed a successful activation of Limberlost State Historic Site (US-6975) in Indiana as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA; link) program.

While enroute to Chicago for a work conference, Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, performed his activation of Limberlost State Historic Site in the Visitor Center parking lot, his wife Vickie, who has long enjoyed of the works of Gene Stratton-Porter, toured the Visitor Center, Limberlost Cabin, the stable, and the grounds.

Upon arriving at Limberlost, Eric first spoke to the state historic site staff who, it turned out, were well familiar with Amateur Radio and Parks on the Air, and gave Eric permission to operate within the site.

The Visitor Center.

Eric chose to set up his station in the nearly empty parking lot and, although the outside temperature was pleasant, to operate inside his car for protection against the gusty winds. Deploying his no-counterpoise 29' end-fed Zepp as a vertical supported by his 31' Jackite telescoping fiberglass mast in a drive-on base, and mounting his Elecraft KX2 on his car's passenger-side dashboard, Eric was on the air at 1709 UTC.

A contrasty snap of Eric's KX2 station inside his car.


Eric's mast and antenna in front of Limberlost Cabin.

Eric had good cell-signal and would be able to spot himself on POTA Spots (link) and to use POTA Spots to identify possible park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

During this operation, ionospheric conditions were to be unsettled, with deep fading present on the bands. The solar indices at the beginning of the operation were SFI=148, SN=73, A-Index=21, and K-Index=4.

Eric began his operation on 20m. Finding himself a clear frequency to run, Eric began calling "CQ POTA" and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. His first QSO came at 1714 UTC with NP3K in Florida. QSOs came steadily, with Eric's tenth QSO (and a validated activation) coming at 1728 UTC with stalwart hunter KJ7DT in Idaho. This run included a QSO with I4JED in Italy, a P2P QSO with KC2DWG who was performing a two-fer activation of Hot Springs National Park (US-0038) and Gulpha Gorge National Recreation Area (US-7441) in Arkansas, and QSOs with operators located in Arkansas, Florida (4), Idaho, Iowa, Minesota, and Missouri.

Switching to 40m, Eric found the band to have an S3 to S5 buzz. Nevertheless, he found a clear frequency, began calling "CQ POTA", and self-spotted himself on POTA Spots. His first QSO in this run came at 1733 UTC with K8MH in Michigan. This was followed at 1739 UTC by a QSO with W2FN in New York.

Eric finished his operation by hunting for P2P QSOs. At 1746 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with K4NYX who was activating Savannas Preserve State Park (US-3654) in Florida. At 1749 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with AD4GN who was activating North Peninsula State Park (US-1905) in Florida. Finally, at 1752 UTC, he made a P2P QSO on 20m with WB4IT who was activating Oak Mountain State Park (US-1049) in Alabama.

In all, Eric made fifteen QSOs in about forty-five minutes of on-air time. All of Eric's QSOs were CW and were made with five watts output.

Following her guided tour of the site, Vickie told Eric that Limberlost Cabin was beautiful inside. Unfortunately, she hadn't thought to make any photos, so Eric wasn't able to experience the tour vicariously through her photos or to share them in this report.

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