Many thanks to Eric (WD8RIF), who shares the following field report via his website WD8RIF.com:

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by Eric (WD8RIF)

On Saturday, November 4, 2023, I performed a successful bicycle-portable two-fer activation of Lake Hope State Park (K-1968) and Zaleski State Forest (K-5455) in Ohio as part of the Parks on the Air (POTA) program.

On a beautiful and warm early November afternoon, I bicycled the Moonville Rail Trail, on what used to the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad (wikipedia article) right-of-way, from the tiny village of Mineral, through Zaleski State Forest, diverting from the rail trail near Lake Hope to ride to the Mountain Bike Trailhead overlooking Lake Hope within the state park, for my two-fer activation of the state park and state forest. I was carrying my KX2 Mini Travel Kit on the bicycle, and I was pulling my little dog Theo in a trailer behind the bicycle.

From the Moonville Rail Trail website:

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 12×12 wooden beams. The Moonville Tunnel is brick-lined and has a long history of train accidents, earning the tunnel a reputation for being haunted.

After parking my car at Mineral, I began my ride on the leaf-covered Moonville Rail Trail at 1645 UTC and soon encountered the first landmark of the ride: the 120′ long, timber-lined King’s Hollow Tunnel.

Riding through the very dark tunnel and continuing west on the Moonville Rail Trail, I soon came to a succession of ponds. Rumor has it that a pair of nesting bald eagles fish these ponds, but I have yet to see them.

Continuing west, and now being well inside Zaleski State Forest, I soon came upon the brick-lined Moonville Tunnel.

After passing through the Moonville Tunnel, I was forced to divert from the Moonville Rail Trail and follow a gravel road before re-joining the Moonville Rail Trail about a mile further on. (When CSX abandoned the rail line in the early 1990s, they took everything: rails, ties, ballast, and all the bridges. Two of the bridges west of Moonville Tunnel have yet to be replaced.) I was pleased that my new narrow knobby bicycle tires were reassuring on the rough gravel road, but I can’t say Theo in the trailer enjoyed this portion of the ride much.

Back on the Moonville Rail Trail, and continuing west, the rail trail was almost 100% leaf-covered.

As I approached Lake Hope, I diverted from the Moonville Rail Trail onto smoothly-paved asphalt roads, first riding a short distance to check out the historic Hope Schoolhouse, before continuing to the Lake Hope State Park entrance on SR278.

Not wanting to pull the dog trailer up the long hill to Keeton Cemetery or Grouse Point–locations where I know good cell-signal is available–I selected as my operating location the picnic area at the Mountain Bike Trailhead, a location I was pretty sure wouldn’t have cell signal. I was able to do this because I had previously announced my activation on POTA Spots so that I would be auto-spotted on POTA Spots as soon as I started calling “CQ”.

Here’s my bicycle ride from Mineral to Lake Hope State Park as captured by Strava:

Upon arriving at the Mountain Bike Trailhead, I discovered that I actually had just enough cell signal to alert my buddies Mike, K8RAT, and Thomas, K4SWL, that I would be beginning my activation in a few minutes. Unfortunately, this text was the last text I was able to transmit out of Lake Hope State Park, and I certainly didn’t have enough cell signal to use POTA Spots to spot myself or to look for park-to-park (P2P) QSO opportunities.

Unloading my KX2 Mini Travel Kit from my bicycle, I set up my Elecraft KX2 on a picnic table. I deployed my Tufteln 35′ end-fed random wire antenna as a sloper, with the top of the 35′ wire supported on a Goture Red Fox Super Hard 720 [affiliate link] carbon-fiber mast bungeed to my bicycle, and with three 17′ counterpoise wires arrayed more-or-less symmetrically on the ground. I was on the air at 1814 UTC.

I began my QRP CW operation on 40m by finding myself a clear frequency to run and beginning to call “CQ POTA”. Almost immediately, my KX2 beeped and displayed the low-battery warning. Fortunately, I was able to plug externally connect a second, charged, battery and continue my operation.

I appeared to have been auto-spotted on POTA Spots because my first QSO came at 1818 UTC with K9IS in Wisconsin. QSOs came steadily on 40m, with my fifth QSO coming at 1827 UTC. This run included a short break so that Theo the freelance-therapy-dog could provide some love to passing hikers, and it included a P2P QSO with KG8HZ at Brownstown Prairie State Wildlife Area (K-6636) in Michigan, a P2P QSO with AC1NM at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (K-0321) in Massachusetts, and QSOs with operators located in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Switching to 20m, I found a clear frequency to run, began calling “CQ POTA”, and was again auto-spotted on POTA Spots. My first QSO in this run came at 1841 UTC with W1ZU in Vermont. QSOs on 20m came quickly, with my twelfth QSO in this run coming at 1854 UTC with NA9J in Florida. This run included a two-fer P2P QSO with NE2CZ at High Point State Park (K-1619) and Appalachian Trail National Scenic Trail (K-4556) in New Jersey and QSOs with operators located in Vermont, New York (2), Washington, Florida (2), New Jersey (2), Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina.

In all, I logged seventeen QSOs, with four P2P QSOs. All of my QSOs were CW and were made at 5 watts output.

I took some photos, tore down the station, and re-packed the bicycle for the ride back to Mineral.

The ride back to Mineral started with a second stop at Hope Schoolhouse to take advantage of the available facilities, after which I re-joined the Moonville Rail Trail to ride east to Mineral.

Here’s my bicycle ride from Lake Hope State Park to Mineral as captured by Strava:

Back at the car in Mineral, while I was unloading the bicycle and trailer, Theo and I were visited by a pair of goats.

In all, I rode almost fourteen miles, nearly all of which were on gravel and a carpet of fallen leaves, while carrying a complete HF station and while pulling a dog in a trailer, in a bit under two hours of riding. The KX2 Mini Travel Kit rode well on the bicycle and I was pleased with how well the narrow knobby tires performed on the gravel.

(For more about how I carry my KX2 on the bicycle, and for links to reports on bicycle-portable and pedestrian-portable operations I’ve performed with the KX2, visit my page about the KX2 Mini Travel Kit.)

[Readers: Eric likely has the most extensive archive of QRP field reports in the world. Click here to browse 29 years (!!!) of his event reports!]