An Un-Mother's Day

For once, Mother decided to take the day off and just be Susan. We spent time with our kids and grandkids on Saturday (Aimee had to work on Sunday), because we had an ulterior motive......time alone...outdoors...on a beautiful day!

David, after many years of thinking and planning and thinking some more, has decided to pursue his dream hobby....fly-fishing. He has been studying the local streams known to have abundant trout populations. How nice that one of them is in our most favorite area in Ohio--the Hocking Hills region.

We started early and packed a picnic lunch, including treats for Lucy. Then we filled the SUV with fishing equipment, a folding chair and a book for me, sunglasses and hats, and the dog, and headed for the hills. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

After David fished again in the afternoon, we were both tired and hungry and it was time to head home to our own little patch of woods. It was a good day.

Hiking in Mohican State Park

On Sunday, David and I finished up his vacation week (spent working at home) with a trip to Richland County, Ohio and Mohican State Park. The Clear Fork of the Mohican River joins up with the Black Fork to form the Mohican River which is dammed to form Mohican Lake. Below the spillway, the river cuts through a 300-foot-deep gorge which was formed 12,000 years ago by the melting glacial waters of the Ice Age, creating magnificent sandstone outcroppings and steep cliffs. The Clearfork Gorge has been designated a Registered National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service partly because of its towering hemlock trees and a stand of virgin white pines. The park was once the hunting grounds of the Delaware Indians.

There are 13 miles of hiking trails in the park and an additional 32 miles in the adjacent Mohican-Memorial State Forest. There are also 8.5 miles of mountain bike trails which can be used by hikers. Work continues to expand this to 24.5 miles. There are a number of bridle trails which was evident by the scores of horse trailers we saw parked in the designated areas.

We only managed to hike about 3.5 miles on this trip, but parts of it were very rigorous and, if it had rained recently, would have been nearly impassable. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, perfect for hiking.

We started our hike with food. We had brunch at the Mohican Lodge.

 

Where the dam forms the lake. We parked here to start our hike.

 

The down-river side of the dam.

 

An uprooted hemlock tree. Now, if I had been a smart photographer, I would have had David stand beside it to show how huge it was, but I'm not that smart. Yet. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that the root system was at least fifteen feet across and the tree itself was probably 75 feet tall. I'm just guessing here, so don't quote me.

 

Big Lyons Falls which only had a trickle of water as it was fairly dry in the area. There is also a Little Lyons Falls, but I couldn't get a good picture because of the dense vegetation.

 

A sandstone rock carved by the waters coming from the waterfall and also some human carvings as well.

 

The Clear Fork draws a lot of fly fishermen. This young man wasn't having much luck. Fly fishing is a sport that David intends to explore when he retires.

 

The covered bridge where the trail loops back around. It seems to attract a lot of Harley riders.

 

After finishing the loop trail, this is what we faced to get back to the parking lot at the top of the dam. Yikes!

 

This is the view from the top where I was resting, and by that I mean trying not to die from a heart attack. The little speck you see on the right is a nine-year-old girl running down the hill in flip-flops!! And, yes, it is just as steep as it looks!

 

I hope you enjoyed this part of our day. Tomorrow I will take you on a little tour of an historic farm in the same area.

Hiking in Conkle's Hollow

Sunday was a perfect day for hiking in Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve, which is part of the Hocking Hills region in southeastern Ohio. We left home early and were surprised to find that the parking lot at the entrance to the hiking trail was nearly empty. Normally this time of year on a weekend, one would be hard-pressed to find a parking spot on the grass, much less on the pavement. We guessed that the high gas prices were keeping the usual crowd closer to their homes. Indeed, it was our first visit to Hocking Hills this year. It is a fairly long drive for us, about one-and-a-half hours. If this had been like other years, we would have already been there three or four times.

Conkle's Hollow is one of our favorite hiking spots. It's fairly challenging and when you're on the Rim Trail, the views of the rock outcroppings are amazing. The Gorge Trail, which is wheelchair accessible, is awe-inspiring. My neck always has a crick in it from looking up at the sandstone cliffs, some of which are 200 feet high. These pictures are ones taken on the Gorge Trail.

We found that after completing both trails, we were more than ready for our picnic lunch of bison summer sausage and crackers. Our legs were a little rubbery after the hike. Boy, are we out of shape! Everyday walking on flat land doesn't prepare you for climbing steep hills. We finished up at the local flea market and antique mall and had our supper at the Route 33 Diner, then headed home full of fresh air and sunshine and the smell of the hemlock trees still clinging to our clothes.