Fall Explorations
The prospect of a long weekend with no classes on Friday proved irresistible and off we went to appreciate fall coloration and explore unusual rock formations.
Our first stop was Mohican State Park where we had reservations in the lodge. We arrived after driving winding roads from Bellville south of Mansfield, altogether about 75 miles from Tiffin. Our room was spacious yet simple and rustic with large dark beams in the ceiling, colored leaf prints on the wall, and built-in oak furniture. Outside the sliding doors was a small private balcony. Already a smattering of bright maple leaves littered its floor. The maples were a blaze of color just beyond.
We were pleased to accept the off-season thirty percent discount that was allowed when we showed our Kroger card. The staff was very pleasant. Our young waitress who lived just across the lake declared that even though waiting on tables was getting old, she wouldn’t trade her job for one in a big city. She appreciated having her kin folks around close by and feeling she was in a safe environment.
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the dining room frame a tranquil view of Clear Fork Lake and the trees that surround the lodge and lake. We watched birds and squirrels come to the feeders as we ate our breakfast. The gray squirrels seem a little leaner than the fox squirrels in our backyard. The fireplace with its tall burnished copper hood invited us to linger longer, but we had trails to walk and trees to admire.
Later that day we drove over rolling roads that made us wonder if our car was going to sail off into space before the hill descended. The fall coloration appeared to be at its peak. These are not roads for people in a hurry, but they are very pleasant for sightseeing. Most of the crops had been gathered in and Halloween decorations were interesting in their variety. Pumpkins and apples were for sale in many yards.
Our destination was Hocking Hills State Park which has as many cliffs, gorges, and waterfalls as you will find anywhere in Ohio. There are cabins and a dining room in the park, but we stayed in a motel close to Lake Logan, a large inviting impoundment of water close to U. S. Route 33.
The only incident that marred our trip was a call on the phone at 4 AM. It rang twice and a southern sounding voice said, “Hello, how are you?” I quickly hung up and on the next ring took the phone off the hook. That was unsettling.
The next day was cloudy, but not cold and we set off to explore the underpinnings of the earth. At Ash Cave, a paved easy walk from the road, a waterfall sprays 90 feet down from the roof of the cave which is really a wide hollowed out overhanging sandstone ledge. We were among the grandparents who were content to watch parents and their children climb the steps up to the rim and peer over the edge.
The Civilian Conservation Corps has made the trails leading into the gorges easy walking. Most of the trails have stone steps. On the floor of the terrain known as Cedar Falls, we gazed up at huge boulders and steep cliffs and walked along the narrow valley to the waterfall. It is hard to imagine how such a thin stream of water could hollow out grooves in the rocks. The early inhabitants called this area Cedar Falls, but in fact all the evergreens in the valley are hemlocks.
The most numerous massive rock formations are found in the area known as Old Man’s Cave. There, massive rock formations and hollowed out sandstone cliffs overhang a quiet stream. In 1997 that stream became a raging torrent and destroyed most of the bridges across the stream. It even bent steel girders supporting one of them. The state park service rebuilt them the following year. One of them is a cantilevered bridge formed of a series of concrete slabs. Small tunnels were bored through some of the formations along the trail for easy access.
People of all ages were there for an afternoon of easy walking. Families were taking pictures of their children, who scampered up rocks and waded through shallow pools. One photogenic spot was a hollowed-out hole up about six feet from the floor of the gorge. The three children who sat there reminded me of the three monkeys who heard no evil, saw no evil and spoke no evil. Water swirled in another formation in the stream known as the Devil’s Bathtub.
On Sunday morning we went on our last hike at Cantwell Cliffs. There is a gigantic overhanging horseshoe shaped cliff with a sheer drop-off of 150 feet. The trail into the gorge appears to end shortly after it begins, but off to one side a huge crack appears between a steep wall and a massive boulder that has broken loose from it. Narrow steps between them lead down to the bottom of the cliff. We climbed down gingerly, our hands touching both sides of the rocks. The deep overhanging recess is said to have been used by Indians as winter shelter years ago.
Our trip home was over faster roads, U.S. 33 to Lancaster, around Columbus on Route 270 and home on U.S. Route 23. All in all, our trip was a pleasant break in our everyday schedules.
– Mary