Day 5b: Hocking Hills to Zanesville

Note: this is a continuation of Day5: Chillicothe to Hocking Hills.

It's so hard to leave the tranquil beauty of the Upper Falls, but after playing in the water for a while we press on. Btw, getting soaking wet is the absolute best thing to do when you're hiking on a hot day. It'll help you stay cool for a long, long time.

You actually have to walk through the Old Man's Cave (so named for a man who once lived there, although no one seem to know just where) area again to get to the Lower Falls when walking from the Upper Falls. Quite a ways too!

Can't pass the tiny twin waterfalls without taking another picture.

I found an opening in the rocks was just begging to be climbed.

It's a very quiet walk along a gentle stream that runs between towering cliffs.

Shortly before reaching the end of the trail there's a very strange spot called the Devil's bathtub, where the rushing water has gouged out a bathtub shaped depression in the rock. Sounds like a swell place to relax, but it's actually very dangerous (and hard to take a decent picture off, sorry).

Although not as nice as the Upper Falls, the Lower Falls are quite picturesque. Like I said it's quiet too, but the bridge connecting to the two sides of the rim trail is a bit of an eye sore.

We cross the little bridge at the top (eyesore or not, surely this must be the quickest route ...) and voila, we find ourselves at the other end of the parking lot.

Conkle's Hollow Nature Preserve is technically not park of Hocking Hills SP, but it is listed on their brochure so we follow to walkway to the end and then continue to the uneven trail to a trickle of a waterfall at the end. Compared to the other areas this one's a bit of a letdown, but at least we learned to how differentiate between cedar and hemlock and we spotted this cute red bird and.

Who needs a Stairmaster when you can hike Rock House?!

The steps are narrow and uneven on a steep grade, but we make it all the way to Rock House where once again there is no signage. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ohio’s parks, but the trails are often poorly marked, and so we trudge past the main attraction all the way back to the parking lot before we realize we missed it.

It's one of those places that if you just steal a glance at it, it really doesn't look like much of anything.

But then when you take your time it's simply breathtaking ...

I waited for the other people to leave, which was just as well because it lets your eyes get adjusted to the light and you find the most amazing colors. If you look closely at the picture you can see a tiny opening in the rock with a pigeon on its nest.

After a good long while we say goodbye to the pigeons in Rock House, but not before my sandaled foot slips off a rock right into a puddle of emulsified pigeon poop. Ewwww!

By the time we get to Cantwell Cliffs we’re pretty pooped -- me literally, Sandy physically  -- so she waits at the top while I descend down Fat Woman’s Squeeze, a tiny set of uneven stairs wedged between two cliffs. Can't say it was really worth the effort.

For dinner we drive to nearby Logan and sit down to a scrumptious meal at Millstone BBQ. Wow, that seriously is THE best turkey I have ever had!! What a blessing to spend our last night in Ohio dining on their patio and talking about what we enjoyed most on this trip. And did I mention the turkey? I'm drooling just thinking about it now.

We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow so instead of finding a hotel in Logan we head over to Zanesville, which is a little bit closer to home. Can I just say, what a friggin' scary drive!? :-o OMG, those winding roads were bad enough in the daylight, but at night it's a whole other animal.

Anyway, obviously we are not lying in a ditch somewhere so did manage to get us to the hotel in one piece, but it was quite the experience.

Day 5a: Chillicothe to Hocking Hills

Yes, there is also a post titled Day 5b ... simply too many pictures to choose from. If that's not a sign of a great day I don't know what is!

Since we have all day to visit the Hocking Hills we decide to make a side trip to nearby Hopewell Culture National Park.

Hopewell Culture doesn’t wow its visitors with natural beauty, but with fields of mysterious mounds built by the Hopewell Indians. They are not particularly beautiful, but the history behind it is fascinating. One of the many unsolved mysteries of the world!

They were painting the theater when we were there, but they had a lot of interesting displays in the onsite museum, as well as a short, interactive movie. Also I got my National Parks passport stamped, woohoo!

The best part of our visit was talking to a guy who was excavating an area next to one of the mounds (you can see the white canopy he was working under on the left in the picture above). Would drive me crazy in a matter of minutes, but it was very interesting to hear what they’re looking for and how.

The roads to our destination for today are absolutely crazy! Before we left I’d wanted to research scenic back country roads, but I needn’t have worried. For more than an hour we wind our way up the mountain, down the mountain, and back again. No way to speed through there because the road constantly twists and turns and you frequently can’t see around the next bend, plus some of the time we have to drive on gravel roads again. This vacation has definitely turned out to have some of the best scenery as we’ve driven from place to place!

Just after 11 o’clock we start our exploration of Hocking Hills State Park. The park is divided into 6 distinct hiking areas and since we happen upon Ash Cave first that’s where we’ll start.

Coming up on Ash Cave from the gorge trail, you can walk up a small incline at the beginning of the cave to get this interesting view. It almost looks like a scale model with a little fake tree doesn't it?! But as you can tell by the tiny people in the picture it's a real tree and it's not little either.

Ash Cave is the largest recessed cave east of the Mississippi. Here's a picture from another angle.

You can barely make out the waterfall in the picture above, just a bluish discoloration. There are signs all over the park telling people not to swim or wade in the water. I'm not sure what that's all about?! Bunch of parents were crazy about keeping their kids out of the water so even though I was aching to get in the water I just stepped from stone to stone until I stood under the waterfall ... that doesn't count, right?

This picture shows the (trickle of a) waterfall more clearly:

It’s a short drive to Cedar Falls, a nice waterfall that splits in two as it cascades down, before joining again and emptying into a small pool at the bottom. But first there are some more steps to go down!

The pretty falls, note again the lack of people in the water.

I had to do some pretty challenging boulder hopping to get this next picture; Cedar Falls emptying into the basin as seen from the side.

Random shot of the river leading away from the falls.

And another close up of a miniature waterfall along the way.

Old Man’s Cave is the park’s main attraction, but there’s much more to see here than just the cave. It's hard to pick one area of the park as my favorite, but this one's definitely high on the list because of its diversity.

There is yet another tiny waterfall tucked away in the corner.

 There are also a couple of narrow tunnels you have to pass through.

Old Man’s Cave has its own "Man of the Mountain", the profile of a sphinx (on right, partly obscured by a tree unfortunately).

Right near the Sphinx is an area where water slowly drops down from an overhang and if you look to the ground you'll notice how the rock has blackened and worn away under the constant dripping.

From Old Man's Cave you can hike to both the Upper and Lower Falls. We haven't heard word one about either of them, but since we both love waterfalls it's not something to miss.

One of the cute stone bridges.

Upper Falls is probably the nicest fall in the entire park and one of the reasons why I loved Old Man's Cave. How ridiculously gorgeous is that?!

A lot of people are wading here so I can’t resist stepping under the waterfall. Instantly soaked and it feels so good!

Side view:

And a close-up

Continued in Day 5b: Hocking Hills to Zanesville

Day 4: Charm to Chillicothe

Great night’s sleep tonight! Being at the Inn is a like being pampered; soft sheets with a quality comforter and a mattress that feels like a cloud. Don't get me wrong, the other hotels have  been fine, but it's such a nice change to stay at a B&B.

The horses have to work this morning so unfortunately we won’t get to see them at all, but it was still more than worth it to spend the night here. There's some pictures of them in our room, so here's one to give you some idea of what it would be like.

Breakfast is served in the sunroom overlooking the duck pond and the pergola. There’s some kind of hash brown casserole with cheese and bacon on the hotplate and various delicious pastries. Yummy!

Yesterday’s Amish country experience was a bit disappointing, but we’re hoping to make up for that today by going to Yoder’s. We drive through Guggisberg village ... very weird.

Charm is supposed to have to highest concentration of buggy traffic of all of Holmes County and indeed we run into lots and lots of buggies on the way. How neat is that?! I think it helps too that the Inn was a bit off the beaten bath so you have to drive over tiny back roads to get back to "civilization".

When we get to Yoder’s we get the package deal so we can do all their attractions. There’s a tiny gray-striped kitty on the gravel before the gift shop. What a cutie pie! It loves attention and judging by the white paint on its coat it also loves to help out around the house. When we try to go into the gift shop the kitten runs inside with us so I have to scoop him up and drop him back off outside and he just relaxes in my arms. I honestly don’t know how I managed to leave there without getting him!

The first part is a tour of two real Amish houses. Our host is a young girl whose dad left the Amish, but still has close ties to the community so it’s great to hear all her stories.

We start in the vegetable garden, where glass jars are resting on the fence post where the sun helps sterilize them. You'd think it wouldn't get hot enough, but if you look closely you can see that the wooden posts are burnt underneath!

The Amish live very simple lives without electricity, cars or many other modern conveniences. Most of what they own is other homemade including the clothes and the finely crafted furniture.

The boys and the girls have their own bedrooms:

No one lives in the houses currently, but some of the Amish women come to bake in the kitchen during the daytime. At the end of the tour you can buy the cookies that they’ve baked today and boy are they tasty!

No picture of the Amish girl baking, because their religion does not allow pictures. Or faces on dolls for that matter ... a little bit creepy though if you're not used to it.

The next part is the big red farm tour, which really isn’t all that interesting, but you can pet all their animals so that of course I do like. There’s everything from tiny ponies (for the children to practice driving) to big Percherons to work the land, cows, goat, sheep, chickens and puppies.

Next up we get to go on a buggy ride around a track at the other end of the property. Our amicable Amish driver is quick to introduce Pearl, “the best horse here at Yoder’s” and tell us stories about horses and driving a buggy.  I couldn’t believe how smooth the ride was, or how quickly it was over! I would have loved to go for a ride on the road and listen to more of his stories.

There goes Pearl again!

We stop back at the gift shop for a quick stop, which ends up taking wayyyy too long so by the time we get into the car it’s already too late to make the horse drawn boat tour. Bummer, but we’re having a great time so we won’t dwell on that.

There's actually a hitching post at the local thrift store!

After a quick stop at an Amish tack store, the antique mall and a home accent store we pack our new purchases in the car and head towards Columbus through the rolling hills of central Ohio.

There’s a really cool science museum in Columbus that explains complicated scientific concepts in easy, hands-on ways, so children (and adults) can have fun while learning.

It’s already late when we get to COSI so we don’t have time to really explore, but that’s okay; I’m there for one reason only … to ride the world’s only public high wire unicycle!! Look at me go!

From Columbus we drive directly to Chillicothe where we have come to watch Tecumseh, an outdoor drama about the Indian presence in Ohio. The optional pre-show buffet is pretty bland, although the mashed potatoes and chicken gravy are super!

They won't let you take pictures of the show unfortunately and it's hard to put into words the awesomeness that is Tecumseh. How did a little city in the middle of Ohio get to be home to such an enormous production?! It has to be one of the most elaborate sets ever and best of all there was lots of horse action – they would actually canter right past the end of our row, all while riding bareback. At one point, one of the actors actually swam his horse across the river!! What an amazing experience!

Tired but happy we checked into the nearby Best Western.

Breakfast: Guggisberg Inn
Lunch: cookies at Yoder's
Dinner: Buffet at Tecumseh

Day 3: Port Clinton to Charm

Not wanting to lose too much time we set the alarm for 8am so we can go back to the mainland on the first ferry of the day. There’s no one at the docks when we get there so we walk over to Frosty’s and get breakfast to go. Most people are probably still sleeping off their hangovers so it’s still very quiet on the island. We sit down in De Rivera Park from where we can watch the marina while we eat.

There are only 4 other people on the entire upper deck on the way back. What a luxury! I try to strike the pose of a filthy rich heiress enjoying a leasurely cruise, but it's actually very uncomfortable to put your legs up on the reilings lol.

We pick up the car from the lot across the street and drive straight to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. After trading a dehydrated biker a bottle of water for directions we make it to the visitors center. There’s a short trail to the Blue Hen Falls, with an overlook at the end.

It doesn’t take long before I spot a faint trail down the mountainside and we scramble down the mountain to get a better view.

And because it doesn’t count unless you get wet ... 

The rock is very interesting here, lots of little layers on top of each other.

Close up of one of the tiny (3") falls after Blue Hen Falls

Getting back to the top isn’t much easier than coming down.

Cuyahoga Valley is very spread out so we have to drive to get to Brandywine Falls. They are a lot larger than Blue Hen Falls, but to me less interesting because we can only view them from a wooden walkway.

The ranger at the Boston Store visitor center recommends we also visit the Ledges area so that's where we'll go next. Thunder rumbles in the distance when we set out, but we soldier on undaunted by the threat of nature. How bad could it be!?

The magical woods start to look more like something out of a horror movie as darkness looms over the forest. I wish my camera didn't correct for the darkness so you could see it the way we saw it!

The ice box is a small cave where the temperature is cool year round. Amazingly you can even feel the cold draft coming up from the cave when you're just walking past.

It had started to drizzle a bit earlier, but now the sky opens up and it’s pouring, pouring, pouring. Thunder and lightning is all around us and the rain is so cool it causes a dense mist to hang between the trees. Absolutely perfect conditions to shoot a Hitchcock movie, but less perfect for hiking so we decide to wait it out for a couple of minutes … and a couple more … and just a bit longer …

When the rain slows down the littlest bit we leave the cold shelter of the Ice Box and head back to the trailhead. There’s a short trail to the Steps so I jog the other direction while Sandy proceeds to the shelter.

Completely drenched we pile back in the car and drive to the small town of Canal Fulton. We were really hoping to go on a horsedrawn boat tour, but unfortunately they're closed on Mondays. Not sure if they would do it with the rain anyway ...

I snap a few more pictures with the other camera, but we don’t feel much like walking around in the rain so we keep driving towards Amish country.














Rolling hills dotted with farms … definitely heading in the right direction.

A horse and buggy! We have arrived!

Matching crazy caution sign. To be honest, it’s kind of scary to watch the horse and buggy’s driving on the side of the road with cars zooming past them going 50 miles an hour. Those are some seriously bomb proof horses!

It’s only 6pm, but we’re both starving so after much consideration we decide to try Der Dutchman, only to find out they’re closed due to a power outage. The cashier at the gift shop across the road recommends their sister property in Sugarcreek so we decide to give it a try even though we haven’t read any reviews. (You can probably tell where this is going …)

Typical Amish country sight; lush green fields, a red barn and a horse and buggy.

There’s a nice wraparound porch, but things take a downhill turn from there. Instead of a rustic, real Amish dining experience we find ourselves in a buffet similar to any large buffet in America. The salad bar is pretty good (they use locally grown fresh produce), but the selection is limited and the rest of the food can only be described as mediocre at best.

I’m really bummed about dinner, but while we’re there we pick up a brochure for a B&B in Charm, called Guggisberg Swiss Inn, where horses roam the property. Unfortunately we haven’t gotten to see the horses yet because they’re inside because of the storm, but the gorgeous inn and countryside alone are reason enough to stay here.  

Breakfast: Frosty’s
Dinner: Dutch Valley in Sugarcreek
Lodging: Guggisberg Swiss Inn