3-18-06
Start: Lake Logan Rd. (BT)
Destination: Cedar Falls (BT)
Miles: 17.3
Weather: Pretty nice! Sunny and cool
We walked our way back to the trail and headed on out. It was a good morning. I was quiet in thoughts almost all morning, so mom and I hiked in silence for a while. The sun was out and we were moving some morning wildlife. I saw my first deer this year with antlers. It had just a little rack - maybe 4 or 6 small points. He and three others ran impressively up a huge hillside through the woods, tails flashing. We also saw some rabbits, squirrels, a heron, geese, and some other little critters.
The trails we were on today were fun. We had some road walking, but mostly trails. They went up and down and curved around. We stepped over some fallen trees, and forded some small creeks. We started getting into some beautiful country, too. I was told that the Hocking Hills area in Ohio is nice, and it sure is. There are all these huge rocks covered in moss except where the constant trickle of water squiggles down and plops into a pool below. Lush forests, caves, streams...
And it only got better. We got to the top of a hill where two backpackers were resting. Wow, our first run-in with hikers on the backcountry trails! I don't think it's quite peak season for camping yet with these cold night temps (high teens, low 20s for tonight). But these two guys were out for a long weekend. It was nice to take a short break and talk about the trails and our hike.
Then we got to a repelling area -- oh, if I only had more time!! I'd have loved to scale down the edge of some of those cliffs! We had to work our way around a huge group of young repellers - there were probably 5 or 6 ropes we had to walk around, but we didn't mind. It was fun to watch. When we got to Old Man's Cave, I couldn't believe all the people that were there! Then I remembered it was Saturday. But still! We walked right in and onto the trails like we knew exactly where we were going. It's a very touristy area, so there are several trails meandering through the gorge, caves and waterfalls. But we didn't get turned around at all! Oh, happy day! We shot straight on through with a couple of stops for photos. When we got more towards Cedar Falls the trails got really difficult for a backpacker. The rock was straight up one side and the river was right on the other. So we had to do a little scrambling, and we were getting tired because it was toward the end of our day! We got through without falling in the river. Whew!
When we got to the parking area, we ran into a couple of day hikers from Cincinnati. Jim and Becky were both very knowledgeable about the Buckeye Trail and the ADT! It was so great to run into them. They even offered to put us up for a night when we come through their area - how wonderful! So maybe we will meet up with them again.
Tomorrow we hope to finish up the Old Man's Cave section of the BT, or at least get pretty close. It's really getting cold, and I can't feel my fingers as I chicken-peck away on this tiny keyboard, so I'm going to crawl into my sleeping bag with my dryer sheets and get warm!
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