We started in the state park area and basically just did the main loop around the pond (EDIT: actually, not the short loop that just goes around the edge of the main lake, but the longer loop that goes back through the marshes and ponds to the
northeast), including a few detours and spur trails, totalling maybe two miles. The parking area had a porta-john and the admin building was closed up and looked completely disused. The trail was obvious and easy to follow in all but one or two areas, but it was not well kept - fairly overgrown with grass (if I go again I will know to wear long pants) and several of the bridges/boardwalks were in pretty bad disrepair. The worst section was a little stream crossing right before the first natural pond (the main lake at the parking lot is man-made) where there was no obvious path and there was only a few remains of an old wooden bridge. Still, overall it was a nice trail, and not at all what I would call difficult. Very much more secluded than at Nelson-Kennedy last week - after we left the main lake we didn't see anyone else on the trail. The natural ponds had a cool swampy overgrown feeling, and the surfaces were covered in green plants and algae. We saw more wildlife too - lots of frogs and toads; geese, including fledglings, on the main lake; a great blue heron; a snake; and at least a half dozen different other birds. Melissa seemed pretty out of it, so we didn't go back and do all of the rest of the trails. After we got back, we rested for a few minutes and I had lunch in the picnic pavilion while Melissa played on the swingset! The map of the park I downloaded was decent enough, but it is tough with a map like that without more detail. For instance, when we were finishing the trail coming back to the parking lot from the west side, the end of the trail was actually gravel road. But this wasn't marked at all on the map, so I got confused for a while trying to figure out what the map was calling a trail and what was a road. It turns out that those gravel roads are the trails (there are two leading to different trails). It was a moment when it was clear to me just how useful a GPS would be - but I will write more about GPS's later.
The second half of the hike was in the nature preserve area, which starts from a different trailhead a couple miles down the road, with a small parking area. This trail was much more well kept with wider paths and newish boardwalks - again I think we totalled something like two miles (EDIT: The Hiking Ohio book lists this complete hike as 2.75 miles). A couple hundred yards from the trailhead there is a little information post with pamphlets that include some interesting detail about the area and a decent trail map. The trail starts with a deciduous/conifer forest area, but quickly gets to the ponds, marshes, and wetlands that are the main feature of the preserve. The wetlands are really beautiful. Along the path there are several cool small ponds, but there are several places where you can see the exanse of open marsh for half a mile or more - especially at the far southern tip of the trail and the observation deck built just off a small eastern spur trail. It's really a shame that the signs of civilization are so close, however - a railroad track marks one edge of the swamp while on the other side the back of a strip mall is visible. We saw dozens of cool bird species, including a beautiful green heron (see picture) from just about 30 yards. There were also a couple of great blue herons (although we never got closer than a hundred yards or so), geese and wood ducks both with fledglings, an eastern kingbird, a gray catbird, a cardinal, a few red winged blackbirds, and plenty of other smaller birds that I can't identify. I saw one soaring bird from about a quarter of a mile, which kind of looked like a northern harrier, which makes sense because they like swamps, but they are supposed to only be around in the winter - I dunno. We also saw frogs, turtles, fishes, a raccoon, dragon flies, butterflies, and unfortunately plenty of mosquitoes and buzzing bugs. There were several beautiful wildflower species, my favorite being some bright yellow flowers growing from the lily pads (Melissa was getting pretty worn out by this point, so she didn't get me a picture of them). There is a small spur loop trail that goes to a pond that is supposed to be a beaver pond with a lodge (Lonesome Pond), but other than some stripped and gnawed trees, we didn't see any signs of the beavers or the lodge- but then again we don't really know what to look for. With all of the wildlife, I got good use out of my binocs. Overall, this was my favorite trail of the season so far.
This was also our first chance to try out our new packs. They are definitely a little heavy filled with water, but the packs are well designed and do a great job of distributing the weight well. I also brought along my binocs, emergency kit, and a sandwich, and had plenty of room for a sweatshirt or whatever had I needed it. Melissa fit her camera with room for a few extras as well. After the hike we both still had 1/2 - 2/3 of our resevoirs full of water, and neither of us felt that we conserved in any way. This bodes well for longer trips when we will need to carry that much water.
My boots were feeling quite good again. While my feet were definitely getting sore by the end, I could tell they would have been a lot worse without the good boots. The only even slight problem was just a little bit of pinching in my right little toe - but its possible that I was just imagining it since me feet hurt in general. Had we been doing an all-day hike, it would have been about time for an hour or so to sit down, eat lunch, and let our feet air out.
As usual, all of these pictures are Melissa's. I should note, however, that I blew up the green heron picture quite a bit, even though she generally disapproves of such "cheating". I say it's using your equipment to it's full capabilities!
No comments:
Post a Comment