4th July visit to Clear Creek Metro Park

We visited Clear Creek Metro Park on July 4th to get at least a little bit of hiking in before we left for our trip to the Canadian Rockies. Cycling does a lot for one's cardiovascular fitness, and the quads, but we needed some uphill/downhill boot time for training!

It was a great day to be there. Where there was sun, the butterflies were everywhere:
And, as a real treat, a hermit thrush was giving a serenade. The hermit thrush passes through Ohio heading north towards upper Michigan and Ontario, but nesting pairs have been known in the hemlock ravines at Clear Creek -- look at the two Ohio dots on this map -- and this one wanted to let us know he was there. Here's a clip, with apologies for the amount of background 'hiss' that my point-and-shoot camera picks up:


Clear Creek is a great park, and since the Lancaster bypass has opened, it takes us only 45 minutes or so to get there.