Travels with Serge and Jeanne: sanctuaries and serpents

The next morning, Wednesday, we gathered our walking gear and drove down to the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, part of the Arc of Appalachia.

Our first stop was the Appalachian Forest Museum, where we received an engaging overview of the role of temperate forest in the world and in the eastern United States from director Nancy Stranahan. She also gave us an overview of the exhibits at the museum. (None of us took any pictures inside the museum, for which I apologize!)

Then we set out to do some gentle leg-stretching on a couple of the trails that start and end at the museum. Here our group is looking down as we cross one of the many ravines entering the Rocky Fork gorge.

Glancing the other way ...

Joan leads the way down to Rocky Fork Creek.

The trail then wound alongside the creek. Many of the spring wildflowers were past their peak, but there was still an abundance of botany. A few trillium were still holding on to a bloom.

This fiddlehead fern had recently begun to unfold.

This mayapple knew it was the right month in which to bloom.

The trail comes to an end just before a rock formation known as the Three Sisters.

This spot is a favorite for kayakers and canoeists who shoot through the gap. In a sandy bank at the end of the trail, we saw signs of earlier visitors.

We continued our walk in the other direction. Here is some squaw root, also known as bear corn. This plant is a perennial, non-photosynthetic parasite that feeds on the roots of oak trees.

The cool, limestone cliffs of the gorge support an occasional colony of sullivantia, or Sullivant's coolwort, discovered by William Sullivant (or, some say, by his second wife). Jim McCormac has an excellent description here.

It is clear that beavers have been able to return to the gorge.

On our return to the museum we brought out our packed sandwiches and lunched.

On our way to our night's lodgings, we stopped at a Mennonite store. (Yes, the Amish and Mennonites are also in southern Ohio. When you have large families, eventually all the available land in an area is taken up, and groups must split off and go elsewhere.) As we checked out we explained to the young women calculating our total that Serge and Jeanne were from France, visiting for the first time. One asked, "Oh! Did they fly in a plane?!" Things that you take as ordinary are, in another context, extraordinary.

We spent the night at the Murphin Ridge Inn. The Inn has its office and top-notch restaurant in the old main house.

Guests can stay either in a lodge building or in individual cabins. We were in the lodge.

We had a superb dinner and were introduced to a bottle of red from a southern Ohio winery, Kinkead Ridge, that's permanently on our radar now. Afterwards, if the weather is good (it was), guests can while away the evening at the fire pit, chatting, stargazing, or gazing at the embers.

The next morning we left Murphin Ridge to visit Serpent Mound, an effigy mound in the shape of a serpent, possibly eating an egg. First, though, our car loitered behind a buggy caravan for a few minutes.

Then we arrived at Serpent Mound, which, although owned by the Ohio History Connection, is currently being administered by the Arc of Appalachia due to the Society's immense funding problems.

There is also an older marker on the grounds. (Remember to click on the image to enlarge.)

Besides the shelter house and small museum, the first thing you see when you step out of your car is the observation tower; climb it to get a better view of the serpent's layout.

Although the museum and gift shop were closed that day for reorganization, so I'm sure he had a lot to do, interim manager Dave Kuehner greeted us and took us on a guided hike on the Brush Creek Nature Trail and then around the serpent.

There was a lot to see, and Dave was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable host. Amazingly for so late in the season, here a sessile trillium was about to bloom.

And that wasn't all. The next photo is, I believe, of common valerian.

Here is a columbine.

Dame's Rocket, a member of the mustard family.

Star of Bethlehem.

How auspicious must it be to find a charming, petite snake at Serpent Mound?

And how about this diminutive amphibian?

From the tower you can see the main coils of the serpent laid out before you.

There have been many interpretations of this figure, and in particular many inventive suggestions for the complex form of the head.

Another assignment made to this form is that the snake is eating an egg, as snakes are wont to do. In any case, it has been established that particular alignments have astronomical, and hence timekeeping, significance. To quote the Ohio History Connection page on Serpent Mound,

"The head of the serpent is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the coils also may point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise."

The mound also sits on the southwestern edge of an ancient crater, probably caused by a meteorite, about 5 miles across. The impact tilted, folded, and inverted the normal geological strata of the area 200 to 300 million years ago. The early inhabitants of Ohio were possibly aware of the disturbed land, but it is unknown what they would have thought of it. Wikipedia has an article collecting these and other topics regarding Serpent Mound, such as interpeting the age of the Mound through carbon dating.

Perhaps all this information put Serge into a thoughtful mood?

As we walked back to our car, we heard drumming noises. It was a red-headed woodpecker.

There were ornithological disputes between these woodpeckers and other nearby birds, including scarlet tanagers.

Then it was time to return to Columbus. Passing through Circleville, Jeanne got this picture of their water tower. Circleville hosts a pumpkin show every fall, of course.

The next day would be Serge and Jeanne's final full day with us.