Three Metro 5-0 Hikes

In the last third of 2016 Joan and I participated in three Metro Five-O hikes, sponsored by the Columbus Metro Parks, all at Clear Creek Metro Park. These jaunts for those 50+ took us into areas that are part of the largest state nature preserve in Ohio and normally off-limits to visitors. Our guide for all three hikes was Marcey Shafer, the naturalist at Clear Creek.

I didn't take any notes, but I did get a few pix!

Big Oak
The first hike was to the "Big Oak." At the time of European settlement, the temperate forests of Ohio were so widespread that it was said "a squirrel can go from the Ohio River to Lake Erie without touching the ground." Then the trees were hacked down to feed an insatiable appetite for farmland, for housing, for firewood, and for charcoal to smelt iron. By 1860 southern Ohio had sixty-nine iron furnaces fueled by charcoal, and by the end of the 19th Century, practically all the original trees were gone.

However, a few survived, hidden in the ravines of the corrugated southeastern Ohio landscape, where they were on unfarmable land and too difficult to carry out. Today we would visit one, and lots of people showed up.

The first part of the hike was up an old access road, still used occasionally by a gas pipeline company. Along the way we spotted a couple of toads. Then Marcey took a right turn into the woods and downhill.

We all followed.

There were some tall, but young, trees, such as this beech.

It would have taken three or four of us to hold hands around the circumference of the Big Oak. 

It's difficult to take a photo all the way to its top! We hung around and admired it for a while; Marcey spoke about the history of the area.

Rather than returning the way we had come, Marcey took a route through one of the many rock formations at Clear Creek.

We did have one scramble up through the leaf litter.

On this as with many other Metro 5-O walks, as long as your balance was OK the hike wasn't strenuous. Occasionally a pole was helpful!

Buzzard's Roost
There must be a hundred rock formations in Ohio named Buzzard's Roost. On October 16th, 2016 Marcey led a Metro 5-O group to the one within Clear Creek Metro Park.

At first we were on official park trails. Shortly after leaving the trail system, Marcey found a ring-necked snake, a cute little critter with a pleasing necklace. It's nocturnal and spends the day hiding under leaf litter or other debris.

We lingered for a few minutes to admire it.

In this picture we've just reached the rock outcrop, Buzzard's Roost.

You wouldn't know there was a road down there.

Trees, trees, trees!

This daredevil is growing out over the edge. What happens when it gets bigger?

We tromped back the way we had come, ready to take in one more Metro 5-O outing before 2016 disappeared.

Neotoma Valley
On a chilly but sunny December 21st a Metro 5-O group gathered for another guided off-trial hike, into the Neotoma Valley.

In 1921 Edward Thomas, one of the first commissioners of the Metro Parks, purchased an 80-acre tract of cut-over timber (what wasn't?!) and named it Neotoma, after the Allegheny Wood Rat, Neotoma magister.
Ed converted a rustic frame shack into a cabin where he could offer hospitality to friends and scientists conducting studies in the valley.

Marcey, our naturalist, has the key.

The first room of the cabin is big (by comparison).

Another room held only a few of us at a time.

A message or correspondence board for members of the Wheaton Club, which began as an ornithological society in the 19th Century.

From the cabin our group continued up the valley past various rock formations of Blackhand sandstone.

Sandstone is easily eroded, and Blackhand sandstone can weather unevenly.

Eventually we descended to the valley floor and began our return. Rather than heading directly for the cars

we first took a short walk to the nearby Mathias cabin.

The grounds are open to the public but the cabin is locked. You can peer inside the ground-level windows if you like.

Adjacent to the cabin, and on the edge of the public-access zone, is a lofty rock formation known for the pool favored by salamanders at its base.

Plenty more Metro 5-O hikes will be scheduled for 2017, and you can bet that Joan and I will be on several of 'em.