Metro 5-0: Witches Hollow

Thursday, May 12th, was sunny with the promise/threat of reaching the mid-80s. Joan and I drove down to Clear Creek Metro Park to participate in a "Metro 5-0" hike, a guided five-mile off-trail tramp for those over 50. Today our goal was Witches Hollow, a route and destination through areas of the preserve normally off-limits to the public.

We arrived neither first nor last; the parking area as shown here would end up hosting twice as many cars.

Our group included two Metro Parks employees and three volunteers, sufficient to prevent any losses to the herd as we strung out along the route. After an initial flat section we passed the last chance to turn back and began to climb.

Our first major stop for water and regrouping was at "the gorge." This feature looked familiar; Joan and I had visited it on another Metro 5-0 hike in some earlier year.

Marty, the manager of Clear Creek Metro Park, was one of our guides. He revealed that they'd recently gotten lost doing a "pre-hike" for this event, which amused everybody. But things seemed to be under control as we worked our way through underbrush, briars, and more open areas, navigating from blue tape to blue tape dangling from the vegetation. We noticed both spotted wintergreen and rattlesnake plantain and learned to distinguish between the two.

Several water and regrouping stops later we dropped into the upper reaches of a stream.

It soon became necessary for our guides, official volunteers, and unofficial path-finders to scout several crossings of this creek, necessitated by numerous fallen trees and, in spots, thick brush. Well, it was advertised as a rugged, off-trail hike!

We were rewarded in the downstream locations where the deepening hollow opened up, revealing sandstone formations.

We could explore the sides of the valley,

and poke around a bit,

as long as we came together for the next leg.

The name "Witches Hollow" might come from folks visiting it in the 1970s, before the park existed, for magical purposes. However, lingering evidence including empty bottles and an abandoned boom-box/radio/tape deck (I didn't get a good look at it) indicated that this could just as well have been a hidden party spot. Our guides carried the trash out.

With a mile to go it was time to cross Clear Creek itself. (Our route was a loop, not an out-and-back.) A rope was strung diagonally across the watercourse to a landing spot while Joan and I swapped our hiking boots for Tevas. The current wasn't an obstacle, although it varied from ankle- to knee-deep, and the cold water felt wonderful. On the far side we wiped our feet and put the boots back on.

For the last mile there was an option to ride in a ranger truck, but Joan and I hoofed it back to the parking area. You can see that there are impressive sandstone formations to be seen at Clear Creek even if you're not in the mood for a five-mile ramble.

Witches Hollow was an adventurous hike, but well worth the effort.

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.

Metro Five-0 Hikes at Clear Creek

The Columbus Metro Parks system has many parks and sponsors many programs, one of which is called Metro Five-0, activities for adults 50 and over. These activities run a wide gamut, from casual workshops on writing about nature to observing butterflies to canoeing and hiking.

Our favorite spot for nearby hilly hiking is Clear Creek Metro Park, just under an hour away. Through the Metro Five-0 program Joan and I can take guided weekday hikes into areas of Clear Creek that are unmarked and normally off-limits. So far I've been on three of these Metro Five-0 Clear Creek hikes, and Joan's been on more. I have enough photos to lightly document the last two.

Ice Cave/Jan 18
Here our Five-0 group is gathering on a chilly but sunny January 18th for the Ice Cave hike. This parking area is at the office for Clear Creek, the white building.

This hike generally has a broad trail, which in one spot blends into the landscape a bit, and has a couple of intersections. This photo is actually from the return leg, but it will suffice to illustrate.

Here we have arrived at the mouth of the small gorge where the ice cave lives.

We have stumbled into a perfect day for the ice cave. There is a steady drizzle of melt water, but the cold snap earlier in the week has left plenty of ice.

Pre-registration was required for this hike, which has a maximum number of participants, and you can understand why when people are maneuvering for a better look at the ice formations.

This is one of the views looking out from the cave into the light.

The combination of falling water and cold temperatures has laid a thick skin of ice over the sticks and stones.

This shot has a more accurate coloration.

When inspected more closely, the wet ice resembles a congealed flow of shiny glass.

Some small critter left his or her skull here.

Then it was time to hike back. The fellow in front of the group in this photo, wearing a cap, is Bob Neinast, or Barefoot Bob, who maintains a barefoot hiking blog here and has info on and maps for hiking in southeastern Ohio there. (Click on the photo to enlarge.)

Winnowing Rock
We returned for another Metro Five-0 hike on June 7th, this time to Winnowing Rock. This hike didn't require pre-registration, but the turnout was modest anyway. Here we have just departed from the parking area, crossing Clear Creek, which is muddy from heavy rain the night before, which might have suppressed the turnout.

We proceeded at a relaxed pace, observing the landscape and listening to the guide, Marcy, point out features and flora and answer our questions. Here we have paused to admire some blooming mountain laurel.

There was even more just down the road.

I zoomed in for a closeup.

Early on we passed a beaver dam.

This picture gets a little closer (click on the image to enlarge).

The damp environs of the first part of the trail supported ferns, whose spores Marcy is describing here, as well as the difference between spores and seeds. Seeds contain food as well as the plant embryo, spores do not.

There was also a lush crop of skunk cabbage, which fortunately bloomed long ago, in January and February.

One spot hosted some fire pinks.

The low-lying portion of the hike was near its end at Emily Lake, known to Google Maps as Benua Lake. The Beck and Benua families donated much of the land that became Clear Creek Metro Park.

View Larger Map
From the dam visible in the above map, this is the view.

Eventually -- the skunk cabbage and fern photos were taken just beyond the lake -- the trail began to rise.

Along our way to winnowing rock were the remains of two cabins. The first was smashed by a tree that fell during Hurricane Ike's September 2008 visit to Ohio.

The pieces have been stored, as you can see to the left of the photo, with the hope of rebuilding the cabin. It hasn't happened yet.

A foundation is all that remains of the other cabin. Rumors say that this cabin hosted celebrities and wild parties many decades ago.

After a short bit of steeper climbing, we were at Winnowing Rock. Legend has it that farmers would come up to the rock to winnow their wheat, to separate the heavier wheat kernels from the lighter chaff. It sounds like a long way to go.

Here I have zoomed in on the rock at the far tip of the bluff.

After eating our snacks, it was time to head back. Now that everyone had become familiar with the route on the way up, Marcy allowed the hikers to return at their own pace. Some, who had places to be, went quickly. Some, including Joan and me, continued to take our time and enjoy the sights and the company. Here Susan pretends to be collecting a scat sample (real scat) for later analysis.

It took us almost four hours to cover four miles, and we enjoyed every minute.