The last time either of us had been in the area was last summer, when things were pretty dry. Winter and spring, however, are great times for high water levels, meaning that you can take those obligatory waterfall shots.
The Upper Falls
The Devil's Bathtub
Water cascading over the rocks
There were also many other beautiful things to observe, even in the middle of winter. I was grateful to have a walking companion who understood my need to stop, look, and touch things every 5 feet or so, and who indulged my need to photograph all along the way, too. Everything was damp, and the place was alive with color.
L: Bark of the Eastern Hemlock tree
R: Moss, looking almost phosphorescent
Lovely, dainty fungus
Twisty downed branch
We didn't see very many birds during our hike, which was kind of surprising to me. In fact, the only birds we saw were two Rock Doves (AKA pigeons), but we did see evidence that a much larger bird had been in the area.
First I noticed lots of wood "shavings" on the ground all around the base of this hemlock tree. Then we looked up to see this:
Yup, a Pileated Woodpecker (or perhaps multiple woodpeckers) had been working on this tree. There were sets of holes like this on 3 sides of the tree!
Even though the temperatures have been moderate over the last week or so, there are still some pretty large chunks of ice clinging to the rocks in areas where the sunshine doesn't reach.
Nature's chandeliers
I've mentioned before the cooler micro-climate that exists within the parks of the Hocking Hills, and this fact hit us especially hard yesterday as we wound our way up and out of Old Man's Cave and headed toward the parking lot: off came all those layers, 'cause man it was hot up in the real world! Well, not hot, but it reached almost 50 degrees yesterday, which is much warmer than it had been down in the cave.
After our hike we drove to La Cascada, a great Mexican restaurant in Logan, and had some fantastic authentic Mexican lunch.
Some people say "cheese" when they take a picture... I say "La Cascada!"
Thanks for the companionship, Meg. I had a great time!
9 comments:
...great photos. I want to go to Old Man's Cave in the winter to see those ice falls! Looks like you had a good time.
Stunning photos! Really beautiful, I've been back a couple times already to look at them. I guess I've never been to the Hocking Hills in winter - it's surprising how much green there is: moss, hemlocks, ferns, lichens. Great shots, thanks.
Kelly - Thanks! That's not even the half of it as far as the ice falls goes - I should have gone up there earlier when we had all of that snow. Now THAT would have been spectacular!
Jain - Thanks so much. Yes, the amount of green showing really was a welcome surprise. I wish I would have gotten more close-up shots of the flora.
Hi Heather, Thought I left a comment last night, but when I have a migraine, I do stupid things. I enjoyed coming along on your hike and browsing your photos. I especially like pileated woodpecker trees and have a special photo folder just for all the different pictures I take of them. Glad you got out and had a good time. ~karen
Heather, fantastic photos. One of my favorite spots to photograph. Looks like you had a great time. Caorl
Ah, yes, I knew your photos would be awesome! What's with the high def on my wrinkles, though? ha ha. I had a great time too! Let's do it again soon.
Karen - Always glad to bring you all along on the great hikes I get to take. Wasn't that Pileated tree amazing! First time I've ever encountered such a thing myself - instead of life bird, it's a life tree-marking!
Carol - Thank you. I know you have a soft spot for the Hocking Hills.
Meg - Thanks. Sorry, I should have made the pic of us low-res - hee hee! Yes, let's contemplate what our next outing could be...
Hello, I found your blog listed on the Natures blogs toplist. I enjoyed this post about Odd's Man Cave. It looks like a wonderful place to hike and your photos are gorgeous.
Eileen - Hello! Thanks for the visit and your nice comments. Old Man's Cave, and the Hocking Hills region in general, is one of my favorite places to visit in Ohio.
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