Halls Creek Woods

I found a little nature preserve I'd not been to before by way of a Flickr photo group I was invited to join last week (Ohio Dedicated Nature Preserves). Halls Creek Woods is near Morrow and Oregonia in southeast Ohio. It's a little park, just under 300 acres and not much trafficked from what I could tell. There was only one other car in the parking lot when I arrived and I didn't encounter any other people while hiking around. I startled a flock of wild turkeys and a small herd of deer while I was walking, which was only fair since they startled me a great deal.

The trail, which was not blazed, would be a bit hard to pick out after a fresh leaf or snow fall. The website says the trail is two miles long, but my pedometer told me about 1.5. There's a steep climb to get up to the main loop of the trail and I would imagine it would be a bit treacherous descending after a wet spell; wear something with good traction! The trail doesn't follow along Halls Creek itself, which is a shame because it's a lovely creek with lots of small waterfalls and an abundance of fossil-bearing Ordovician stone. However, Halls Creek Road, just around the corner, follows along the creek and there are a couple of spots to pull off and snap photos.




After Halls Creek I drove over to Caesar's Creek and hiked the gorge trail loop. I did my best to find a decent specimen of bryozoan to photograph (or pocket) but it eluded me. I found scads of brachiopods though, and a bit of crinoid stem and a partial cephalapod shell, but no good bryozoans. I think I'll have to hit Keener Park in West Chester - I know there's loads in that creek.

My new waterproof Kamik boots did well! They are slightly too big for me, nothing a thicker pair of socks won't cure. They felt really stiff at first but I got used to them quickly. I've been needing a proper pair of winter boots.

Weekend Roundup

After running 5K Saturday morning, I spent the afternoon walking along my little street gathering signatures in order to have the city look into putting speed bumps in to slow down the traffic. Every neighbor I've talked to has a story to tell - everyone who has had to park on the street has had their cars hit and several people have lost pets to speeding cars. Cincinnati received a grant this year to spend on street calming initiatives and hopefully ours will be one of those to benefit.

I went hiking around Caldwell Nature Preserve early Sunday morning and I was the only person on the trails the entire hour. I spent a good fifteen minutes with the trio pictured - the fawns were very curious about me and kept inching closer as I stayed as still as possible and kept snapping photos.

This preserve has scads of pawpaw trees and I spotted lots of unripe fruit in the canopy. I'm planning a return visit once the fruit starts to ripen later in the year.

I also joined up with the Cincy Paddlers group on Sunday for an easy five mile run down the Whitewater River in Indiana. I hadn't been on that river for many years and was pleased to find how clean it was (notwithstanding the case of beer cans I picked up from the banks) compared to how I remembered it. The highlight of the trip for me was spotting a lone osprey hunting along the river. I also picked up a good tip from another new member; the Elkhorn Creek down in Kentucky looks like a lot of fun.