We want to take the girls out to Colorado to see family and friends and to hike. The problem is that is a long way away, and we don’t really know if the girls have the stamina to hike for more than an hour. Solution: Take a weekend trip to Hocking Hills to experiment with a few bigger hills and longer hikes.
Jeremy reserved us a really nice cabin through Hocking Hills State Park website. It was nice, as in log cabin, massive, ridiculous views, etc. But it was just what we needed for our family. First, it was pet friendly; so Pepper came along on his first vacation. Second, it had a stove/oven, refrigerator, bathroom, heat/air. Third, it had TWO bedrooms – a necessity when away with kids who go to bed early. Fourth, it had a nice screened porch, living room, and front porch. I should have taken pictures on our first day when it was all neat and tidy, but I didn’t. So, here it is seconds before we checked out all littered with towels and bedding (all provided).
We left around 5pm on Friday afternoon. As I mentioned Pepper came with us. I was dreading this, to tell the truth. But he surprised me and traveled really well on the 3-1/2 hour drive down there. He also did a great job hiking, hanging out, and staying behind while we went out. We got in pretty late (around 8:30). So, we quickly checked out our lodging and settled in for the night.
The next morning, Ellie woke up bright and early (6:15), followed by Pepper, and then by me. It did get us going, which was probably what we needed. We ate a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and hash browns and toast. Then, we headed out for our first adventure – a Flower Walk with a park naturalist to Ash Cave. It is one of the highlights of the year on their calendar of events. There was a fairly good sized crowd when we got there. The naturalist was interesting to listen to, giving little facts about Hocking Hills and flowers. However, the girls tired of the slow pace – and they couldn’t really hear him since we were toward the back of the crowd. They whined enough that we broke off from the group and went to Ash Cave at our own pace. I said, “Girls, let’s take a picture showing how much you really enjoy this!” This is what I got:
The hike went much better after that. They skipped along and loved the sand and water at Ash Cave. It had rained hard Friday, so all the waterfalls and streams were flowing really well for us. It was beautiful.
So, here are some of the flowers that we “missed” hearing about with the naturalist. The only one I heard about was the violet. He said all violets have a fifth petal that points toward the ground. On that petal are stripes; you can see them on the yellow violet picture. These stripes are indicators for pollinators of where to go to do their thing; he compared it to the lights on a runway. Cool tidbit. There were beautiful flowering Dogwoods and Redbud trees to look at everywhere in the park as well. Spring had sprung.
After this hike, we headed to the cabin to eat some lunch. We decided to take Pepper on the part of the next hike. Our cabin basically sat at the trailhead to Whispering Cave. We thought we would hike there and then take the connector trail to Cedar Falls to lengthen the hhike. Jeremy volunteered to hike with us to Whispering Cave, take Pepper back to the cabin, and drive the car to the Cedear Falls trailhead so we didn’t have to do the return route. In total, the girls would hike 3.7 miles (I think) in about 2-1/2 hours. Here is our route to Whispering Cave. It was pretty rugged, muddy and up and down. But it was a fun hike.
From there we proceeded to Cedar Falls. This one spent some time down low between trees before meandering up and down on its way to the falls. The girls played “Nature Ninja Warrior” most of the hike – kinda pretending that it was an obstacle course like American Ninja Warrior. It was pretty cool to see them “defeat” the course. They never tired. It was amazing!
Jeremy met us at Cedar Falls for a picture and the tail end of the hike.
We returned home, happy and hungry. Jeremy got a fire started in a light sprinkle that started about the same time we got home. We roasted hot dogs, cooked up mac and cheese, and popped open some canned peaches. The meal culminated in S’mores! Delicious. That night we watched Monsters Inc before tucking into bed. Jeremy and I stayed up a little later and watched the Blue Jackets. Jeremy stayed up til the end of a double overtime to watch them win! He was pretty pumped in the morning!
