This Saturday enjoy a special Hocking Hills hike. Celebrate the season with a quarter-mile lighted stroll to Ash Cave in Hocking Hills State Park. Also enjoy a bonfire and refreshments, visits with an old-fashioned Santa and decorating a holiday tree for wildlife. Hours: 5-7 p.m. Free. Call 740-385-6841, or go to www.hockinghillspark.com.

Well, it’s really a quilt garage. I have admired the many quilt patterns that are being painted on a variety of structures in the Hocking Hills, so I painted this “Ohio Star” on the garage/storage building at Marsh Hollow.

Adams County has created a driving tour of more than 20 quilt squares. You can view them online at http://www.adamscountytravel.org/BarnQuiltSquares.htm.

Fall color seems to be making an extended stay this year – the Hocking Hills are still absolutely gorgeous this week. Yesterday, my daughter Carolyn and I drove along Chapel Ridge Road and Route 374 to the Wind Chime Shop at 29205 Ilesboro Road. Just incredible views of oranges, reds, yellows, purples and greens. Plus the Wind Chime Shop had the perfect chime for a wedding gift for friends.

Here’s a sample of yesterday’s fall color:

Carolyn atop Dusty, Cash looking on

The past few days have been pretty rainy, which is good for the waterfalls, but hard on the leaves. Fortunately, there are still quite a few trees that haven’t even started to turn so the next week should offer good color. Let’s hope the sun comes out.

All summer, deer visited our apple trees for snack time. Lately, they seem much shyer. Or maybe they are sick of apples! Last week, I drove past a large buck (with a very nice rack) on Big Pine Road, just past the intersection with Wagner Road. Our guests (at Marsh Hollow) saw another one near the cabin. Love is in the air!

I am pretty sure this is the same doe & fawns we saw all summer long.

Photo by Dave Kellerman
Despite the rain, this time of year makes me so happy. I enjoy looking at all of the fields we mow and thinking that there are really only 1 or 2 mowing days left. You cannot imagine how comforting that is.

An update on the September 17th Indian Run, which is the series of races that the Hocking Hills Tourism Association offers every year. Dave and I both entered the 5k. He won his age group (well, 1st out of 1 entry), and I was 3rd in mine (well, 3rd out of 3). And we WALKED the race. Overall, there were over 400 entrants – but most were much, much younger than we are.

Country Living, the official publication of Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, is a great little magazine that we receive every month. The September issue included a very informative article “Six Adventures in the Hocking Hills.” Here’s a quick summary of what was included:

Canoe the Hocking River. There are at least 3 canoe liveries, and they offer 1 to 6 hour trips, daytime and nighttime trips. Hurry because canoe liveries do not operate in the winter:

• Hocking Hills Canoe Livery
• Hocking Valley Canoe Livery
• Old Man River Canoe Livery

Rappel at Big Pine Road. This is for experienced climbers only as you are on your own. However, it’s fun to just watch, either from the top of the cliffs or below. The rappeling area is located on Big Pine Road, between Route 374 and Hockman Road. There are also bridle trails in this area, so watch out for horses.

Race the Indian Run. Better really hurry for this one because it’s next weekend, September 17. Dave and I have registered for the 5K version this year, but if you are up for more, you can also run 10, 20 and 60K versions (only 15 souls (30 soles) completed the 60K last year). This race is challenging because it’s on trails through the Hocking State Forest and Park. Visit the official web site at http://www.1800hocking.com/info/10/803 for more information.

Birdwatching by Kayak. Birding trips by kayak are available for both beginners and experienced kayakers at Touch the Earth Adventures. While the owner offers quite a few adventures in the Hocking Hills, she also coordinates nature trips to South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia & Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The Hocking Hills Scenic Byway. I can’t quite understand why it took so long for the powers that be in Columbus to recognize that Route 374 is THE scenic-est highway in Ohio. A very nice description of important mile-markers is available on the Hocking Hills Tourism Association web site. Stay on your side of the road, and be careful around the corners.

Mary at Marsh Hollow

If you are looking for a lovely two-bedroom cabin in the Hocking Hills, check out Honey Ridge at www.honey-ridge.com. It will be available for rental beginning August 19.

Honey Ridge is owned, operated and BUILT by our dear friends Beth & Chuck Marousek. The cottage, which is located on top of a heavily wooded ridge, is very private and has a large deck overlooking a ravine. Beth has put her special touch on everything associated with Honey Ridge, so be prepared for a relaxing vacation in a special spot. It’s close to all of the major Hocking Hills attractions including Ash Cave, Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls. . .

Beth and Chuck also have a small herd of dairy goats. Last year, we were lucky enough to get our two girls, Stormy & Crystal, from their herd. They are also bee keepers and gardeners. Plus, Chuck is an extraordinarily talented home builder. You will be well taken care of at Honey Ridge!

So if our cabin at Marsh Hollow is not available, or if you need two bedrooms, be sure to consider staying at Honey Ridge.

Bring a lawn chair or blanket to the Hocking Hills State Park, 8 p.m. on August 12 at the dining lodge, to view this month’s Perseid meteor shower.

Check out the Ohio Department of Natural Resources press release at www.dnr.state.oh.us/news/aug05/0802meteor.htm.

The Perseids come every year, beginning in late July and stretching into August. Sky watchers outdoors at the right time can see colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts and, almost always, long hours of gracefully streaking meteors. Among the many nights of the shower, there is always one night that is best. This year: August 12th. And here’s a a great NASA link concerning this year’s display: science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22jul_perseids2005.htm.

As promised here’s a report on the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway’s “Great Train Robbery Special”. Brother Rob & his wife Deb came down from Newark to ride with us. Rob is a major train maniac (in a good way) and is also treasurer of the Ohio Railway Museum in Columbus. And Deb has the cutest train case, even though she was born after “train cases” were the “thing”. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are way too young.

Anyway, the robbery worked out very well for the robbers. We left Nelsonville at 6 p.m., and picked up some passengers who were dressed suspiciously along the way. At the turn-around in Logan, the robbers overpowered the train people (who were armed), then took all of our money (which the HVSR people had conveniently given us). After much clever banter, and picture taking, the train slowed to a stop so the bandits could get off and escape on their beautiful horses.

This was a first time robbery special for HVSR and they pulled it off pretty well. The only downer was the sound system. We had a great singer aboard, but the sound system reduced it to something similar to fingernails across a chalkboard. Fix that, and I’d ride again. I wish we could still hop a train to ride to Columbus, or elsewhere. There’s nothing like the rocking of a train.

Here’s a picture from the train before we left on our adventure:

This weekend is the 1st Hocking Hills Rhythm & Blues Festival at the Woods at Kaeppner Place (close to Logan). Sounds like Bill Kaeppner has got some national acts lined up: Duke Robillard Band, Urban Jazz Coalition, Bruce Katz Band, Microwave Dave and the Nukes, the Sonny Moorman Band, Cleveland Fats, Johnny Reed and the Houserockers and more. Check it out:
The Post Online [features] and at www.kaeppnerswoods.com.

We are planning to ride the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway’s “Great Train Robbery” this Saturday, July 16. The train, which will be robbed by bandits on horseback, leaves the Nelsonville depot at 6 p.m. Hopefully, I’ll get some good pictures and will post them.

Geocaching is a worldwide activity in which participants hide small caches of trinkets, etc., post the latitude and longitude on the web, then geocachers use their GPS units to find them. For more information on the sport, including identifying places to look for geocaches, go to geocaching.com. By the way, we are the HockingHunters at the geocaching.com web site.

Yesterday, our good friend Jeff came down to the hills from Grove City for his first geocaching experience. We decided to head over to nearby Tar Hollow State Park and look for the Hollow Cache, which involved a nice hike along and down a ridge, then back up again. Success! Another cache found.

While at Tar Hollow, we learned that there is a lovely little lake there, with a small swimming beach and boat rental.

After lunch at Granny’s Kitchen outside of Londonderry, we headed over to another cache near Tar Hollow, the Lost Cemetery. Compared to the Hollow Cache, this was an easy hike and find. Several Civil War soldiers are resting here, on a quiet hill side.

Mary at Marsh Hollow Vacation Log Cabin