Author: Mary

Update on Old Man’s Cave trail work

Mary
Yesterday, our Shadyside guests reminded us of the trail work going on at Old Man’s Cave in the Hocking Hills. Here’s an update from Ohio State Parks:
The first phase of the capital improvement project at Old Man’s Cave has been completed.
The upper falls accessible ramp and deck has been installed. It will take hikers from the existing accessible sidewalk down to the stone arch bridge spanning the upper falls region. The new ramp and deck will offer a safe view of the upper falls region for all of our visitors.
The second phase of the project will be the replacement of the wooden staircase that leads hikers down to the lower falls region. The new staircase will be a metal spiral design and will require the closure of this trail for approximately 3 weeks during construction.
The trail closure will include the portions of trail near the lower falls overlook, the long tunnel section, and the trail that leads down to lower falls, including closure of the short side trail to Broken Rock Falls.
A majority of the trail system at Old Man’s Cave will be unaffected by the closure and all of the most popular features will remain open including the upper falls, devil’s bathtub, Old Man’s Cave itself and the lower falls waterfall area.
Beginning the week of October 6, there may be daily, week-day closures of the main trail causing short-term hiking inconveniences but these will not impact weekend hiking. Also, hikers will still have access to all of the features of the trail.
The closed section is expected to reopen by mid-October. Signs will be posted at the closed areas to keep visitors at a safe distance in these work zones. ODNR will continue to post updates regarding the construction scheduling and closures as information is received. Please contact the park directly with any questions regarding the project; the park’s phone number is 740-385-6842.

Comfort Food in the Hocking Hills

Mary

The September 2014 issue of Country Living, the official publication of our electric company, South Central Power, includes a great article “Head for the hills! A foodie our of the Hocking Hills.” Now don’t get me wrong, Dave and I love the Inn at Cedar Falls, Glenlaurel Inn and the Grouse Nest for fine dining, and this same issue also devotes a separate article to them. But sometimes you want something a little more laid back and let’s face it, less expensive.

The comfort food article lists some great local restaurants including Laurelville’s Ridge Inn. Simply put The Ridge Inn know how to cook a good steak and surround it with delicious sides. The most welcome addition to the comfort food category is the Hocking Hills Dining Lodge. It’s been under new management since last year and is now one of our favorite places to have a glass of wine and dinner. We’ve been to all of the restaurants mentioned but would like to add one more: The Home Tavern in Logan.  It’s located near the Washboard Factory. Last time I was there, I had the country fried steak sandwich. They serve it smothered in gravy. Yum!

Read about all of these restaurants, except the Home Tavern at http://www.countryliving.coop/departments/head-hills/.

Happy dining!

Mary at Marsh Hollow

Temporary trail closures at Old Man’s Cave, August – December 2014

Mary

From the ODNR Division of State Parks web site: A capital improvement project at Old Man’s Cave is slated to begin in mid to late August with a completion date of December 31, 2014. The project includes improvements to trail access at the Upper Falls area, replacement of the A-frame Bridge spanning the gorge and replacement of the wooden staircase that leads down to the Lower Falls region.

This project will require the temporary closure of the trail at these 3 locations at the Old Man’s Cave area. Work is being scheduled so that closure of all 3 sections will not be required at the same time. Signs will be posted at the closed areas to keep visitors at a safe distance in these work zones. ODNR will continue to post updates regarding the construction scheduling and closures as information is received. Please contact the park directly with any questions regarding the project; the park’s phone number is 740-385-6842.

Biking in the Hocking Hills

Mary

I planned to write this post for a recent guest, a lovely lady and avid biker (the non-motorized kind). Several years ago, I know I found a web site that described several bike routes along roads in the Hocking Hills. Personally, I wouldn’t bike on our roads, too curvy, too hilly and cars going too fast. But there are many brave souls who do bike and might appreciate some guidance.

While I can’t find that site anymore, the Inn at Cedar Falls has a very nice page that describes dedicated bikeways like the Hockhocking Adena Bikeways from Nelsonville to Athens, mountain biking trails at the Hocking Hills State Park, and finally, suggested road routes.

Check them out at http://innatcedarfalls.com/hocking-hills/cycling/.

Please be careful out there, bikers. Stay away from busy tourist times, have appropriate equipment for road riding, and obey all traffic rules and regulations. This is for you, Martha!

The Perfect Show at Marsh Hollow

Mary

Recently, Miles and Anna (and canine companion Penny) visted Marsh Hollow for a short spring break. They wrote the most enchanting journal entry we have read in a long time.

We tell guests to write about what they liked most in the Hocking Hills and Marsh Hollow. Here’s a true-to-life description of their stay:

3/20/13

Mary: “Okay, more visitors coming. Dave, do you have the animals ready?

Dave: “We’ve got the horses, goats and dogs. Usual assortment of birds. The deer were already booked but I have a call in to the agent to see if we can get some later on. What do you want for the soundtrack?

M: “Let’s go with classical.”

D: “Okay, we’ve got Debussy and some Bach lined up.”

M: “Great. Okay, here they come, places everyone! Horses, let’s see some grazing. Can we get the goats to frolick? Good. Okay, the guests are inside. Dave, cue the birds!”

D: “Okay – we’ve got a wood pecker…now a tufted titmouse…now a few chickadees.”

M: “Looking good. Give me a little more action.”

D: “Okay, here’s another titmouse. Let me see if I can find some wablers.”

M: “Okay, that’s it, birds are looking great! Now we need to prep for night sky. Let’s start moving that sun down. Can I have a little more of that golden glow? Perfect. Okay, Dave what do you have for me?”

D: “We’ve got a crescent moon, and a few constellations.”

M: “Good – okay, let’s see – late winter…gimme Orion.”

D: “Sure thing. Where do you want him?”

M: “Right over the ridge. Okay now fade the sun…lower…lower..start bringing out that moon, a little brighter, good. More stars. I want to see Orion – there we go, perfect. And….it’s a wrap! Good job everyone! Now, for overnight, Dave, can you get me a dusting of snow? Just enough to be pretty but not enough to cause any trouble.”

D: “Dusting – I’m on it. Oh, and the deer’s agent called back. They can be here tomorrow.”

M: “Good. Let’s have them waiting in the driveway when our guests get back from hiking and then they can bound around in the woods for a while.”

D: “Okay, will do.”

Thanks for a perfect show!

Miles, Anna & Penny

Mary at Marsh Hollow

Another Level I Snow Emergency in the Hocking Hills

Mary
Pinewood cabin at Marsh Hollow

The Hocking county sheriff just announced a Level I snow emergency. There are only  few inches of snow, but township roads like ours are very hilly, curvy and only slowly plowed or sanded. We are lucky to be so close to a well-maintained county road and state highway.

New snow is so beautiful. I think it adds more romance to a weekend in the Hocking Hills. It’s usually very quiet and peaceful. While I was out getting the hot tub ready for this weekend’s guests, I listened to softly played classical music on our outdoor speakers. It didn’t bother the birds at the birdfeeder at all.

Birds are extra active when snow covers the ground. They also love the corn we put out for the deer. That usually draws in the bluejays – bold, noisy critters! In the photo on the left, a male cardinal is sitting on the feeder tray. Mrs. Cardinal is not in the shot, but she’s just off to the left. On the right side of the suet cake, a male red-bellied woodpecker is ready for his snack. On the left of the suet, a tufted titmouse has his/her rear end pointed at the camera.

I took this picture through the cabin living room window. I wish I had taken my Canon Rebel with me instead of the little pocket camera. Some of our guests have taken amazing pictures of wildlife they’ve seen at the cabin. I just don’t have the skills yet.

Mary at Marsh Hollow

Breakfast at Jack’s Steakhouse

Mary

Dave and I have had quite a few dinners over the years at Jack’s, especially when brother Rob and sister-in-law Deb would visit. Rob loves this place, and that may be an understatement. For dinner, this is your basic, local steakhouse. Nothing fancy here, and even Rob will admit that it was better when the actual Jack owned the place. In my opinion, it has really improved since indoor smoking in restaurants was banned. I am usually not that sensitive to smoke, but this restaurant was just a haze of smoke, even the nonsmoking section. Really ruined my appetite which is hard to do. But those smokey days are long gone.

Anyway, Rob and Deb like to have breakfast at Jack’s when they are in the Hills. Since we needed to be out and about this morning, we decided to have breakfast there. In the daytime, the restaurant is a much cheerier place than at dinner time. There was a good size crowd, a mix of locals and a couple of vacationing families. Service was just a little slow, but friendly and attentive once it started. Dave and I both had steak and eggs, but while he had hash browns, I had grits. Our “breakfast steaks” were thin, but quite good. The over easy eggs were the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly runny yolk, white cooked through but not browned or lacy. We both ordered the excellent sourdough toast, but could have had white, wheat or rye.

So after all these years I have to admit my big brother is right: Jack’s Steakhouse is a great place to have breakfast in the Hocking Hills.

Jack’s Steakhouse
35770 Hocking Dr.
Logan OH
http://www.jacks-steakhouse.com

– Mary at Marsh Hollow

Location:Logan OH

Geocaching at Lake Logan

Mary
View near Murphy Law Geocache site

Today I went geocaching all on my own. Feeling guilty about how long we’ve held onto a travelbug we picked up in Florida, as well as a geocoin we’ve had for two years, I thought I’d better get them out of my possession pronto! First a few explanations. Geocaching is a worldwide, outdoor treasure hunting game using a GPS and the web site www.geocaching.com. Using your GPS, you navigate to a specific set of coordinates and then find the “cache” hidden at that location.

Dave and I have been members since 2004. Our username is HockingHunters and we have found 62 caches since we started. We don’t work at this very hard, and mostly geocache while we are on vacation. We are now using a very nice Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, but started back in 2004 with one of the the first Garmin GPS units available to the public. Not user friendly in the early days. I also have the free c:geo app on my Droid phone, but use it mostly to identify nearby caches, not actually navigate to them. Travelbugs and geocoins are trackables. Each trackable is engraved with a code that can be used to log its movements from cache to cache. So, you see, if you pick up one of these things, you are supposed to get it into a new cache ASAP.

So I was on a mission to get these things off my hands. Originally, I thought I’d put them in an easy location near the Inn at Cedar Falls, but then I got adventurous and decided to try to find Murphy Law Cache. The drive sounded fun. It turned out to fun and beautiful, but finding the actual location of the cache involved a lot of poison ivy and spider webs, or at least how I did it! Eventually, I spotted the well concealed cache, signed the log, dropped in the travelbug and the geocoin, then managed to get a little lost coming home! Once home, I logged onto geocaching.com, logged my visit including giving up those trackables.

Geocaching is a great hobby. When you are visiting a new part of the country, it’s also a great way to learn more about it’s history and nature. When you next visit the Hocking Hills, give it a try – I know you’ll get hooked.

Mary at Marsh Hollow

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Marsh Hollow inspired poetry

Mary

In April, Bev & John from Chagrin Falls, along with their dog Kali, visted Marsh Hollow for their spring vacation. They had such a good time they vowed “WE SHALL RETURN.” John memorialized their time with us with this poem in our guest journal.

After all the good times in

this book

We’re glad we gave Marsh Hollow

a look

Mary and Dave as hosts were a

great hire

They took care of everything

that we did desire

To us it was like another

honeymoon

From our hot tub we could even

see a full moon

Didn’t have to notice if

I got a new blog

And so important we got to

bring our beloved dog

New logs at Pinewood Cabin

Mary


Today, the workers installed new pine logs at one corner of the cabin. Dave and I had tried to repair this damaged corner, but without the proper tools and knowhow, we had a mess. Well, we did stop the damage, but it just didn’t look good. Tomorrow, the entire cabin will be repainted and it will be beautiful. I’ve been scrubbing the deck railing in preparation for staining. Not my favorite job.
– Mary at Marsh Hollow