Hocking HIlls Weekend, Part 2

I must finish my tale of the Hocking Hills adventure before my tired mind starts to forget the details.

We finished our driving tour on Saturday afternoon and made our way back to the Inn, somehow navigating the hilly backroads and ending up in the right place. (Thanks, NavLady!) We checked into our room - simple but nice - and got dressed in our hiking gear. Layers of clothes, thick socks, hiking boots, hats, scarves, the works. And of course we grabbed the cameras before we hit the road. By this time the sun was dropping low in the sky, and we knew we had to be back in time for our 5:30 dinner reservation. We chose a short trail that was close to the Inn, the Cedar Falls trail. We were surprised to see quite a few other cars in the parking lot, and once we got into the woods and down into the gorge we realized why .... everywhere we looked, there were icicles - and I do mean everywhere. The cliffs are constantly dripping with ground water during the warm months, and because of the extended deep freeze that we've had, all the "drips" have now become enormous icicles and other incredible ice formations. Everywhere you looked, off into the woods, the cliffs and rocks and ledges were covered with huge icicles - some 3 or 4 feet long. I never imagined that you could see something like this in Ohio!

Hiking into Cedar Falls, late afteroon:

And so we went down, down into the gorge area, hiking along a snow covered trail, across a couple of small bridges (over a very frozen creek) and suddenly, around a bend, we came to the real treat: Cedar Falls, frozen solid, in all their glory. Wow. One of the other hikers said that the falls only freeze up like this about every 10 years, so we were lucky to have picked this weekend to be in Hocking HIlls. Just amazing. It was bitter cold (in the lower teens), and the sun was setting, but there were a number of other crazy hikers out there besides us. I was thoroughly chilled by the time we returned to the car about an hour later. Brrrr. Brrrrr.

On Sunday we walked down to the Inn for some breakfast then packed up, checked out and went to find the famous Old Mans Cave trail. There weren’t as many cars in the parking lot this time – it was mid-Sunday morning, and still freezing cold – all the smart people were warm at home. We crept down ice-covered stone steps (my favorite kind) into the gorge, hanging on for dear life, and made our way down the trail to the falls. Even though we were in awe of the icicles all around us, we knew better than to stop and take pictures of them this time – we knew that the real thrill would be the actual cave and the frozen falls. And we weren’t disappointed! There was quite a contrast between the brown dirt and rock of the caves, and the snow and ice. If you looked one direction (into the main cave) it probably looked much as it does every other season of the year. But if you turned to look into the falls or into the forest, the snow and ice were obviously the main attraction. Incredible. Just incredible! And we were even able to walk in behind some of the smaller falls that were frozen solid - crazy!

Hiking into Old Mans Cave:

While I was not originally real excited about this trip being in mid-February, I am so thankful that it worked out this way. It was an experience that we'll probably never have again, and I am thrilled that we had such a memorable weekend getaway. Thanks, Kim, for the gift certificate! And thanks be to God who created all the incredible beauty that we got to see - absolutely unforgettable!