Wahkeena Nature Preserve in the Hocking Hills

Last week my daughter and I took a hike in the
Wahkeena Nature Preserve .
Wahkeena, named with a Yakima Indian word meaning
"most beautiful" is located on the edge of the Hocking Hills.
This was a first time visit and it was almost closing
time so we took a quick walk on the lower Nature
Trail around the lake.
Tom the Naturalist was such a wonderful help
with all of our questions about the park and its plants
and wildlife.

Visit the Nature Preserve’s Blog for a schedule of
the activities that are being held this year.

Lake Odonata is alive with plants and animals.

The resident Beavers are active on the end of the lake
but they were not showing themselves at the time of
our visit.

Dragonflies were everywhere around the lake

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

Female Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly
Thank you Robyn!

The lake was covered with waterlily pads and beautiful
waterlily blooms.

The sounds of frogs were in the air all around the lake.

There was a very active bee hive in the Old
Garden Area of the park and there was another
hive in the Naturalist Cabin where they could be
watched and a great learning tool for visitors and
school tours.

Bee and Butterfly loving plants and flowers are
planted around the preserve.

Owl
This picture is not a good one of the resident
little owl which was injured and adopted to
the park as was the Red Tailed Hawk.

Lizard Tail plants are in abundance around the edges
of the lake in the water.

The trails in the preserve were marked so well
and maps are available of the preserve.

We spotted squirrels, chipmunks and deer on
our short walk around the lake.

Squaw Root
I had been trying to get an identification on this
wildflower which I had spotted in the other parks of
the Hocking Hills with out any results.
But the Naturalist knew right away what it was
when I showed him the picture. It is a wildflower that
lack the green chlorophyll it needs to make its
own food.He also told us that it was at the end of its
flowering stage now and grew on the roots of Oak trees.
So thank you Tom for the identification and the
information.

Support and visit your local Parks and
Historical Sites.
Thank you,
Lona

Rock House State Park

 

The daughter and I went for a hike in the Rock House Park
over the weekend. It had been over twenty five years since
we had been there and many of the trails had changed since
that time but it is still a beautiful location to visit.
The Rock House is one of the six major areas of Hocking Hills State Park.

Rock House is unique in the Hocking Hills' region, as it is the only true cave in the park. It is a tunnel-like corridor situated midway up a 150-foot cliff of Blackhand sandstone.

 

 

This House of Rock has a ceiling 25 feet high while the main corridor is 200 feet long and 20 to 30 feet wide. The cavern was eroded out of the middle zone of the Blackhand sandstone. The resistant upper zone forms the roof and the lower zone forms the floor. Water leaking through a horizontal joint running parallel to the cliff face caused the hollowing of the corridor. This main joint or crack is very visible in the ceiling of the Rock House. A small series of joints run north to south at right angles to the main joint. Enlargement of this series of joints formed the window-like openings of Rock House.

 

Nature has hewn out of this cliff the Rock House complete with seven Gothic-arched windows and great sandstone columns which bear its massive roof. As one might imagine, Rock house was used for shelter by past visitors. Hominy holes, small recesses in the rear wall of Rock House, served as baking ovens for Native Americans using the cave. By building a fire in the small recesses, the rock became heated on all sides, and food could be bakes in this crude manner. Further evidence of past use is the presence of chiseled out troughs or holding tanks found in the stone floor. When rainfall is abundant, springs of water permeate through the porous sandstone and flow into these troughs fashioned by man and, when full, continue across the floor and out of the windows. In this way, residents were able to maintain a small water supply in Rock House. According to local folklore, other not so welcome visitors frequented Rock House. Robbers, horse thieves, murderers and even bootleggers earned Rock House its reputation as Robbers Roost.
Rock House has a colorful past and has long been a popular tourist attraction. In 1835, Colonel F.F. Rempel of Logan erected a 16-room hotel compete with ballroom, livery stable and a U.S. Post Office. The hotel stood where the picnic shelter is today.

Information from www.hockinghills.com

  

 

 

 

Mushrooms Along The Gorge Trails

Lactarius sordidus

Amanita muscaria var. formosa

? Unknown

Gymnopilus picreus

False Chanterelle Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

Squaw Root

I have been unable to find out what the above growth
is but I have found it in several places along the trials
between Cedar Falls and Old Mans Cave.

Beautiful Old Mans Cave

 

In the Hocking Hills Parks system the most visited area
is the Old Mans Cave park.
The park is filled with a massive gorge that you can
hike to Cedar Falls park which is a 3 mile hike away.
A massive system of rock formations, smaller caves
and water falls amongst giant Hemlock trees
which grows there makes for some gorgeous scenery.

  The gorge is a long way down so visitors should
take care and obey the trail signs.
They are posted for a purpose. That rock ledge or
tree  you hang onto to look over into the gorge
or piece of land protruding out over it may not have
anything beneath it to hold your weight up.
Many defy the signs and to some this defiance
leads to their own injury.

 

 

 

The sights and sounds of water running through
the gorge adds to the serine atmosphere of the
Hocking Hills Park.

 

 

On a hot, humid summer day the cooler
air and the water in the gorge below can be a
perfect place to take hike.
It is shady and cooler amongst the giant rocks and
trees along the creek that runs through the  gorge.

 

 

Two million visitors in 2007 and even more now
come to the park annually.

Travelers’ expenditures in Hocking County totaled
$267 million during the  year of 2007,
generating $16 million in state sales tax revenue,
and $6.6 million in municipal tax revenue.
Just another reason that funding should not have
been cut to the parks by Governor Strickland.
Revenue cuts to the parks lead to fewer Rangers
and employees to care for the parks. If left to
run down because of cuts, because volunteers can
do just so much, could mean fewer tourists and
with them the tourists dollars that helps to
fund Hocking County and the state.
Tourism to this area grows every year and more so
since a drop in the economy and the fluctuating
gasoline prices have  vacationers  staying nearer to
home and taking in the free getaways to the parks
that make up the Hocking Hills park system.

 

What price can you put on such natural beauty? 

Hermit Thrush @ Old Mans Cave

 

 

 

 

Dear Governor Strickland Behold Cantwell Cliffs Park

 

Dear Governor Strickland.
You remember all those jobs and funding cuts you
did to the Department of Natural Resources?
Do you know the number of tourists that come to
the Hocking Hills States Park every year?
Do you know that now due to job cuts that Ohio’s
main tourist spot is falling in disrepair?
Do you know that if lack of funding and lack of
employees and park Rangers are left this way that
over  time the parks in the Hocking Hills Park system
will deteriorate and  the natural beauty of
the parks  well be destroyed and cause decline in
tourist dollars?
Do you even remember you are from this area?
Do you know that this will be your legacy when
you leave office?
The local governor that lead to the downfall of
the Hocking Hills Parks system and other parks
and Historical sites throughout Ohio.
What a way to leave office and what a fine legacy
to leave behind.
Governor Strickland,
See the natural beauty of Cantwell Cliffs below.

 

 

 

 

Now see what is happening to Cantwell Cliffs
State Park

Paths are being blocked by falling trees that have
not been cut up and cleared due to lack of employees.

So few employees now are spread out over too any
parks. Granted Old Mans Cave gets cleaned by volunteers
but what about the other parks in the system?

Fallen trees block the steps leading down into the
gorge of Cantwell Cliffs.
Bridges are being washed out or are crumbling
due to winter snows and spring rains.
If lack of funding remains this problem will just
get worse.
Some places along the path was in dangerous
condition from washing away.
Graffiti and rot to the buildings which now sees
no workers just gets worse.
Not enough Rangers to police the parks also is leaving
the area open to deviates and destruction of the parks. 
What would take a little time and a little more funding
now to repair will become major projects later because
of lack of upkeep and funding because of your cuts to
ODNR and Ohio Historical Sites.
What will the parks look like in four more years?
What a legacy to leave Mr. Governor.
We do not need a Amtrak system that will never
show a profit, just look at Michigan.
Lets think about taking care of what we already have.
If not, the slogan of “Beautiful Ohio'” may have to
be changed to “Beautiful Ohio Before Governor Strickland”.