Textures

Yesterday I took an 8.5 mile hike down at Lake Hope State Park. As it is with many of Ohio parks, the state parks are surrounded by State Forests. In this case, the state forest is Zaleski, which is well-known for its backpacking trail. The nice thing about Lake Hope is the recent (last 5-8 years) addition of a bunch of bike trails just north of the lake. These were put in by the Athens Bicycle Club, who did a really great job with switchbacks and the like to prevent erosion. You can see the mapping of the area that I’ve done here.

Spring was busting out all over. Animals were out everywhere; wildflowers were out; you name it. It was a glorious day to take a hike. And, I had my camera with me, so this entry will be chock-full of photos.

I parked at the Hope Furnace, off state route 258. There’s been a lot of rain lately (just ask the Mississippi River) so the initial grassy field that led to the trail was gush city, just the sort of thing that bare feet were designed for. There was about an inch of two of water hidden by the 3 to 4 inch grass. As I walked along, the water actually squirted up between my toes, and rather rapidly dirtied up my legs to my knees.

Once I hit the trail proper, things dried out pretty well, with just an occasional muddy spot to slog through or avoid.

The turtles were really out, sunning themselves along the northern shore of the lake (since the sun was in the south). They are really skittish; as soon as I got anywhere near them, I’d suddenly hear the splash of them entering the water. I did manage to get a photo of one of them from quite a distance.

Turtle sunning itself at Lake Hope

Even then I just barely got it, since it plopped in right after the photo.

A little later a noticed a garter snake right on my path.

Lake Hope Garter Snake

One nice thing about hiking barefoot is that you have to look down just a bit more than you do when clomping in boots, so you get to see more of this kind of wildlife.

You can also see the texture of the trail on the right side of the picture. This is perfect texture in case you would like to try some barefoot hiking. I’ve said this many times before:

We come into the woods to see the sights, hear the sound, smell the smells, and then we turn off our sense of touch. If you go barefoot hiking, you turn your sense of touch back on.

However, if your feet have spent their time encased, they might not be up for the task. This kind of surface is great for initial training (not the whole 8.5 miles though!—start slowly). It is fairly loose dirt, with just enough twigs, litter, and pebbles to provide stimulation to start building up your soles. Here’s another picture of the sorts of trails I often hike on:

Little Sandy Access Trail

Again, there are twigs and stones for stimulation. But you can also see moss, which is really nice, and dry leaves. Dry leaves are best avoided when going downhill—they tend to be slippery as they slide against themselves.

Down along Little Sandy Run was some fresh Squaw Root (Conopholis americana) coming up:

Squaw Root

This is interesting, not just for its appearance, but because it does not have chlorophyll, instead getting its energy from oak tree roots. Here is a chunk of last year’s growth, growing right near by:

Older Squaw Root

This is the color it has most of the year, when it is not new growth.

Later in the hike I did a bit of bushwhacking. This is something not recommended for new barefooters, because you need soles that have built up quite a bit more protection, just because you cannot always see what it is you are stepping on, or what is underneath what you are stepping on. But at Lake Hope and Zaleski, this can be a lot of fun, since this area of Ohio also has recess caves the way Hocking Hills does (in fact, this area has been known as the “Hanging Rock” region, after the way the rock face overhangs the recess cave). The only difference here is that the caves are smaller, usually only about 20 feet tall. The other slight difference is the topography: the sides of the creeks/rivulets leading from the caves are usually quite a bit steeper, so getting into them is much more of a challenge, unless you are related to mountain goats. Here is one of those caves that I went by:

Recess Cave North of Lake Hope

Notice I am still above it. It was more of a challenge getting down to it than I felt like at the time. In the end though, I crossed over the top of the ridge this cave was under, and visited 3 or 4 of the caves on the other side. One interesting thing about the caves in the Zaleski area is that they all have small seams of coal in them. That is, after all, why the Hope Furnace is located in the area (that and the fact that the surrounding sandstone rocks are a rather low grade iron ore).

The May apples were also in bloom throughout the park. New plants have only the single leaf:

May Apple

The next year, though, they get two leaves, and the bloom appears in the crook between the two stems:

Blooming May Apple

These turn into a single fruit later in the season.

On the final leg of my hike, returning towards the car, I suddenly heard a rattling just off the side of the trail. Yes, it was a snake. No, it was not a rattlesnake. It was a black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta), which are pretty common at Zaleski. These snakes have developed the trick of vibrating their tails in dry leaves in order to make it sound like a rattlesnake and to try to warn you away. For me, it didn’t work:

Black Rat Snake

This guy was about 4 feet long.

Back at the car, I sloshed through the field again. It was an excellent way to spend an afternoon.