I’ll Need a Crane for That

I spent the winter hiking carrying my fanny^* pack. It has mainly water, a little medical kit, a spare windbreaker, and my camera tripod. The extra weight totals about 20 pounds.

Yesterday I took a shot at my full-on backpack.

I didn’t fill up my backpack completely, but I did add stuff to get it up to 35 pounds (16kg). The extra room meant I carried my telephoto lens with me, too.

I then headed off to Conkle’s Hollow and Crane Hollow in Hocking Hills. I figured a couple of climbs would be good for me.

* Note to non-Americans: in the US, “fanny” does not mean what you think it means. It just means buttocks, and a “fanny pack” carries the weight right above the buttocks.

It took a bit to get things adjusted. I had a new Camelbak tube. And then I had to remember how I carried my camera on the outside. My map container needed to be cleaned out (it still had the maps in it from the Grand Canyon from last summer, so I guess that dates the last time I wore it.)

I started out going up the west side of the rim trail at Conkle’s Hollow. That starts out with a decent climb. Once up there, the trail heads north along one rim, with the other rim visible about 525 feet away. So, here’s a telephoto of that cliff face.

The Close-Up View Across Conkle’s Hollow

It’s spring break around here, so there were a lot of people out with their kids: 2 parents, a couple of bouncy 10-year-olds, and a sullen teenager who really didn’t want to be there and who was doing his best to exude that attitude.

As one heads north, the gorge narrows and hits a waterfall.

The Conkle’s Hollow Waterfall

In the upper left you can see one of the viewing platforms with other visitors standing on it. That also gives you a feel for the size of things.

At the very tip of the gorge it’s time to head back down the east side. Here I am about halfway back.

Along the Rim

We’ll often see these silly articles that talk about how bare feet may have been okay for our ancestors, but that modern surfaces like concrete require “support”. I am not standing on a “modern” surface. Our barefoot ancestors handled that sort of surface, too. Quite frankly, it’s quite a bit more comfortable than some scree-covered surfaces, too.

[My tripod was about a foot away from the edge there. Oh, and you can see my pack behind me.]

While Conkle’s Hollow is a State Nature Preserve, right adjacent to the east rim trail is State Forest, and a bridle trail runs along the edge there. This is a good switching point to head over to Crane Hollow, with its Vulture Point and Airplane Rock. My plan was to do a double crossing, bushwhacking down from the Vulture Point side, up to Airplane Rock, and then back again.

I should also point out that I was not in Crane Hollow State Nature Preserve, which requires permits. However, the very southern portion of Crane Hollow lies in the State Forest, and I was careful

So in a short while I was on the western rim of Crane Hollow. Across the way Airplane Rock was visible, so I got out my telephoto lens.

Airplane Rock from Across Crane Hollow

Nobody on it. Airplane Rock is on another of the bridle trails, and you can sometimes see people there. That’s about 850 feet away across the hollow.

I then headed down off the rim to cross the hollow. And here’s the underside of the cliff I was standing on when I took the Airplane Rock picture.

Looking Back While Descending into Crane Hollow

I had no idea I was hanging out in space with such an overhang.

Spring was just starting to pop. Here are some spring beauties that were just emerging from the leaves.

Spring Beauties

And what kind of wildflowers are those? Well, they are real spring beauties. Yes. But what kind of wildflowers are those?. I already told you: they are Spring Beauties. <chuckle>

I scrambled up to Airplane Rock along its north side. Here’s the view looking lengthwise along it, right towards Vulture Point, which is invisible from this direction. Airplane Rock just juts out into the middle of nowhere (which you could see on the telephoto view from across the rim).

The View Along Airplane Rock

It was then time for the return trip. So as not to repeat myself, I headed down the north side of the rock, recrossed Crane Creek, and ended up just below Vulture Point.

Vulture Point From Below

There were actually vultures (turkey vultures) circling above it. In fact, I thought I’d managed to get one in one of my pictures, but when I got back, no such luck. So you’ll have to be satisfied with this picture of the two of them that were circling overhead when I was at Airplane Rock.

The Vultures of Vulture Point

Hmmm. They were overhead when I was at Airplane Rock, and then when I got to Vulture Point, there they were again. I sure hope they weren’t trying to tell me something.

When you’re below Vulture Point, it’s time for a visit to the nearby Vulture Cave.

Inside Vulture Cave

Those are all massive rocks that have let loose from the ceiling over time.

Vulture Cave is just off the Conkle’s Hollow rim trail, so from there I just reconnected with it, and headed back to the parking lot.

Here’s one of my LiDAR topo maps so you can see what the topography of the area looks like. [If you click, you’ll get a 900×600 image.]

Conkle’s Hollow Topographic Map

The locations of Airplane Rock and Vulture Point are precisely placed. It turns out that the bare rock shows up quite nicely in aerial views.

This wasn’t a particularly long hike, maybe 3½ miles or so. But I got in 3 uphill climbs, and the views of some spectacular scenery.