Kroger Wetlands

Burt, Cool Guy, and I bundled.  That is, we combined a hiking trip with a grocery shopping trip.  I love to combine things in trips, being the super-efficient person that I am.  Ha.  When it works out that way, great.  This morning, I knew that I had had to go grocery shopping, and I really wanted to do a hike.  Nothing huge like Fort Hill, just a little, local hike.  Kroger Wetlands was just the ticket.

It is located behind (surprise) the Kroger store in Marietta OH.  My guess is that the land was donated by Kroger, but I don't know for sure.  The trail is maintained by a local hiking group, and we could tell that a lot of time and care has been put into it.

The main attraction of the Kroger Wetlands is, duh, the wetlands, which means lots and lots of migrating birds.  There is the water, the marshes, the bugs, the wildflowers: all wonderful things for the birds, and all in an island of solitude in the midst of urban/interstate sprawl.  It was hard to believe that we were so close to the hotels, highways, and, yes, grocery stores, but it felt that we were miles and miles away.

The trail was just a flat, simple loop.  Nothing fancy.  We had glimpses of the marsh area and sometimes the path went right up to it.  There were two observation decks, and several signs identifying the birds and plants.  We saw lots of ducks, cattails, lots of other marsh plants, and we heard lots of birds, but I'm afraid that we were making a little too much noise and weren't still enough for long enough for the birds to begin to come out.

You see, it was drizzling all morning.  I had to use my best persuasion to get the guys to even consider coming out, but I knew once we got hats on, as long as it wasn't really really raining, then we'd be OK.  And we were, but at the same time, we also weren't going to just sit waiting for birds to show up.  That will have to be for another trip.

I think the highlight of our walk was finding the tree trunk 3/4 chewed through by a beaver.  I don't think I've ever seen that before.  We noticed that many, maybe most, trees near the water's edge had been wrapped in a wire mesh, probably to keep them safe from beavers.  I'm sure it's difficult deciding whether and how to best manage various animals' and humans' interests, as in why it would be more important to allow a tree to live rather than let the beavers set up housekeeping in the wetlands.  I'm not doubting or disputing the decision to wrap the trees, but I am curious about the reasoning behind it.

For a little bitty, flat, 1 mile loop, we certainly saw a ton of neat things, breathed some fresh outside air, and really enjoyed our time, drizzle and all.

Fort Hill Memorial

No school on October 25, and the forecast was sunny and 80.  We were headed out.  Poring through the Falcon Guide, Hiking Ohio, I decided that Fort Hill was a good destination for an all-day adventure.  It WAS a day of adventure and some lessons learned.

I had slightly underestimated the drive there.  It was 2 hours on Hwy. 32 before we got to the turnoff at Peebles Ohio.  Good thing we had gotten an early start.  Once on 41, it was definitely rural farm country.  In fact, a chicken crossed the road in front of me.  I asked why. :-)

Fort Hill was easy to find, with loads of parking, a museum which was closed on weekdays, lots of picnic shelters, and we were the only ones there.  Lovely.  According to the website, we could pick up trail maps there, but although there was a box for them at the trailhead kiosk, the box was empty.  I had copied the pages from my book, which included a sketchy map, and we forged ahead.

We took the Gorge Trail and picked up the Fort Trail to end the hike.  Total distance was 4 miles.  The website warned that the trails were primitive, though I would say that they were fine and easy to see, just not wide and well-groomed.  The book also mentioned a lot of up and down, and looking back, I'd say we did spend most of our time going either up or down.

It was incredibly beautiful.  The leaves were about 75% fallen and what was left was gorgeous.  The Gorge trail followed along a stream most of the way, and it seemed like every 5 minutes there was a new and different scene: either a view of the crystal clear stream below, or an outlook over the area, or deep in various stands of trees, or walking among overhanging rocks.  It just couldn't get monotonous.  At one point, the trail even took us THROUGH a log cabin.  Finally, I said that we just had to stop taking pictures or we'd still be around at dark.

We stopped for our picnic on a moss-covered outcropped overlook, which was about the halfway point.

Things got a little confusing at the point where we were supposed to pick up the Fort Trail.  Our guide just said there'd be a sign.  Unfortunately, there wasn't, but there were other signs and quite a few intersections to choose from.  That is where the trail map would have come in very handy, and lesson learned is to download and print one out beforehand.  This caused Cool Guy some anxiety because by this time, he was very tired.  But as we were resting on a log, two other hikers came by and assured us we were on the Fort Trail and headed to the end of the hike.  Whew!

The Fort Trail was much easier, with a gentle but steady incline up one side of an ancient Indian mound and then back down.  It was strictly through hardwoods and we shuffled through ankle deep leaves and scrambled over, under, and around giant fallen trees across the path.  At one point, we surprised a flock of turkey buzzards.

Total time hiking was 4 hours, and as soon as we headed back home, Cool Guy fell asleep.  It was definitely worth the drive.

Ohio River Islands

It's a bit of a misnomer: Ohio River Islands because the Wildlife Refuge is definitely NOT on an island in the Ohio, but, instead, near one.  However, it is one of my favorite places in my immediate vicinity.

Cool Guy and I went this afternoon, a brisk afternoon, armed with jackets just in case.  When we arrived, there were about 8 trucks in the staff parking lot and zero in the visitor parking lot.  Perfect!

The first stop is at the building.  It is bright, new, solar-powered, and full of interesting, well-thought-out displays and information.  We had clean bathrooms, water fountains, tanks of fish from the Ohio, lots of neat information.  The very friendly ranger gave me a trail map.

Now, the downside, which is the case in all of our area, is that this is pretty tame.  We're not going to get wonderful outlooks, no ridges, bluffs, canyons.  And the trail is very tame.  However, it is close, it is quiet, it is peaceful.  And you just can't go wrong with a trail as earnest and cared for as these.

We began with the bird and butterfly loop, which is paved.  On either side of the walk is a meadow which has deliberately not been mowed, so all the wild flowers and "weeds" are allowed to come to their full fruition, which they were in at this time.  Most notable was the plethora of tiny grasshoppers all along the pathway.  Honestly, we had to work to keep from stepping on them.  We noticed lots of milkweed and thistles.

The midway point of the loop met with a parking lot and a gravel road leading to the river trail.  There were port-a-potties at the parking lot and a sign, which I could understand, showing us the various trails.  We chose the grass mown one that would take us along the river bank.  This led us into a more woodsy environment, but it was still half meadow.  Through the trees, we had glimpses of the river.  After a short, flat, easy walk, we were at a concrete walk that led to the edge of the edge of the bank for an overlook into the river.

From there, we found a more primitive trail and followed it, still flat and easy, but working a little harder getting over the tree roots and dodging limbs.  It dead ended at a magnificent tree, and we retraced our steps.  From there, we followed the path back to the parking lot and from there, the bird and butterfly trail, part 2.

Total distance covered was probably only a little more than a mile.  But for an afternoon break from house, yard, and duties, it was worth the time and trouble.

We are definitely going back here a lot.  I am especially interested in seeing the river up close when it is frozen along the edges.

Grand Vue Park, Moundsville WV

Cool Guy and I had a weekday to spend together today, forecast was clear and decent, so we decided to take a trip to Moundsville WV, visit a trail at Grand Vue Park and also visit the Indian Mound Museum.  Moundsville gets its name from the ancient Indian burial mounds.  Cool Guy had been studying these pre-Columbian Indians in school, but darn school never takes field trips.  This was definitely worth the drive to capture the enthusiasm of something newly learned brought to life.

I used the Falcon Guide, Hiking West Virginia, which recommended a trail at Grand Vue Park.  I have a great deal of success with these Falcon Guides, not only becoming aware of the many neat places to visit, but also the quality of the hikes and the accuracy of the guides, but this particular hike was riddled with confusion.

I must admit that even the guide said things like "the trail gets confusing here," so I was forewarned, but even in the directions to get to the park, there were numerous errors, and even accounting for changes over the last 10 years, I find it very hard to believe that street names would change that drastically.  Nevertheless, we found the park with no wrong turns (a miracle for me), and were able to get right to it.

Let me back up first.  We live 70 miles south of Moundsville, and easy jaunt, one would assume.  I say Nay, nay.  To reach Moundsville, we had to traverse Route 2, which follows the Ohio River, and thus is lined with one industrial plant after another.  I cannot count how many times, driving on this two lane highway, that suddenly, a truck, usually a highly explosive tanker, would just pull out in front of me and then proceed to travel at least 15 miles below the speed limit.  Long story short, it took us 2 hours to drive that 70 miles.  And there is no alternative.

Making things just a little hairier, we left at 7:30 this morning, in deep fog.  Following the river, we never emerged from it, and it was a bit eerie that we were within a stone's throw of the river and never saw it once.

So we arrived at Grand Vue, found our trail head and began hiking through the fog and the mist.  We had never hiked through quite such conditions before, and it added an interesting dimension to the day.  Although we missed the views of the river, of Ohio, of any overlooks that we had earned by our climb, it just didn't matter.  The mist was a feature in itself, and that plus, honestly, mild temps, plus the leaves just beginning to turn and fall, just made for a really neat, even melancholy atmosphere.

Our trail, recommended by the guide, was The Overlook Trail, 2.4 miles of easy terrain.  Most of the trail was flat and even and a wide swath of mown grass.  There was one tricky spot early in, to leave the main trail and venture into the woods, which entailed a bit of a steep descent from a ridge, which then brought us to another wide trail, which we followed throughout.  The guide spoke of various forks, confusing places, etc., but we finally gave up trying to figure it out, and just decided to stay on the main trail, and we'd not get too lost.

Features of this hike were ostensibly the views of the river, which of course we didn't have.  I think we found plenty of other highlights.  First was the mist and fog, and then the turning leave, not to mention the crisp but not cold weather.  Hardwood forests, autumn wildflowers, slopes wreathed in mist, and then finally the sun shining in rays upon the meadow, more than made up for meagre view.
The park seems to be a well-kept secret, though Burt mentioned to me that he has seen a billboard advertising it.  I'd like to go back in the summer months.  There are cabins to rent, and I believe that one could spend a week exploring the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, with its industrial history, archaelogical history, and geographical interests.  Grand Vue has, besides cabins and hiking trails, mini golf, an aquatic center, frisbee golf, and a major zip line, and at pretty decent prices.

Cool Guy and I had an enjoyable morning.  Nothing particularly breathtaking was encountered, but the day was peaceful, melancholy, contemplative, not strenuous at all.