No Particular Place to Go

(this is part two of my 2022 road trip; part one is here) 

Getting out and about on Friday was a struggle. 

My traveling companions

After I managed to get up, grab a bite to eat and pack up the tent, I sought out a place to fill up the gas tank and get some more ice. I found myself in a little town called Bolivar, on the Tuscarawas River. I considered going to the Fort Laurens Museum, but then for some reason decided to go to Bolivar Dam instead.

Bolivar Dam on Sandy Creek

I wandered around the path a little, and thought, "I think Pat would say this place looks fishy." I decided to look at how much a one-day out-of-state Ohio fishing license would cost, and if it was less than $20, I'd fish for a little while for the heck of it. 

It was $14. Fish on!

Looking down to the "fishy" area

Settling in, judging the best spot to cast from with minimal chance of treeing it

I started with a "ned rig" which got nothing. So I switched to a Whopper Plopper (top-water lure)

Yay! It may be little, but it was a largemouth bass on a top-water lure, so it was good.

After switching from a ned rig with a coppertreuse Z-man Finesse TRD worm to a "yoda" Whopper Plopper, I started to see interest from the small (6-8 inch) largemouth bass in the area. I finally not only enticed one to bite, but stay hooked until I could land it. 

Minutes after that, I saw feeder fish scrambling to get away from something out by the turtle basking logs in the middle of the creek. I cast in that area. 

It bit. And it fought. And I had it barely out of the water and was reaching for it when it unhooked itself and swam away. It was a chunky 16-ish (maybe larger) inch largemouth. It kept antagonizing the feeder fish while I kept trying to entice it to bite again. I tried Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper swimbaits, went back to the Whopper Plopper, and nothing. 

More and more turtles showed up to watch the show during the two hours I was here

I'd only planned to stay maybe an hour, but that stupid fish that got away made me stay another hour trying to get it back. It was still a fun diversion, and I caught more fish than guys that showed up for 30 minutes with their catfishing gear (I caught the first fish as they were leaving and they saw me bring it in). 

From the dam, I drove south on I-77 and thought about visiting Hopewell Culture, since I hadn't been there in several years and I'd gone to Cahokia Mounds last year. Instead, when I stopped for gas outside Newark, OH, I saw a sign for the Great Circle Earthworks -- another Hopewell site -- and chose to go there instead. 

The entrance to the circle, looking directly at the Eagle Mound

Photos alone really can't do justice to this structure. The circle itself is 1200 feet in diameter, with an arrow shaped mound in the center that is called Eagle Mound. Archaeologists found the remains of a wooden structure in the mound, and think it may have been a ceremonial building that was intentionally burned and buried when the inhabitants left this site. 

Inside the circle wall is a ditch which was probably full of water when this area was inhabited. It's thought that the circle symbolized the turtle in an ocean, an Indigenous motif of the world in the universe. 

The inner ditch just inside the entrance to the circle

I was being watched while I walked around the interior of the Great Circle

 

Standing on Eagle Mound, looking towards the opening to the Circle

A nearby Hopewell site and part of the Newark Earthworks is called the Octagon. It is only somewhat open to the public because it's been leased to a country club since 1910. This actually upset me, because both the Great Circle and the Octagon were evidently sacred sites tied to the moon, and in fact may have represented the moon at perigee and apogee. Fortunately, I have since discovered that I'm not the only one disgusted and angry that an historical and sacred site (one that is part of a nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site), and that the battle to remove the country club (has gone to the Ohio Supreme Court). Here is a NY Times article on the subject from 2021. Of course, if this truly was a lease to the country club (which, according to the article, runs through 2078), there should be provisions for ending the lease early. 

As of August 1, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court has not ruled on the case. 

Part of the view from the viewing platform, which Moundbuilders Country Club considers "open access" to the grounds by the public.

The golfers can walk on the earthworks for a shot.

Observation Mound, from which Woodland period native peoples would have watched moonrise. This view is from the "public access" trail.

From the Octagon, I headed south through Cincinnati into Kentucky, thinking maybe I'd try Mammoth Cave in the morning. I made a reservation at a KOA in Horse Cave and set Waze to get me there. Construction on I-65 at the Horse Cave exit backed traffic up by two miles, making the trip take almost an hour longer than it should have, so I found myself putting up the tent in the dark. The Horse Cave KOA is not very tent-camper friendly, as the tent area is not flat, and is about as far away from the restrooms/showers as can be. In the dark, it was difficult to find my site, especially with no clear place to park the car. 

At least there was a little bit of firewood left in the firepit, so I started a short-lived campfire.

The next morning, I looked at Recreation.gov for cave tours at Mammoth Cave, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to get anything that I haven't done previously. I contemplated my next steps while avoiding the group of murder ducks wandering the campground, as well as a loose dog that was looking for a friend. 

Murder ducks. It's like being in Hershey all over again. 

What do you guys what to do today?

In the end, I decided to skip Mammoth Cave and go to Hidden River Cave instead. It was only about ten minutes away from the KOA, and when I got there, they waved me right into the tour. 

This is the Horse Cave, because when it was first settled, "horse" was just a term for something really big. It's now called Hidden River Cave.

The river is right at the bottom of the opening, and you follow along it a little ways before going into the other two dome rooms. This is a cave much like Mammoth in that it has domes and very few "wet" formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flows or columns. And of course, the "big sell" for Hidden River Cave is the bridge, which was more than a little nerve wracking for someone like me who doesn't like bridges. 

The hidden river

No one wanted to be the first (behind the guide) across the bridge

One of the few places of "flowstone"

Sunset Dome, the third of the three rooms on the tour

Heading back out of the cave

The American Cave Museum is part of the Hidden River Cave tour, and explains how the cave reflects an ecosystem that was nearly destroyed by the town basically using the cave as a sewer.... which then almost killed the town, since their drinking water originated from the cave. The cave had to be closed in the 1940s because of the pollution, and it was known as the most polluted cave in North America. Only after a new wastewater treatment facility was put into place nearby in 1989 did the cave ecosystem begin to recover from nearly a century of abuse. 

From Horse Cave, I meandered northward past Louisville and into Henderson, where just before crossing over the river to Evansville, IN, I saw a sign for John James Audubon State Park. I pulled in and immediately saw the Civilian Conservation Corps work. 

The Welcome Center, gift shop and museum are located here.

The museum is a paltry $6 to visit, and I would share photos, but due to copyright issues, you aren't allowed to take photos of the amazing collection of original Audubon works they have, including multiple copies of his Elephant Folio. There is also a comprehensive history of Audubon, who spent several years in Henderson, KY trying to find his way in the world. 

Of course, there were hiking trails, so I took the opportunity to stretch my legs. I saw birds, but also myriad other animals!

And fungi.... you know I saw fungi too!

A still and quiet pond

Green dragonfly, an Eastern pondhawk female

Five lined skink!

Eastern pondhawk male

Heron

Two deer

I legitimately chastised some super loud children right after I saw these deer. They were basically yelling at each other in conversation, and I just shushed them and said, "You just scared away two deer, a duck and who knows how many turtles." The kids went silent and I continued, "You probably haven't seen anything since you're so loud. If you want to see the animals, you need to be quieter." The parents just looked at me.

I walked away (they were going in the opposite direction I was), and I didn't hear them again. 

A CCC constructed shelter, marking where the overlook spur branches from the main trail

Built in the 1930s, renovated as an Eagle Scout project in 2000, and still needs protection from vandals

Turtles basking

Plainbelly watersnake, maybe

Hummingbird sculpture based on an Audubon painting

Butterfly on a coneflower

I decided to call it quits outside St. Louis, and got a tent site at a KOA I've stayed at before. The tent sites there are okay; they are flat and somewhat close to the renovated restrooms/showers, but they are also buggy. 

Campsite for the night

Buggy campsite also means spiders

A friendly lightning bug that looks just slightly different from the Maryland variety

I cooked up some "Forever Young Mac and Cheese" for dinner, and it wasn't as good as the spicy sausage pasta. Maybe it would have been better if I had some Old Bay to put in it. I still had no itinerary besides being in Salt Lake City by next Friday, so I figured I'd just drive through St. Louis, take I-70 for a while and then either find some things in Kansas or head up towards Lincoln, NE. 

But first, sleep. 

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Struggling to Get Out of the House

Three weeks ago, I left on my usual yearly road trip. I wanted to leave on Monday or Tuesday of that week, but it wasn't until Wednesday that I finally could get myself together enough to head out. Even then, I left the house so late in the day that I only made it to western Maryland before calling it a night at Spring Gap Campground along the C&O Canal Towpath. 

Depression sucks like that. I had the same issues last year as well. 

I'd changed the oil the day before in the Crosstrek, and I actually started the trip with a quick stop at the local grocery market and the nearby carwash. 

Me demonstrating the proper way to pour oil so that it doesn't slop all over the place. 

My driving companions for the first week and a half

Fresh and clean!

Since I had a late start, I knew I wasn't going to get super far on the trip and made the reservation at Spring Gap before I left the house. Campsite 1 was reserved for the whole week, and everything else was open. I opted for site 5 to give whoever it was at 1 plenty of space. 

I rolled into the campground around 5:30PM and set up my little tent. For those new to my adventures, this is a "Rhinowolf" tent which I bought via Kickstarter a few years ago; they have since apparently gone out of business. Anyway, one of the selling points for this tent was that single tents could be zipped together. So for the first part of the road trip, you'll see my green single tent, and after Pat joins me, you'll see his blue tent zipped together with my green one. 

My campsite at Spring Gap

As I put up my tent and contemplated what to do for dinner, I did notice that site 1 was very occupied; there was at least one family there with at least two dogs. Everyone (including the dogs) was super friendly, and the kids were kind of goofy and totally into fishing for catfish. A group of cyclists came by while I was settling in and set up in the group camping area at the "end" of the campground. And, in site 3 there was a small pop-up tent and a couple of chairs, but no one else around. 

I decided to wander up the towpath;"up" the towpath always means "towards Cumberland" to me for some reason, while "down" the towpath is "towards Georgetown. I'd last been in this area almost a year ago to the day when I camped here on the first night of my 2021 road trip. No surprise that there were things to see. 

Ruins of bridges are somewhat frequent along the towpath. It's not clear if this was for a train crossing or a road (automobile) crossing

At first I was like, "Yay! A turtle!" and then I was like, "OMG, it's dead," and I was very sad. There was no evidence of trauma to the shell.

Storms have been fairly frequent and brought down a lot of trees in Western Maryland this spring and summer

Lock 72. There are three more locks upstream of this; they are the last three locks on the canal. 

Sunset on the Potomac River at the Spring Gap boat ramp

I didn't bring any wood with me, and it was warm enough I didn't really want to start a fire anyway. Around 8:45, I checked my phone's battery and service levels because it was getting close to #ParkChat time. There's nothing like participating in #ParkChat while being in a park! 🤣

Karen, still in Maryland tonight, but camping out in the western part of the state along the @COcanalNPS at Spring Gap. 😁 #ParkChat

— Karen (needs another roadtrip) (@CamaroWRX) July 28, 2022 

Some foreshadowing occurred during the #ParkChat conversation....

A9 #ParkChat no one yet. Maybe during this road trip?

— Karen (needs another roadtrip) (@CamaroWRX) July 28, 2022

And then just after 10PM, it was all done. I was tired of trying to keep the mosquitoes at bay (the repellant and the Thermacell can only do so much), so I retired to the tent. 

Sadly, around midnight, the mysterious campers at site 3 showed up, lights ablazing directly towards my tent. They were loud. They were shining lights every which way. They were clearly drunk. It was Camp Groinia all over again, minus the lighter fluid shots and 30 degree weather. With the National Park Service short staffed, plus knowing that rangers on the 184.5 mile towpath are often spaced quite far apart, I just gritted my teeth, put my good ear to the pillow and tried to ignore it. 

I have to admit though that I, the cyclists at the group campsite and the family(ies?) at site 1 made absolutely zero effort to be quiet as dawn broke. The hungover jerkwads were clearly struggling as the rest of us did our morning things with just an extra touch of noise. 

Carolina horsenettle

From the campground, I headed into Cumberland to poke around at the very end of the towpath and beginning of the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail. The visitor center was closed, so I just wandered around and looked at the railroad cars and caboose that were there. I was testing my ability to figure out when they were built, something I was taught years ago when visiting the Western Maryland Railway Museum in Union Bridge. 

There should be something that says "BLT" with numbers for the month and year, but evidently these are repaints.

 

The trucks have the manufacturing date built into them. These are from January 1957.

Pat had been talking about maybe getting tickets to a train ride out of Durango, CO as part of the road trip, so maybe that's why I stopped here. I do know that I would like to do one of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad trips some time. 

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Depot

I headed out from Cumberland with no real plan in mind. After tossing around some ideas in my head, I decided to go to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, since it had been a few years and it wasn't all that far away. Waze took me off I-68 and up to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, joining the turnpike from an area where Pat and I had stopped on the way out to Detroit in the spring. 

I rolled into the Boston Mill Visitor Center parking, parked next to a cool gray khaki Crosstrek twin, and headed towards the visitor center when I saw a group of people next to a sign that said "Citizen Science." I remarked, "That's cool! I need to do more of that with my students," and next thing I know, they invited me to join them. It was a group of rangers and park employees/volunteers who were looking at the pollinators in the areas around the visitor center over a few weeks time. We started by looking at the different types of flowering plants we saw, and using iNaturalist to identify them as needed. We also estimated what percentage of the surveyed area was covered with each type of plant. Then we went back and started looking for pollinators, and again, used iNaturalist to identify them. We also added our findings to a group on iNaturalist (that's the citizen science part!), to help with the documentation of which pollinators were found with which type of flower. 

I totally want to do something like this with my students this year!

Don't you park next to your car-twin when you can? 

Ranger Chuck is the brains behind this citizen science project

It wasn't always clear if something was a pollinator or just happened to be in the flower

This is a pollinator, on red clover

Wild carrot (Queen Anne's lace) was one of the predominant flowering plants in the area we surveyed

After my work-related diversion, it was suggested to me that the Ledges Trail would be a literally cool place to visit for some hiking. With the tall trees, hidden springs and small caves, a cool breeze was present during much of the trek around the ledges area. 

The Civilian Conservation Corps left their mark throughout this area of the park.

The rock faces were marred with these honey-comb patterns from years of rain washing over them. It made me think of boxwork in Wind Cave.

It was quiet, cool and peaceful among these rocks.

One of the many small springs

Life finds a way

A jelly fungus

I finished the day by getting a campsite at a nearby KOA campground, one that Pat and I stayed at on the end of our 2019 trip. They've made some improvements, including covered picnic tables since we were last there. I heated up some water to rehydrate some spicy sausage pasta, which turned out to be one of the best dehydrated meals I've had (good enough that I literally sought out a Cabelas later in the trip just to buy some more!). 

This was a great spot

The trusty Biolite campstove with the kettlepot "attachment". This thing has been so great over the past 8 or so years since I bought it.

Spicy sausage pasta

The sunset made the sky look to be on fire as I wound down for sleep. I had no idea where I'd be going the next day, and I would figure it out as I went along. 

Goodnight

note that some links are associate links where I get minimal compensation for any purchases made through them.