Calamus Swamp

This past Thursday I visited nearby Calamus Swamp in Pickaway County. Calamus Swamp is a private preserve owned by the Columbus Audubon Society only a couple miles from Circleville. While it is privately owned, it is open to the public, although most people do not even know it exists. This post will give a broad overview of the park for any interested in visiting.

When you first arrive at the park (I'll give directions at the end of this post), you are greeted by a small prairie filled with all sorts of goodies. Wild White Indigo, Purple Coneflower, Butterflyweed, Wild Bergamot, Prairie Dock, Black-Eyed Susan, assorted grasses, and more are all around. If you're interested in plants, please check out my post on some of the plants from Calamus Swamp. The trailhead is at the edge of the prairie by the parking lot. The trail itself splits halfway through the prairie to offer a loop around the park.

The main feature for Calamus Swamp is a 19 acre kettle lake formed during the end of the last ice age. The geological history of a kettle lake is very interesting. As you probably know, much of Ohio was covered by glaciers during the Wisconsin Glacial Episode, which ended 11,000 years ago. As this glacier receded, large blocks of ice would break off and be left behind. These huge ice blocks would create depressions in the land and then would get covered by outwash debris from the melting glacier. Eventually, this ice block would melt and the debris would fall in the depression. Many times this depression would fill with water, creating a kettle lake. This is what happened in the photo above. Over the next 11,000 years the lake has slowly filled in with vegetation and soil, shrinking in size. This brings us to its present state. Eventually, it will fill in enough to become a bog, and then completely fill in and a forest will take over. As you can see above, Calamus Swamp is currently filled with aquatic vegetation and doesn't overly have open water.

The main trail leads around the kettle lake, and much of the trail is actually boardwalk that winds over water or very squishy mud. Occasionally the trails are flooded and impassable, so be aware of that possibility if you go after a lot of rain. There's a mix of swamp and more marsh-like habitats at Calamus Swamp. You can see part of the swamp area in the photo above. Swamps are wetlands that are dominated by trees. On the other hand, marshes are wetlands that are dominated by reeds and grasses.

The boardwalk takes you through the swamp areas and also through the marsh areas, like the one above. Buttonbush and Burr Reed dominate much of the water. Bladderworts, a type of carnivorous plant, also occupy the water. Many animal species of note have been recorded here as well. Ohio Fairy Shrimp, an uncommon freshwater shrimp, can be found here. Tiger Salamanders also make their home here. Soras are relatively common here, and the more uncommon King Rail and the rare Yellow Rail have both been recorded here. Least Bitterns, Common Moorhens, and other waterbirds have been recorded here as well. Occasionally ducks will make an appearance, as well as the odd Double-Crested Cormorant. Prothonotary Warblers can occasionally be found here too. Rusty Blackbirds are almost a guaranteed sighting if you go during migration. At least eight species of frogs and toads have been recorded here as well, along with over fifty species of butterflies and skippers.

Here's another, higher, view of the kettle lake. Trust me, there's water out there. Also something to note: as one might expect, the bugs can get pretty bad here. Mosquitoes are plentiful, and so are biting flies. Be prepared to get bit, and also be prepared to get muddy.

Part of the trail follows the old Cincinnati-Muskingum Railway, which has long since been abandoned. The photo above shows the old railway, although the only evidence of it is some leftover coal along the sides of the trail. The abandoned railway from Circleville to New Holland (a total of sixteen miles) is now owned by the Pickaway County Park District. The end goal is to make it into a paved hiking/biking trail, but this will take years to finish due to money shortages. However, part of the Pickaway Trail is currently complete. You can hike from Calamus Swamp to the nearby Canal Park. The Canal Park features hiking trails along the towpath of the old Ohio-Erie Canal along the Scioto River, as well as a few other trails and Scioto River access. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth checking out for the history and the sights.

Now for some information about parking and so on. There is no sign for this preserve, so it takes eyes to not pass it the first time you go. The red arrow above points to the parking lot. The park is along SR 104, off of 22. The parking lot is a simple gravel parking lot, so keep your eyes peeled for it. The blue outlines the part itself. The yellow arrow shows the new Pickaway Trail that leads to the Canal Park. The distance between the two parks is about 1.5 miles each way. There are two actual trails at Calamus Swamp itself. The main trail is a loop which starts at the parking lot and goes around the lake and back. The second trail is an extension on the loop, which can be very helpful if this one section of the trail that lacks a boardwalk is flooded or too muddy to pass (as can happen many times).

Here's a shot of the parking lot. As you can see there's no sign, and nothing really that screams "I'm a park." More information about the park can be found at the Columbus Audubon's page on it located here. The park is open 24/7, and no permits are required. Please treat the unique and important area well; it is one of the remaining pristine kettle lakes in the region.

Backpacking at Zaleski State Forest

Hey guys! I finally have some time to write up a little post. I've been really busy lately with schoolwork, but with Spring Break I've been able to catch a slight break.

Anyway, on February 21-23, I went on a "Winter Backpacking Skills" backpacking trip through Ohio University's Outdoor Pursuits. They put on many trips throughout the semester which are open to anyone (but they're normally a bit cheaper for OU students). This backpacking trip was supposed to teach us "winter backpacking skills," but the weather had other ideas in mind. Saturday we were hiking in short sleeved shirts and shorts; hardly winter at all! Regardless, it was a great trip and here's some photos and a little info on it.

A total of seven of us (two trip leaders and five trip-goers) did the bottom half of the 23 mile backpacking trail at Zaleski State Forest in Vinton County. We did a total of about ten miles. We hiked two miles Friday afternoon to the first campsite, four miles on Saturday to the next campsite, then Sunday we did two miles on a connecting trail that led us back to the first campsite, where we then backtracked the two miles to the parking lot.

The trail was mostly on top of tall Allegheny ridge tops. There were a couple of beautiful vistas, like this one. This was the view on a small rock outcrop next to a small 50 foot cliff or so, and the location of a little snack break on Saturday.

But the trail was not all on ridge tops. Eventually we went down a hill into the bottomlands. Due to the recent snow melt, every water source was swollen, including this tiny creek. As it emptied into a small lake it formed a sort of flooded delta, and as a result the trail sort of disappeared. Eventually we found it once more and navigated our way through the water.

This is an old railway, the Moonville Railroad. Many of you have probably heard of the infamous Moonville Tunnel. Well this is the same line. The actual tunnel is only a couple miles away from this point. But this particular location along the abandoned railroad is the site of an old mining town called Ingham Station. According to the site Waymarking, "At it's peak around 1900, Ingham Station had a store, railroad depot, a mine, schoolhouse, over a dozen residences, and was inhabited by several families." The town was abandoned around 1920 or so, but the backpacking trail now goes right through the remnants.

The Zaleski Backpacking Trail offers many cool points of interest if you're a history geek, like me. On top of ghost towns, the trail follows the Hopewell-Chillicothe-Marietta Road for some of the way. The Hopewell-Chillicothe-Marrietta Road was an ancient Native American footpath that led from earthworks near present day Marietta to the famous Hopewell earthworks near present day Chillicothe. When European settlers came to the area, they followed the footpath too, turning it into a road for stagecoaches and the pioneers. Anyway, part of the backpacking trail runs along this ancient road. The trail also passes a doughnut-shaped earthwork and other historical points of interest.

This was my campsite for the second night. The days might have been warm, but the nights were cold. It was perfect weather for a warm mummy-style sleeping bag. It was definitely a great experience, and I will be going backpacking again for sure.

Radar Hill and The Ridges

I'm finally back after a few weeks of a hiatus. I moved into Ohio University back in August as a freshmen and only recently brought my camera down. But anyway, I now have material for three posts or more.

This one is on the trail system up at The Ridges in Athens, Athens County, Ohio. Specifically, it's about the Radar Hill trail.

What is The Ridges? Well...

The Ridges is a large complex owned by Ohio University that is mostly what used to be the Athens Lunatic Asylum. The Athens Lunatic Asylum was opened in 1874 and closed in 1993. This is a nature blog, so I'll only mention this place's history in passing, but if you're interested, SERIOUSLY read up on it. Its history is crazy. Check out Forgotten Ohio's amazing post on it right here! The Wikipedia article is nice too. Nowadays OU utilizes what it can of the buildings. For example, the main part of the hospital - the part in the photo above - is the Kennedy Museum of Art.

Anyway, The Ridges also has a large forested area attached to it with several trails, including a Nature Walk trail, connector trails, the Radar Hill Trail, and more.

Radar Hill is an incredibly popular destination for OU students and "townies" alike. A short hike of about one mile will take you to the highest point in Athens. The trail starts out in your "typical" southeastern Ohio forest and opens up to a more secondary-growth type of habitat that you can see here. The trail is well-maintained and wide. Radar Hill is that little mound-type hill at the end of the trail in this photo. So, here's how the trail works. If you start at the Hocking River (say if you're a student walking from OU) by Richland Avenue, you follow a brick path up a hill to The Ridges. Then, you climb another hill that takes you to where a water tower is. The path begins by the water tower. You climb up and up until you get on another ridge. You walk along the ridge until you get to the Radar Hill peak, which you also have to climb. It's almost like climbing 4 hills, but it isn't too strenuous, really.

This is the view from atop Radar Hill, looking out the opposite direction the other picture showed. As you can see from the horizon, you can see for miles. Why is it called Radar Hill? Well, in World War II the US Army built a radar station on the hill. OU and the Air Force then took over the radar station and turned it into a defense research facility. Then, NASA contacted OU in the early 60's and had them use the station to help gather info on the moon for the upcoming Apollo missions. By the 70's, the station was abandoned, and now it no longer stands.

Remember, you can always click on the photos in this blog to view a larger version!

Here's the view on the opposite side of the hill. Miles and miles of sight; the rolling Appalachian foothills make up the horizon. As you can see, fall is here, well, at least us birders can see. Fall songbird migration has picked up and is really in full swing. I saw my lifer American Redstart and Blackpoll Warbler at The Ridges a week before these photos were taken. As this photo shows, you can see the trees beginning to change. The temperature has also began cooling (finally!).

This trail (as far as I am aware) is open all the time, and many people take night hikes. I did one late at night and watched the sun set. As you can see, tt was absolutely spectacular! On the way up, I saw about 15 deer, and these locals seem to have essentially no fear of humans. They just stand there, eating grass, like ten feet from you and don't even bat an eye.

You can also see part of Athens from the peak. This is a zoomed in view to better point it out. At night, it's an amazing view; The light of the town glows in the dark valley as darkness is all around you. If you want better views of town though, check out Witches Hill or Bong Hill, which I will make posts about sometime soon.

That wraps up this post! Keep on the lookout for more posts soon, which will most likely cover salamanders, some caterpillars, nearby Witches and Bong hills, and more! See you soon!

Glen Helen Nature Preserve

Monday, June 17, my grandpa and I traveled to a few different parks. We first hit Batelle Darby Metropark and then Prairie Oaks Metropark near Columbus. Both parks were great, but this post is on another park.

Around lunch we decided to head down to Yellow Springs, outside of Dayton. Our goal was Glen Helen Nature Preserve. After a nice lunch at Peach's Bar and Grill, we headed, quite literally, right across the street to "The Glen."

Glen Helen Nature Preserve is an area owned by the Antioch College in Yellow Springs. Glen Helen is about 1000 acres and was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1965.

My intent with this visit was more photography based versus nature based, fair warning.

So why is the town of Yellow Springs called Yellow Springs? Well, it's this thing right here. This spring within Glen Helen is the namesake of the town. As you can see, in person it's more of an orange than a yellow from the high iron content. From what I've read, this place was well known to the Shawnees. They believed the spring water held healing properties, a notion carried on by the early white settlers. It is said that even Tecumseh frequented the spring.

Another shot of the spring. This spring is located off a Native American path known as the Bullskin Trace, an ancient pathway that led from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. This path was created by migrating bison and other animals before being used by the Native Americans. It was then used by explorers such as Daniel Boone and then the following pioneers, but it soon became a part of the Underground Railroad (of which the Antioch College of Yellow Springs, with its abolitionist president Horace Mann, was a major stop). Other Native American chiefs are said to have visited the spring for its "powers," including Blue Jacket, Blackhoof, Blackfish, and Little Turtle.

The spring water slides down the hill, cascading over a rocky area making a small waterfall, and finally into Yellow Springs Creek. However, this waterfall right here is located along a tributary to that Yellow Springs Creek. This creek has always interested me. Before this waterfall, the creek has a rock bottom. Hundreds and hundreds of years of erosion has sculpted the rock into many interesting features. As the water goes from that part to this waterfall, a whole new interesting geography takes place. This waterfall starts "the cascades" which is a series of falls and pools that is incredibly beautiful. I don't have any photos of the lower cascades because there were people swimming and I didn't want to come off as "creepy," but let me say you are not allowed to swim in this creek. The rules say so, so please follow them to protect the Glen.

We came across this guy enjoying some sunlight. This is a Hackberry Emperor, Asterocampa celtis. A tip on IDing these subtly beautiful guys can be found on the tips of their antenna. Their white tips help eliminate many other butterflies and point to Hackberry or Tawny Emperors in the Eastern region of America. They are an active butterfly often times with erratic flying. Many times they are curious and will fly over to intrusions, which include humans hiking through the forest. They are attracted to white objects, including white shirts, and may land on you if you so happen to be wearing one when a Hackberry Emperor sees you!

And last, but not least, Glen Helen Nature Preserve is the site of the Raptor Center. The Raptor Center is an education center, but first and foremost its duty is to rehabilitate injured raptors, which include hawks, eagles, owls, and so on. The lighting was bad, but I was able to take this photo of a sleepy Barred Owl as he woke only enough to see what the intrusion was. The Raptor Center is definitely worth checking out if you like birds; it allows amazing views of amazing birds of prey, a complete win win situation.


Glen Helen Nature Preserve is definitely worth the visit. Easy access, many miles of hiking trails, and beautiful natural features make this park a great gem in Western Ohio.

Blackhand Gorge and Dawes Arboretum

Monday, which was Presidents' Day, I was able to go on a short day trip since I was out of school.

So, I left Pickaway County for Licking County, specifically for Dawes Arboretum and Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve.

I admit, I didn't get too many photos at Dawes. It was really cold, and I was busy moving and did not really want to stop and get photos. Anyway, here's a scene in the forest at Dawes. A light covering of snow was still on the ground. Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and White-Breasted Nuthatches called from the trees.

We came across a family of White-Tailed deer, including a few young ones. Even though I see deer a lot, it's still a treat to see them.

Dawes Arboretum was spectacular. It was the first time I had ever been there. Dawes Arboretum was established in 1929 by the namesake Beman Dawes and his wife. Nowadays, it has different sections dedicated to everything from Japanese Gardens, to one of the world's largest collections of Holly, to wetlands, to one of the northernmost populations of native Bald-cypress swamps in North America, and a lot more. There are miles of trails and over 5,000 different types of woody plants. It really is an amazing place, and I will have to go back in Spring and Summer.

Next, I went to nearby Blackhand SNP.

This is Blackhand Rock. You might have heard of Blackhand Sandstone, which is the type of sandstone common throughout this area of Eastern Ohio, including the Hocking Hills, here, and so on. It's so called because of what used to be on this rock. The first settlers in this area came across a large petroglyph of a black hand on this cliff side and named it Blackhand Gorge. The petroglyph was Native American in origin (possibly giving directions to nearby Flint Ridge), and sadly it was blasted away when the Ohio and Erie Canal was being built in this area around 1828. The cliffs and rocks were impassible, so the Licking River, which is the river seen here, had to be used to continue through this area. The rocks along the river had to be blasted to make the river wide enough.

This, which I encountered by the Blackhand Rock along the paved biking trail, confused me at first. Later, I learned its origin. This odd, cut path through the hillside is called the "Deep Cut," and it's aptly named. It is 60 some feet high and 700 feet long. It was carved in 1850 and served as a path for the Central Ohio Railroad, which later became the much-more well known Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 1958 brought this railway to an end as the creation of Dillon Dam required these tracks be abandoned for another nearby route.

There are a few trail options here, including the paved Blackhand Gorge Trail, and the dirt (or in my case mud) Quarry Rim Trail. Here is a photo of part of the old quarry, with the subsequent quarry lake created, as seen from the Quarry Rim Trail. This quarry used to serve as the source of sandstone for nearby Newark, Ohio. The trail winds up from the gorge to the tops of the hills, giving breathtaking views of the sheer cliffs created from years of blasting. It would be amazing to come back in the summer and see what bird species can be found here. All I came across (without really looking) on this trip was a Pileated Woodpecker (the largest species of woodpecker in North America), a Belted Kingfisher, and a few Carolina Chickadees.

This was a common sight all along the Blackhand Gorge Trail. Water from groundwater seepage, gullies, and springs had frozen, covering the hillsides in miniature frozen waterfalls of sorts.

In the end, this was an awesome trip, and I highly recommend going to see these places if you haven't already. Dawes Arboretum is incredibly educational and Blackhand Gorge SNP is steeped in history.

Another post will be coming up soon about some of the plants and animals seen on the trip, so stay tuned!

Edit: Here's the post about some of the plants I encountered!

And one last, not-exactly-nature, thing. The famous Longaberger headquarters outside of Newark. Definitely not what you expect to come across when you're heading down the highway!