WELCOME to Creeping along the Blue Blazes!

No Wendy again, so April and I continue south of the CVNP. Beautiful sunny day- one of the best so far, near 60 degrees and dry. Late morning hike. Most hikers we have ever passed on trails so far- even a few trail runners- we probably have to get used to this as more people enjoy better weather outdoors. Beginning of hike was a quick climb up to top of a ridge. End of hike was along road, so not nice at all. Today we noticed the first signs of spring! Things are greening up, small butterflies with orange wings fluttering by, flowers, bugs and most unexpected- frogs! Besides woodpeckers in forest we heard songbirds- think we saw an eastern phoebe (?) nesting under eaves of a metro park outhouse. Even heard an owl- ‘who hoots for you’…Barred owl? Want to go back when we have more energy and explore a ghost town called Bozman that died with the Erie canal.

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Wendy is back and lead’n the pack! Took advantage of time change and started hike in late afternoon. We initially didn’t have much hope that this would be anything more than a walk along the road but we were all surprised that a fair amount was in woods and quite pleasant…as long as you could ignore the background drone of I-271 traffic nearby. There seemed an unusual number of fallen ‘blazed’ trees on this hike. Also saw our first large wild animals- a small herd of deer in a trail-side back yard… oh well. Happy birthday mom- would have been 90 today.

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Decided to start in middle of section and explore opposite directions of trail to shorten each leg. Initially started at CVNP Ottawa stables and walked south. Beautiful day, passed a CVNP primitive campsite with ‘kitchen’ area. April and I noticed for a second week how quiet it was in woods. We did hear many woodpeckers, April actually saw a pileated one! Also was a bit surprised to see a large group of robins foraging on woodland floor. Followed bridle trail back to starting point and headed to Deer Lick cave after a brief rest. Who knew what a nice little spot this is- reminded me of a mini-Hocking Hills in SE Ohio. Finished return leg with a hawk fly-by- not sure what kind. Obviously we need to improve our birding skills.

Although I am worried that this adventure to hike the Blue Blazes may turn into a task, I have to admit this past week I started to look forward to the upcoming weekend adventure.

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SOLO AGAIN in CVNP! Left Peninsula for trail- kinda like follow the red-brick road. Made mental note to have an ice-cold Birch beer as a reward for completing my journey today. Probably the best hike to date as far as being off-road and surrounding nature. Sunny day turned dreary by end of hike- ahh, Ohio in the winter…Trail varied from extreme mud, to semi-frozen mud, to perma-frost mud.

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April and I are on our own in the CVNP as Wendy is away. Good test for us to see if we can manage without our fearless leader!

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Not a good start next to a huge landfill but bird nest picked up our spirits. It was really on this hike that we hatched (get it?) the idea for our blog and its name. We also decided to become better naturalists- Wendy is in charge of tree identification, April birds and their calls, and I got the leftovers- animal tracks and fungi.

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